Band 6 Specialist Physiotherapist - Weston Super Mare inWeston Super Mare inWeston Super Mare PUBLISHED THU 12 DEC 2024

The North Somerset area of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) is now seeking an enthusiastic physiotherapist to work within a mental health setting across both Inpatients and Community, to use their skills to assess and treat people with both mental health and physical problems. This unique opportunity will see you providing physiotherapy interventions across both adults of working age and later life.

This exciting opportunity will allow you to utilise your skills as a holistic, autonomous practitioner while also having the support from the multi- professional team and wider Physiotherapy team. Within the post you will work with Community referred service users whilst also supporting your fellow physiotherapist at the Long Fox Unit. You will complete comprehensive physiotherapy assessment which will be delivered through a combination of individual specialist assessments and group work.

The post holder will require excellent and adaptable communication skills and require a level of sensitivity and flexibility. You are required to manage a complex caseload and be able to prioritise effectively to meet the demands of the service. The post holder will be required to take students from the surrounding universities and provide regular supervision and training to support staff. Within the trust there are excellent training opportunities and CPD development and you will be provided with regular supervision within Trust guidance.

You will be providing physiotherapy interventions via referrals in and around the North Somerset Community setting and support your fellow physiotherapist across the wards at The Long Fox Unit, both adults or working age and later life.

You will work closely with the team in North Somerset and Bristol and across the geography of AWP with many well-established staff. You will have a wide variety of skills and be able to adapt to the needs of service users.

About us

Clinical

To assess, plan, implement and evaluate specialist physiotherapy interventions for patients with mental health problems that are patient centred and in consultation with the service user. This will be individually and in groups, both in hospital and in the community. This may include musculoskeletal, neurological and falls.

To take a lead role in the management of the general physical well-being of service users.

To keep patient clinical records and statistics as per trust and professional guidelines with the use of information technology ensuring timely, contemporaneous and accurate records.

To work as a fully integrated member of the multi-professional team using the care plan/recovery planning approach. To work as a care co-ordinator in exceptional circumstances.

To work in a collaborative and co-operative manner with other health care professionals, patients and their families.

To provide leadership to junior and unqualified staff ensuring that the physiotherapy technician and junior staff receives adequate training, supervision and support and that the delegation of tasks is appropriate to his/her abilities and grade.

To be responsible for education and supervision of physiotherapy students.

To work within the National Standards of Physiotherapy and the Professional Code of Conduct for Physiotherapists, including the Health and Care profession Council.

To develop and maintain clinical skill and mandatory training through a variety of learning opportunities and provide evidence of clinical competence through the development and maintenance of a personal professional portfolio.

To undertake regular continued professional development in line with the objectives agreed in Annual Individual Performance Review and Clinical Governance.

To work in accordance with Professional and Trust Policies and Procedures to ensure compliance with the law.

To care for own health and safety as well as that of patients and other members of staff.

To undertake small projects to support the physiotherapy services i.e. audit research.

To be involved in service development alongside the therapy lead as locality management.

To be responsible for education and supervision of physiotherapy students.

To participate in the education and advice of other professionals and carers.

To have the ability to risk assess and develop positive risk management for service users as part of the team.

Managerial

To be involved in supervision and appraisals of relevant staff.

To be involved in the recruitment and selection of relevant staff within the team.

Plan prioritise and organise own workload as well as those supervised by post holder, monitoring and adjusting activities and programmes as necessary

Communications and Working Relationships

Establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with a client group that can be challenging due to their mental health issues eg dementia or acute psychosis.

Establish and maintain effective exchange of clinical information between relevant parties that may include MDT, carers, families, partner organisations or voluntary third section organisation.

To be responsible for communicating sensitive or complex information concerning service users to family and other involved in their care.

Provide professional advice and consultancy to team manager, Multi professional team members, carers and other services.

Be aware of Trust developments through the use of intranet, e-mail.

Most challenging part of this role

Working with and motivating a patient group whose mental health problems can be challenging and emotionally draining for staff. Work with distress, anxious and aggressive service users and carers. Also dealing with emotional situations when the person may have barriers to their understanding.

Balancing working with in-patients and community clients demands wide-ranging skills.

Maintaining links with other physiotherapists in a geographically widespread Trust.

Maintaining the profile of a small profession, the benefits of which are often poorly understood.

Policies and ProceduresTrust employees are expected to follow Trust policies, procedures and guidance as well as professional standards and guidelines. Copies of Trust policies can be accessed via the staff intranet (Ourspace) or from your manager.

In particular, attention is drawn to the Trusts arrangements in relation to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults as well as infection prevention and control.

All employees are expected to be familiar with the Trusts approach to risk management, take a risk management approach to their own work and take responsibility for the management of the risks they own.Confidentiality

Much of the work is of confidential nature. This means that no discussion should take place about the care, needs or activities of any service user, except in the clear interest of that service user or to other members of staff. Staff are reminded that personal information concerning colleagues is also confidential.