Physiotherapist (Respiratory)

at  Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

To maintain own continuous professional development (CPD) and incorporate new trends and developments into practice. To be an active member of in-service training programmes. To attend and contribute as appropriate at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions, courses, other CPD activities and to undertake reflective practice. To maintain comprehensive and accurate assessment and treatment records in line with legal, professional, Trust and departmental policies and guidelines.
To train, supervise and performance manage other physiotherapists, technical instructors, assistants and students (this will include the use of formal appraisal documentation). To provide leadership and peer support to physiotherapists and support workers within the paediatric physiotherapy team. To demonstrate and apply a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management, and encourage others to do likewise. ORGANISATIONAL To have an active role in the planning, development, coordination, delivery and evaluation of the critical care and respiratory medicine physiotherapy service.
To provide support to the clinical team leader in the daily operational management for the physiotherapy team. To act as a mentor for physiotherapy colleagues, providing clinical and professional support on a regular basis. To delegate to, supervise and monitor senior and staff grade physiotherapists, students and support workers. To manage priorities for the Critical Care and Respiratory medicine physiotherapy team, balancing patient related and professional/managerial demands within available resources; ensuring that these remain service led.
To deputise for senior staff /Clinical Lead as required. To ensure that physiotherapy equipment is suitable for the needs of the patient and facilities/environment are maintained in safe order. To collect data and statistics for reporting purposes. To carry out designated departmental/service responsibilities.
To be aware of Health and Safety legislation and to comply with policies relating to the work area, including risk assessment and the prompt recording and reporting of incidents and near misses. To take necessary precautions to safeguard the welfare and safety of yourself and others. To have an active role in developing, reviewing and updating departmental policies, procedures and guidelines relating to physiotherapy management of critical care patients. To have an active role in the recruitment of new staff.
To comply with Trust and departmental policies, procedures and standards. To be involved in reviewing and updating departmental policies and procedures as required. Effort To carry out assessment and treatment using manual and therapeutic handling techniques which require moderate to high physical effort and intense concentration and vigilance for the vast majority of each working day. To be interrupted frequently throughout the day to deal with bleeps, requests for assistance/advice from other staff, administrative enquiries and urgent referrals.
To comply with the trust manual handling policy at all times. To deal sensitively with patients and carers who have a high level of anxiety or aggression due to, for example, pain, fear, dementia or failed expectations. To be able to convey sympathetically unwelcome news regarding functional progress and diagnosis to patients and carers. To travel between sites and patients homes as required using own, hospital or public transport and to take responsibility for the safety of patients, therapists and assistants while on these visits.
Communication To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients and carers and to ensure understanding of condition. Patients/carers may require clarification of clinical decisions or investigations, potential outcomes and the implications for the patient/family. This may include highly sensitive/emotive information. To use skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, and empathy to encourage patients to undertake their treatment programme and optimise rehabilitation potential and/or quality of life.
Barriers to effective communication may regularly be evident, e.g.: altered perception, age, dysphasia, pain, psychological/emotional status. To use specific skills to communicate with patients who, for example, depend on sign languages, communication boards etc. To communicate patient related information effectively, to facilitate co-ordinated services and ensure seamless collaborative working with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and multi-agencies. This may include case conferences, handovers, ward rounds, discharge/transition planning, documentation in health records and medical reports.
Patient related information might be complex, highly sensitive and contentious. To contribute to and compile additional written reports which form the basis of legal documents for other agencies e.g. solicitors, education. To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals to promote understanding of the aims of physiotherapy and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
To provide highly specialised advice in the physiotherapy management of adults in critical care and care of the elderly, to physiotherapy colleagues and other members of the MDT. To use Information Technology for the purposes of: Communication within and outside the Trust Accessing clinical and professional information To communicate effectively with colleagues at national centres of excellence to ensure continuity of shared care. Ensure all communication, which may be complex, contentious or sensitive, is undertaken in a responsive and inclusive manner, focusing on improvement and ways to move forward. Ensure all communication is presented appropriately to the different recipients, according to levels of understanding, type of communication being imparted and possible barriers such as language, culture, understanding or physical or mental health conditions.
Please review the Job description for the full list of roles and responsibilitie

Please refer the Job description for details