Rotations at both University Hospital Lewisham & Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich
We are seeking a dynamic and talented senior physiotherapist to work across our extensive variety of inpatient and outpatient specialty services. This exciting opportunity will allow the successful candidate to gain experience and develop advanced clinical and leadership skills. In this role, you would have the opportunity to experience the diversity of working across three vibrant London Boroughs – Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley.

JOB PURPOSE

The Specialist Physiotherapist is an experienced clinician who independently manages a full specialised clinical caseload. They are responsible for supervising designated members of staff within the specialist team.
The post holder rotates through speciality pathways on an 8-monthly basis and works under supervision of an allocated Team Lead for the Clinical Area. Rotations span the University Hospital Lewisham, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Greenwich and Lewisham Community Services.
The rotations associated with this post may change in response to future service demands and the postholder may be required to work at any of the sites within the Trust.
7-day working for Therapies is under development within the Trust and it is anticipated that the postholder will be required to work at weekends on a roster basis during some of the above rotations.
Clinical Governance and clinical support will be provided to rotational staff by the Band 7 Physiotherapy Team Lead. In conjunction with the Team Lead, the post holder participates in a rolling programme of education, clinical evaluation, audit and research across the speciality.

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 specialised 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 the work of staff under the postholder’s supervision. 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 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
To undertake physical treatment techniques utilising highly developed manual skills
To be responsible for the safe and competent use of the inpatient/outpatient gym, electrotherapy and manual handling equipment, as well as other aids and appliances by patients in your working area, ensuring that any Band 5 Physiotherapists and Assistants obtain competency prior to use.
To formulate individualised clinical management programmes, utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options to plan a specialised programme of care
To use recognised outcome measures to evaluate the effect of physiotherapy interventions and ensure that treatment programmes are progressing appropriately.
To provide spontaneous and planned 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 programme. To be consulted by staff under the postholder’s supervision
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 maintain good working links and liase with GP’s and all relevant others involved with each patient’s care, ensuring consultation, feedback and discharge communication.
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
To ensure that individual practice and that of the local pathway team is user 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 programme
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 co-ordinated 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 reports for other disciplines or agencies relating to assessment findings and/or treatment outcomes
To undertake the measurement and evaluation of own 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 implications these may have on clinical practice
To be accessible and provide specialist 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 and in the absence of Band 7 staff to be responsible for any Band 5 physiotherapists in the team
To fully participate in whatever pattern of working is required by the service in the future
To work in GP outreach clinics as necessary, with telephone support from a senior physiotherapist if required.
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