Physiotherapy Lead for Emergency Department Therapy Team

at  Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Band 7 Physiotherapy Team Lead for Emergency Department Therapy Team
We are looking for an enthusiastic, organised and caring individual with good communication and interpersonal skills to join our Emergency Department Therapy Team.
The post holder will work alongside the band 8a Physiotherapist, as well as the Occupational Therapy band 7s, to lead and develop therapy services within the Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Lewisham. In addition the post holder will be required to support band 7 Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy colleagues within the team, with the service provision and development within the Emergency Department and wider physiotherapy service.
The role will include a large clinical caseload, clinical governance activity, supervision and the development of Band 6, 5, 4 and assistant staff working within the Emergency Department Therapy Team. The post holder will be expected to provide clinical education to undergraduates. The post holder will also coordinate a rolling programme of audit and training within the pathway.
The Emergency Department pathway includes developing practice within the following patient groups: Acute Medicine, Frailty, and Falls.
The post holder will need to have previous experience in working in an Emergency Department and or Same Day Emergency Care setting, as well as with patients presenting with frailty. A commitment to development is required.
The post holder will also be required to develop and maintain senior respiratory physiotherapy skills and competence and will be required to contribute to the on-call and emergency weekend respiratory and ED physiotherapy rota.
If you are a motivated Physiotherapist looking to progress as a Band 7 Physiotherapist do not miss this opportunity to work within a progressive, friendly department with all the benefits of being a large London Trust.
Working in Therapies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVS-EjGWloM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RimWWRzVS5Y
Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
Improving the experience of staff with disability
Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
Making equalities mainstream

JOB PURPOSE

The Physiotherapy Team Lead for the Emergency Department Therapy Team at University Hospital Lewisham (UHL) provides clinical leadership to physiotherapy staff working in this pathway on this site. The postholder is an experienced clinician who independently manages a significant clinical caseload and supports other team members.
The postholder supervises the day to day running of the physiotherapy team covering the Emergency Department (including ED, AAU, UCC, short stay wards and resus) and is line managed by the Inpatient Physiotherapy Lead for UHL.
The team works closely alongside the Occupational Therapy Team for the same area, and together they provide a 7 day service in this area, covering extended hours 8am-8pm. Generic competencies are in development between the two professions.
In conjunction with the Inpatient Physiotherapy Lead for UHL, the post holder coordinates a rolling programme of education, clinical evaluation, audit and research within the Emergency Care clinical pathway at UHL.
As part of the senior clinical physiotherapy team on the UHL site, the post holder will deputise for the inpatient lead as required.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical
To undertake all aspects of clinical duties and to carry a significant caseload of patients as an autonomous practitioner, including those with complex presentations
To work at an advanced level and to be professionally and legally accountable for a highly-specialized patient caseload and to decide priorities for own work area, balancing other patient related and professional demands
To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work, and of the local pathway teams’ work. This will include the management of clinical risk, clinical governance, knowledge of indications and precautions of chosen techniques in line with national and trust clinical guidelines and protocols where they exist.
To assess patients’ capacity, gain valid and informed consent to treatment and where such capacity is lacking/absent to work within a legal framework in the management of the patient
To undertake the comprehensive assessment and accurate diagnosis of patients including those with complex presentation, using investigative, palpatory, analytical and clinical reasoning skills
Under supervision of the Physiotherapy Inpatient Site Lead to request diagnostic procedures that will inform clinical decision making as appropriate to individual competency level and the job role
To undertake physical treatment techniques utilizing highly developed manual skills
To formulate individualized clinical management programs, utilizing a wide range of treatment skills and options to plan a highly-specialized program of care
To use recognized outcome measures to evaluate the effect of physiotherapy interventions and ensure that treatment program are progressing appropriately
To provide spontaneous and planned expert advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers, other disciplines and agencies. To promote understanding of the aims of physiotherapy and to ensure continuation of the treatment program. To be consulted by staff within the local pathway and the trust
To participate in and where indicated, initiate multidisciplinary / multi-agency team meetings and case conferences to ensure the co-ordination of patient care. This may include the review of patient progress and discharge planning
To ensure accurate, comprehensive and up to date clinical records are maintained in accordance with Trust guidance and professionally agreed criteria
To identify and employ suitable verbal and non-verbal communication skills with patients where there may be barriers to understanding or the inability to accept diagnosis. To facilitate the best possible communication outcome in every situation and use appropriate services, e.g. interpreters, SALT
To ensure that individual practice and that of the local pathway team is patient focused and patient views are incorporated into treatment planning
To employ appropriate skills such as persuasion, motivation and negotiation to gain co-operation in the continuation of the agreed treatment program
To communicate with empathy, patient information which may be of a complex and sensitive nature including details of prognosis or disability that may be unwelcome
To receive complex patient related information from patients, relatives, carers and other professionals to effectively plan and develop individual case management
To communicate and advise regarding complex patient related information effectively to ensure collaborative working within the physiotherapy service and with other professionals across health and other agencies to ensure the delivery of a coordinated multidisciplinary service
To be integral in discharge planning including liaison with referring hospitals or community staff to which patients are discharged, providing timely discharge reports
To produce comprehensive patient related reposts for other disciplines or agencies relating to assessment findings and or treatment outcomes
To undertake an extended scope role as appropriate to the needs of the service and supervised by the Physiotherapy Site Lead (an extended scope practioner undertakes delegated responsibility on behalf of medical practioner(s) including the independent management of complete episodes of care of patients from referral to discharge)
To undertake the measurement and evaluation of work through audit, outcome measurement, the application of evidence based practice and research where appropriate. To identify and initiate audit projects to review current clinical practice within the pathway
To facilitate the implementation and evaluation of physiotherapy clinical outcomes within a designated pathway and monitor adherence with professional and national standards
To work to Trust and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy clinical guidelines and have a good working knowledge of relevant national standards to which quality of practice should be monitored.
To raise physiotherapy staff awareness of current clinical developments and the implication these may have on clinical practice
To be accessible and provide expert clinical advice to colleagues in particular for complex case management
Once considered competent to participate in the on-call, week-end, bank holiday and extended working rotas where clinically appropriate
To fully participate in whatever pattern of working (including 7-day rosters) is required by the service in the future
All clinical staff are accountable and responsible for their own clinical competence and should limit their actions to those for which they are deemed competent in line with guidance from their professional bodies