Senior Physiotherapy Assistant

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About Us

EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:

• We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
• We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.

EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.
Our vision and values

Our Vision

"To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care".

Our Purpose

"We care for people every day. What we do together, matters".

Our Values

• We Care
• We Learn
• We Empower

Our strategic objectives

• We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
• We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
• We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
• We will help our communities to thrive.

Our services

• Mental Health Services
• Community Health Services
• Learning Disabilities Services
• Social Care

Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 3 Physiotherapy Assistant to join our dynamic Mental Health Physiotherapy Service at Rochford Hospital. We are a supportive, growing team, committed to improving access to high-quality care for individuals with mental health conditions in both inpatient and community settings.

The physiotherapy department primarily covers older adult wards on a daily basis, with adult wards being seen on a referral basis. In addition, we provide a variety of group or individual exercise sessions, scheduled across the week. Comprehensive training and support will be offered to assist in the implementation of treatment programs and to lead group-based therapy, as directed by registered physiotherapy staff.

We are seeking motivated, creative, and enthusiastic individuals with a genuine interest in Mental Health Physiotherapy. You will receive regular professional and managerial supervision, with opportunities to further develop your skills in this specialist area.

Main duties of the job

This diverse role involves supporting registered physiotherapists in conducting physiotherapy assessments and developing management plans for patients referred to the service in both inpatient and community settings. Responsibilities will include assisting with specific assessments, implementing treatment techniques as directed by the registered practitioner, and facilitating group-based therapy sessions under their supervision.

Additionally, the role involves administrative support, including reading and writing clinical notes, managing emails, assisting with both electronic and paper documentation, and completing daily diary sheets.

The successful candidate may also have the opportunity to assist with equipment audits, reporting faulty equipment to the registered physiotherapist, collating patient information, and monitoring stock levels within the team.

Working for our organisation

EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;

• Season Ticket Loans
• NHS discounts for staff
• Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
• Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
• The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
• Day One Flexible Employer

The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment

Join our Staff bank

What is Staff Bank?

Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.

All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.

If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical:
• Carry out delegated 1:1 treatment/practice or teaching programs with patients independently or with the physiotherapist present. Treatment is always provided with or as directed by the physiotherapist
• Be able to use own initiative to adapt treatment programs where necessary to maintain patient care and feedback to appropriate qualified staff in a timely fashion
• To plan, manage and prioritise a defined workload independently with distant guidance from identified supervisor
• Be responsible for organising own clinical caseload and assistant led exercise groups
• Be able to independently evaluate progress of treatment and provide consistent feedback (written or verbal) to qualified staff

Administration:
• To support the administration of the team as required
• To complete necessary statistical information, e.g. daily diary sheets
• To note any faulty equipment and inform qualified staff
• To ensure work areas are kept clean and tidy

Professional:
• To maintain up to date, accurate record keeping of patients notes in line with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy professional guidelines and Trust policies
• Attend Professional meetings as required
• To undertake annual appraisal and to contribute constructively to the supervision process
• To comply with policies and agreed procedures for annual leave, sickness and time owing
• Any other duties as delegated by your Director or Chief Executive commensurate with the responsibilities of this post

Person specification

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Previous working experience in MH
• Experience of assisting registered professionals

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in MDT
• Knowledge of local community resources

Skills

Essential criteria

• Established and effective written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to use basic computer programs such as word and excel
• Self and time management skills

Desirable criteria

• Ability to set and maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Ability to act on own initiative and problem solve

Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered 'suitable alternative employment' to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Important Professional References

Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.

Equal Opportunities Employer

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Covid Vaccination

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.

If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing epunft.cv19hr@nhs.net.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 866.6KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 651.9KB)
• EPUT Pledge - Step into Health (PDF, 211.0KB)
• Candidate Privacy Policy (PDF, 336.6KB)
• Right to Work Information (PDF, 293.6KB)
• Employer Recognition Scheme - Gold Award (PDF, 27.7KB)
• Trust Vision and Values (PDF, 168.9KB)
• Values of the NHS Pension (PDF, 151.3KB)