Specialist Physiotherapist - Paediatrics

at  Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust

Would you like an excellent opportunity to further develop your interest in Physiotherapy for Children and Young people within a supportive team?
Would you like to work flexibly within a friendly and innovative community multi-disciplinary team?
We could be the employer for you!
We are seeking to recruit dynamic Band 6 Physiotherapist. The post is within our paediatric community service in the Cambridgeshire Team (Oaktree Centre base, Huntingdon). We are looking for able replacements to work in the Cambridgeshire area within an enthusiastic and well-established physiotherapy team.
We work in close collaboration with the Paediatric Occupational Therapy team and run joint clinics with the Community Paediatricians. The successful applicants will have a caseload of children with various neurodevelopmental conditions, who will be seen in the community, clinic and special school settings. The client group is children and young people (0-19 years) with physical disabilities and developmental delays.
The posts available are based at: The Oak Tree Centre, Huntingdon (full-time 37.5 hrs per week). The core service working day is a Tuesday.
Why not click on the link to the Job Description and find out more about the role.
We look forward to receiving your application!
We are a team of dynamic, enthusiastic Paediatric Physiotherapists who work across Cambridgeshire. We have two main bases one in Huntingdon and one in Cambridge. We are keen to provide the best service using evidence based practice and have links with the APCP and Addenbrookes Hospital. We work closely with Occupational Therapists, Speech therapists, Paediatricians and administrators. We have joint internal In-service Training program with the Occupational Therapy service.

To provide specialised paediatric physiotherapy assessment and treatment for CYP in our specified geographical area.
To work and communicate effectively with multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams.
To supervise, educate and assess the performance of physiotherapy students, working with universities to ensure the standard of practice and teaching meets the standards set down by the degree level qualification.
To appropriately delegate work/tasks to therapy assistants, maintaining oversight of their input with children and young people.
To work in a variety of settings such as clinics, mainstream schools/nurseries, special schools/nurseries, client’s homes and other community settings.
Where appropriate, to act as a key worker for CYP on their caseload, ensuring that there is effective communication between all members of the team and that a coordinated approach is in place.
Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.
There’s one reason why our services are outstanding – and that’s our amazing staff - who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.
If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.
Planning
To plan their own diary and prioritise their caseload to ensure fair and equitable service delivery for all service users, in line with the service offer
To work as an autonomous practitioner supported by regular clinical and management supervision
To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of their own work, including the management of CYP in their care
To comply with departmental and organisational policies and procedures
To keep abreast of the latest equipment options, and to be responsible for the assessment and requisition of equipment such as postural sleep systems, specialised orthotics, walking aids and standing frames for CYP on their caseload
Patient contact
To undertake comprehensive, specialised physiotherapeutic assessments of CYP including those with diverse or complex presentations considering their functioning in family, school and other environments, using advanced clinical reasoning and communication skills
To develop and support individualised aims and programmes in collaboration with CYP, their families and other professionals
To support parents/carers in developing skills to support physiotherapy aims and ensuring their competence, when the CYP requires support
To work collaboratively in multi-disciplinary clinics e.g. joint paediatrician/physiotherapy clinics, complex physical needs clinics, plaster clinics to support the needs of CYP and their families and agree joint goals/plans for intervention
To be responsible for reassessing CYP care as treatment progresses and make appropriate adjustments to therapy programmes, using appropriate outcome measures to guide practice and measure effectiveness
To accurately and efficiently identify presenting symptoms, formulate prognoses and work towards the best course of intervention, including knowing when to refer on to additional services
To incorporate evidence-based practice and NICE guidelines using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment modalities available, to provide cost-effective and efficient physiotherapy for CYP
To be responsible for discharging CYP from caseload on completion of treatment
To be responsible for the assessment and requesting of equipment such as postural sleep systems, walking aids and standing frames, for CYP on the postholders’ caseload, considering effective use of resources
To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment, patient appliances and aids used by CYP
Policy development
To undertake evidence-based audit and research projects to further own and team’s clinical practice
Make recommendations to the Physiotherapy clinical lead for changes to practice and be willing to lead/support the implementation of changes to practice or contribute to service protocols/pathways
To undertake the measurement and evaluation of current practices through the use of evidence-based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually, in task and finish groups or alongside Physiotherapy Team Leaders/Physiotherapy Clinical Lead. To work with colleagues to change the service protocol in line with results
Communication
To represent the children’s physiotherapy service and/or individual CYP at the multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team meetings, to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service, and integrate physiotherapy treatment into the management programme. This will include discussion of patient care, patient progress, entry to school, and access to the curriculum and involvement in discharge planning
To work effectively with other members of the team around the CYP, including families, carers, education staff, other health professionals, social services, and voluntary agencies
To assess the ability of the CYP and their carers to understand the management programme and to gain valid informed consent. To work within a legal framework with CYP who lack capacity to consent to treatment
In some instances, the post holder may be required to take on the key worker role for a CYP on the caseload, requiring liaison with other disciplines agencies and interpretation of professional jargon for the families
To provide clear, concise written reports for other agencies for statutory processes to meet legal requirements, e.g. Education, Health and Care Plan, Tribunal cases
Contribute to CCS’ internal communication strategies ensuring effective two-way communication and engagement within the organisation
Contribute to CCS’ external communication strategies working with the Head of Communications to raise awareness and promote the reputation of CCS’ services
The post holder will be required to use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with CYP and their carers to progress rehabilitation and treatment programmes. This will include working with CYP who may have difficulties in understanding and/or communicating. To work with families and parents who are often in a grieving process, giving difficult information to families during this time
To communicate effectively with CYP, families and other professionals to agree joint goals for therapy
To employ advanced communication skills to investigate and manage concerns, incidents and complaints recognising limitations and referring to more senior colleagues, where appropriate
Patient and Public Engagement
To contribute to ensuring that CCS responsibilities to engage and consult with patients and the public are met in line with statutory requirements, e.g. through Youth Focus Group, parent Groups, attendance at Pinpoint Conference
To actively seek feedback from service users to help inform improvements and developments in services delivered
People Management
Maintaining own professional development and ensure complies with mandatory requirement to take part in appraisal process
To be involved in the supervision of physiotherapy students in their clinical practice and effective use of the clinical record keeping system (SystmOne), according to our professional body guidance and the Cambridgeshire Community Services standards
To provide support, guidance and training to therapy assistants assessing and evaluating competence and delegating work appropriately
To encourage and support the professional development of other members of the team
To participate in the staff appraisal scheme as an appraiser for therapy assistants, where appropriate
To support in the recruitment of therapy assistants and administrative staff, where appropriate
To train educational assistants to support the child’s physical goals in the educational setting
Research & Development Activity
To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through CPD activities, and to maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development
To maintain and develop current knowledge of evidenced-based practice in paediatric physiotherapy developing specialist knowledge of particular conditions and patient types
To participate in the staff appraisal scheme as an appraisee and be responsible for complying with his agreed personal development programmes to meet set knowledge and competencies
To undertake the measurement and evaluation of work and current practices through the use of evidence-based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with more senior physiotherapists
To be an active member of the in-service training programme by attendance at, and participation in, in-service training programmes, tutorials, individual training sessions, external courses and peer review, ensuring delivery of feedback following attendance at external courses
To be competent in carrying out literature searches and to actively maintain/update specialist knowledge
To partake in research opportunities as they arise, including application for funding where appropriate
To undertake the collection of data for use in service audit and research projects
To manage and undertake research into specific areas of clinical practice and service delivery using a range of research methodologies as part of MDT audit and departmental research initiatives. To work with the lead practitioner to change practise in line with the results of audi