Job overview
The Islington Urgent Community Response Team (UCRT) is a multidisciplinary team co-located with Adult Social Care, comprising Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Rehabilitation Assistants. The remit of team is to provide client centred intervention for service users, which promotes independence, prevents unnecessary hospital admission, and reduces the length of stay for those admitted to hospital. Intervention can take place in the clients own home or place of residence.
The Team Leader post is responsible for the day to day management of the UCRT therapy team and delivery of the community therapy service to adults living in Islington.
To fulfil the role of Clinical Specialist Therapist, acting as an expert advisor for the team, in the assessment of adults in the community with highly complex physical disabilities.
To ensure that all therapists in UCRT maintain high clinical and professional standards of practice.
To ensure that all staff achieve and maintain appropriate levels of education and continuing professional development.
To keep up-to-date with developments in urgent response and intermediate care, undertaking audit to evaluate practice and participating in research as appropriate.
To work in closely with the Service Manager with the organisation and management of the therapy service in particular clinical development.
Main duties of the job
To be professional and legally accountable for all work undertaken.
To independently screen and assess complex multidisciplinary referrals from a variety of sources where no other professional is currently involved. To be able establish priority, to determine needs and initiate a plan of intervention pathway. To direct and support staff of all professionals in this process
To ensure that the client and those who may be acting in best interests on their behalf has an understanding of treatment proposals and gives informed consent to examination and treatment. This will necessitate the use of a range of communication approaches.
To undertake a highly specialised assessment of the presenting client, including those with highly complex needs e.g. Falls, Respiratory, musculo-skeletal, post-surgical, acute and chronic disease. This is carried out through subjective questioning, objective examination and understanding other professionals’ entries in the notes.
To prioritise factors involved in a client’s presenting condition through advanced clinical reasoning, based on a highly specialised knowledge of current professional opinion, client prognosis and other physical and mental health issues. To set and maintain a high standard of clinical practice using standardised assessments and outcome measures.
To set goals to treatment with the client and/or their carer that are client centred and agreed by the client and/or their carer.
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To manage a clinical caseload.
To use highly developed time management skills to respond to demands from clients and staff on a daily basis. Managing own diary in respect of the teams’ priorities e.g. caseload, IST, supervision and meetings.
To participate in the Trust appraisal and supervision schemes
To be responsible for the efficient day-to-day running of the team, ensuring adequate OT and physiotherapy cover in the event of leave and sickness absence.
To ensure that all therapy staff in the team receive regular line management, supervision and an annual appraisal.
To provide individual clinical supervision for staff in specialist community teams in accordance with the Trust policy.
To prioritise, manage and monitor referrals, waiting lists and workloads on a day-to-day basis.
To ensure that accurate and evaluative records of client care are maintained in accordance with the Team, and Trust guidelines and policies
To attend, actively participate, and as required initiate and lead multidisciplinary meetings and case conferences.
To input and retrieve computerised information and supervise and support other staff to do so.
To deputise for the Service Manager when required.
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria
1. Degree qualification in physiotherapy or occupational therapy
2. Current registration with HCPC
Desirable criteria
3. Evidence of a Post-Graduate qualification.
Skills
Essential criteria
4. Able to communicate highly complex and sensitive information effectively in written, verbal and presentational form to patients, staff, GPs and other senior clinicians in an environment which challenges preconceptions about care of patients.
5. Clinical leadership skills, including development of evidence based practice guidelines and leading on service improvements.
6. Evidence of experience supervising staff
Knowledge
Essential criteria
7. Extensive experience as a clinical therapist, including working in a Highly Specialist Community physiotherapy role.
8. Demonstrate the ability to liaise with other health and social care professionals to optimise patient care. This will include an appreciation and understanding of the investigations that can be used to aid the diagnosis and management of patients.
9. Demonstrate the ability to develop expert knowledge in devising and implementing a management programme for total patient care.
10. Understanding of issues involved in offering a service to a diverse community, and of practical ways to ensure that the service is culturally appropriate and accessible.
11. General knowledge of current NHS developments and policy
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
12. Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
13. Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
14. Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
15. Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
16. Participate in required training and supervision.
17. Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.