Virtual Ward - Respiratory Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; Ilford; On-site; GBP 4,000 - 6,000; Full time

Job description

Joining #TeamNELFT means you'll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We're CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Job overview

Exciting new opportunities

Are you an experienced Physiotherapist looking for a new challenge?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our virtual ward team. This role will involve providing respiratory assessment, advice and support to patients in the comfort of patients' own homes.

The successful applicant will have a proven track record in Respiratory care or Rapid response team or similar virtual ward roles and a sound knowledge of respiratory physiology and disease processes. They should be familiar with the use of oxygen and pulmonary rehabilitation and possess the ability to teach and support patients with self-management.

The ideal candidate will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships with patients and colleagues. They should be comfortable working across multi-disciplinary teams and be able to work autonomously and as part of a team.

If you think you have the skills and experience to succeed in this role, please apply today. This is an exciting opportunity to make a positive difference to the lives of patients.

You will work in and be supported by a multi-disciplinary care team including nurses, doctors, therapists, and psychologists. It is essential to have access to the use of a car, as the job involves carrying equipment and travel across the BHR boroughs of London.

Main duties of the job

1. The role involves the assessment and management of Respiratory patients admitted to virtual ward beds through admission avoidance and early supported discharge pathways for up to 14 days.
2. Direct Management of the virtual ward beds in liaison with BHRUT respiratory consultants to ensure that we are maximising and monitoring the agreed bed capacity in each geographical area at any given time.
3. To work with referring services in making decisions on accepting or declining patients in the Virtual Ward.
4. Practice as an autonomous professional with confidence and authority using an expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and the clinical competencies of specialist, emergency care advanced practice.
5. Initiate pharmacological interventions, using non-medical prescribing to review patients' medications ensuring they adhere to Trust guidelines and provide for the safe custody and administration of medications prescribed by others by Trust policies.
6. Able to identify deteriorating service users and take necessary actions, liaising with MDT and Respiratory consultant.
7. Take responsibility for the discharge planning process for named patients and work in partnership with the patient, their families, and the multidisciplinary team to provide specialist advice and support to optimise health outcomes and resource usage.

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT places a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

High-Cost Area Supplement

This post also attracts payment for High-Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,551 and a maximum payment of £5,735) pro rata for part time staff.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details on this vacancy.

Use of AI

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Clinician registered with either NMC or HCPC and a current live registration
• First Degree or equivalent experience

Desirable criteria

• Completion of any relevant respiratory/emergency care module
• Masters degree in respiratory care or equivalent

Experience

Essential criteria

• Evidence of CPD with particular relevance to respiratory
• Minimum of 3 years post registration in NHS UK
• Minimum of 2 years (full-time or equivalent number of hours) in respiratory/virtual ward/matron/emergency care in NHS UK
• Experience of mentoring and supervising staff
• Advanced clinical assessment skill

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience in working with community service NHS UK
• Non-medical prescribing completed.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Applicant will need to be a car driver with a valid UK Licence (this criteria will be reasonably adjusted to meet the requirements of a disabled applicant)
• Knowledge of chronic respiratory disease management

Desirable criteria

• QI or Research/Audit projects
• Spirometry, Blood gas analysis (capillary or arterial), Venepuncture
• Experience of using electronic patient record - RiO

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

• A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work-life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our efforts to support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a 'Top 10 Family Friendly Employer' from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's a job share, part-time hours or another flexible pattern.

Supporting our Armed Forces

We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans, reservists and military spouses and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.

Equal opportunities employer

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.

We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email [e-mail].

Correspondence with us

You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.

As part of our recruitment process, we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure consideration.

If you require any additional support during the application process please contact [e-mail]. We are happy to make reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment journey.
Documents to download

• Band 7 Virtual Ward Physiotherapist (PDF, 563.1KB)
• NELFT Application - Hints and Tips (PDF, 38.4KB)