Therapy Assistant Practitioner

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our Integrated Occupational and Physiotherapy team as an Assistant Practitioner.

This role is rotational and will involve working in a diverse range of inpatient teams including Trauma and Orthopaedics, Older Peoples services alongside the Medical and Surgical teams. Each rotation is 6 months long. The role will consist of rehabilitation and reablement of patients alongside discharge planning for patients when they are ready for discharge.

We are seeking someone with experience of working as a Therapy assistant or experience at a similar level in a related field of health or social care. You will be taking a key role supporting Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists but also working independently in the assessment and safe discharge planning of patients from hospital.

You will have demonstrable experience of delivering tailored rehabilitation and care of a wide variety of patients. You will carry out assessment for and provision of appropriate equipment. Experience of working in an acute hospital setting would be beneficial.

A flexible approach to working hours including supporting a 7 day service and working Saturday/Sunday shifts on a rota basis.

Responsibilities:

• To manage and organise a designated caseload of patients and own professional activities across the older peoples wards.
• To provide specific skilled support to the registered therapists in providing technical therapy interventions to patients in a variety of settings.
• To use an evidence-based, person-centred approach in the planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of agreed interventions following guidelines and protocols to promote the functional fitness of patients to aid discharge from hospital in a way that is consistent with their abilities, preferences and cultural beliefs.
• To be able to work flexibly over a 7 day service rota.
• To communicate complex and sensitive information effectively to patients using skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, negotiation and empathy. There may be barriers to understanding such as hearing loss, speech difficulty, anxiety, fear and depression.
• To work with patients and carers to identify therapy goals for safe, timely discharge, using specialist, standardised assessment tools to assess their skills deficits and functional needs.
• In collaboration with the patient, to plan and implement a programme of interventions using treatment techniques to meet the patient’s needs for safe timely discharge. These will be achieved using professional, theoretical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills.

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offers a variety of services.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Mark Job title: Senior Occupational Therapist Email address: [e-mail]