Job Description:
Physiotherapist
Responsible to / Director of Care Services
Reports to / Senior Physiotherapist
Key working relationships: / Patients and their families, Hospice Clinical Teams, statutory healthcare professionals
Salary grade / Salary range - £27,867 / - / £32,733.00 (CA4)
Hours of work / Fulltime (37.5 hours)
Criminal Record Disclosure required (DBS) / Enhanced (with barring)
Our Vision
A world where everyone can face death informed, supported and pain free.
Our Mission
Pioneering standards in expert support and care, for anyone facing death and bereavement.
Our Values
Our values define who we are and how we act. We are:
Human: We treat people with understanding, patience, respect and above all dignity. We are the welcoming smile, the talk over a cup of tea, the human touch.
Courageous: We stand firm, we do not flinch in the face of hard news, but always with humanity, sensitivity and respect for our community.
Energetic: Whether we're out running a fun run or at the hospice greeting our patients, we bring the energy and optimism to make the most of every day.
Connected: We are not an island, we thrive on partnerships and working with others, we believe we are better and stronger together.
Expert: We are looked up to by our community and our peers as the
organisation to go to for knowledge, training, best practice and latest
techniques.
JOB PURPOSE
- To provide a holistic and specialist physiotherapy service to Hospice patients to help them maintain and/or improve their independence, functioning and quality of life
- To autonomously manage own caseload of patients with varied and complex needs predominantly in the IPU but also to provide cover to community, outpatients and Day Hospice as required. This will involve using evidence based, client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
- To promote a rehabilitative and self management approach for Hospice patients and their families
- Contribute to a positive supportive working environment with an emphasis on team work and co-operation
- To be responsible for the day to day supervision of Therapy Technician/sand volunteers including annual appraisal
- To participate along with other team members in the planning, development and evaluation of the service provided by the Therapy Team
- To contribute to the practice placement of students inc AHPs
- To act as a resource and support to the MDT by offering specialist knowledge and skills in dealing with the physiotherapy needs of patients psycho-social, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of care.
- To work in partnership with other health care professionals and provide input into the delivery of the hospice education and clinical governance programmes
MAIN DUTIES AND KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Clinical:
- Assessment and treatment of patients requiring physiotherapy appropriate to the palliative care setting, including individual sessions and group work, in accordance with the referral protocol and acceptance criteria.
- To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.
- To work as part of the MDT promoting a rehabilitation and self management approach as appropriate
- Assessment and advice on management of patients with reference to physiotherapy treatment and equipment needed to optimise safe function
- To act as a clinical role model to other staff members
- Be aware of contraindications and limitations to treatment within the scope of physiotherapy within the disease constraints
- Be aware of and communicate to team any changes in patient's condition or causes for concern, verbally or by completion of clear contemporaneous case notes
- To apply a high level of understanding of the effect of a palliative care diagnosis when providing support and input
- To act as facilitator or co-facilitator of rehabilitation based patient groups
Communication
- To establish and maintain effective communication networks with clients, carers, colleagues and other agencies, being competent to deal with often complex and sensitive situations.
- To promote awareness of the role of physiotherapy within palliative care, negotiating priorities where appropriate.
- To use communication, reasoning and negotiation skills to establish a therapeutic relationship in complex and highly complex cases, managing barriers to communication.
- To be involved in complex discharge planning, negotiating with the multi-disciplinary team and actively participatingin case conferences.
Administration/Management
- To work within a team framework, actively collaborating with immediate colleagues and members of other disciplines
- To ensure that all relevant information is documented and recorded in the hospice multi-professional electronic patient record system
- To attend and participate in appropriate patient related and team meetings, internally or externally if required
Professional Development, Education and Training
- To attend mandatory and hospice compulsory training in line with organisational policy and current legislation
- To participate in ongoing educational programme of the Hospice by attending and contributing to the in-house study days and courses as appropriate
- To take responsibility for self development using the personal portfolio as a guide identifying training and education needs with Lead Therapist
Audit & Quality
- To be aware of and promote new developments in palliative care.
- Toactively participate in therapy and inter-disciplinary Journal clubs, audit projects and research.
- Take responsibility for attending and participating in the hospice Governance programme.
This is an outline job description designed to give an overview of the responsibilities of the role. We expect the job holder willwork flexibly,responding to organisational need and changes as they occur. You will also contribute to the wider corporate and organisation needs of St Catherine's such as supporting our fundraising efforts.
Policies and Procedures
In addition to your professional code of conduct, you must familiarise themselves with, and adhere to St Catherine's policies and procedures as listed in your team induction schedule, including the following:
- Information Governance and Data Protection Act 1998
- Risk Management
- Raising a Concern
- Complaints
- Safeguarding and Mental Capacity Act
- Health and Safety at Work
- Equal Opportunities
- Infection Control
- HR Management
You have a duty to undertake the relevant e-learning modules as detailed in the Compulsory Training programme.
If you manage staff and/or volunteers it is your responsibility to ensure that your team are made aware of and understand the policies and procedures relevant to their work.
Information governance and confidentiality
Employment by St Catherine's often involves access to personal information relating to patients, carers, staff, volunteers and supporters.This information is confidential andmust not be disclosed to anybody, other than when acting in a official capacity. Non authorised use, access of records or disclosure of personal or confidential information is a dismissible offence, andin the case of computerised information could result in prosecution for an offence or action for civil damages under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Safeguarding vulnerable adults, children and young people
All employees have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of vulnerable adults, children and young adults. Ensure you always act in the best interests of any person lacking mental capacity.
Health and Safety at Work Act
You have personalresponsibility to take care of your own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by your actions at work. Ensure you observe the Health and Safety procedures, and carry out your work as instructed.
Infection control
All employees have personal responsibility for Infection Prevention and Control practice. You should ensure you are familiar with, and comply with, all relevant Infection Control policies and training for minimising the risk of avoidable ‘Health Care Associated Infection’.
Conduct
Employees are ambassadors for St Catherine's, each responsible for promoting, maintaining and upholding the reputation of St Catherine's at all times in line with our values.
Person Specification
Essential / Desirable
- Degree or diploma in Physiotherapy
- State Registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Evidence of post registration education
- Current driving licence and use of a car
- Membership of ACPOPC
Specific skills, experience and knowledge
Essential / Desirable
- 1 year post registration experience
- Experience of working with Palliative Care, Oncology, Neurology, Community OR Care of the Elderly patients
- Experience with working as part of multi-professional team
- Sound knowledge and application of physiotherapy assessments and interventions
- Excellent IT Skills eg Word, Outlook, electronic data bases
- Knowledge of clinical governance and its application
- Specialist Palliative Care experience
- Supervisory and appraisal skills
- Equipment assessment and provision experience
- Research and audit
Attitude and Behaviours
Essential / Desirable
- Excellent communication skills
- Excellent time-keeping
- Flexible approach - ability to work efficiently across the key hospice areas (community, outpatients, inpatient unit)
- Confident and approachable
- Ability to demonstrate empathy and compassion and deal with distressing circumstances
- Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
- Abilities to set own priorities
- Ability to analyse professional and ethical issues
- Ability to build effective working relationships
- Personal resilience
- Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance
- Insight into own strengths /areas for development
- Ability to organise and respond efficiently to complex information