Therapy Associate Practitioner

NHS Salary Band: Band 4

Salary: £28,392 - £31,157 per annum

Hours per week: Full time - 37.5 hours per week.

Contract Type: Permanent 

Are you passionate about patient rehabilitation and helping people regain their independence? Do you enjoy working both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team? Are you committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

The Therapy Department at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is a diverse, friendly and supportive service, bringing together Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists, alongside a growing team of highly skilled and valued Therapy Support Workers.

We are delighted to offer exciting opportunities for Therapy Associate Practitioners to join our inpatient teams across the hospital, working within both the Urgent Care Therapy Team and the Medical Therapy Team.

You will work with colleagues across the hospital to support a diverse caseload of patients with assessment, treatment and planning of their care. You will also develop care plans for your patients to help them when they go home.

We are looking for enthusiastic and caring people who have a strong desire to learn, grow and improve to support our patients, the department, and the hospital. You will be supported by colleagues including other Therapy Support Workers and registered therapists and will also have the opportunity to help others, including students to gain insight into the department and it's function.

You will work closely with your colleagues across the Therapy department and have opportunities for future development in a variety of ways. 

• To Assist in the delivery of the Therapy Service to patients across the acute hospital, in carrying out delegated duties to ensure a client centred service. To Supervise and instruct patients/clients in activities relating to their treatment programme.
• To accept patients referred by the therapy team or at referral source according to specific protocols. Treat patients according to set treatment protocols monitoring patient progression, modifying and progressing patient treatment programmes as required and discharging patients or referring back to the therapist when goals have been achieved. Work unsupervised reporting back patient progress and informing the therapists of any problems.
• Be responsible for non-professional duties in the provision of therapy services including record keeping and monitoring of activity.
• Monitor and order stock, mobility aids, supplies for department or team. Assess and prescribe mobility and ADL equipment as required.
• To carry out comprehensive rehabilitation, baseline assessments and promotion of independence as prescribed by qualified staff within the therapy team.
• Ensure high standards are maintained in a safe environment, which promotes equality and sensitivity for all individuals.

For full job details and person specification please refer to the Job Description

Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Essential

• Functional skills level 2 or school education to GCSE level or equivalent.
• Level 3 qualification: e.g. A levels, NVQ level 3, T level or equivalent in a health related subject.

Desirable

• BSc (Hons) in Sports Therapy or Sports Science - Desirable.

Essential

• Experience as Physio/OT Assistant / technician or working in related clinical field.
• Experience working as part of a team.
• Able to participate in manual handling of patients and equipment where necessary.
• Experience and evidence of working within a clinical area.

Desirable

• Involvement in informal supervision and management of people.

Essential                                                                                    

• Basic anatomy & physiology knowledge.
• Skilled in communication:  face-to-face, in writing and by telephone.
• Flexible and willing to embrace innovative ways of working.
• Willingness to give advice, help and share skills and knowledge.
• Ability to use a computer, including experience of Excel.
• Can prioritise workload effectively.

All of our hospitals operate a strict no smoking policy. Smoking cigarettes or tobacco products is not allowed on any of the grounds or in any of the buildings run by us. This applies to patients, staff, carers and visitors to Trust premises.

Our goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone we care for and, by making sure that our NHS services are smoke-free, we benefit the health of people who use our services as well as the health of the people who work for us.