East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Generic Therapy Assistant Practitioner
The closing date is 11 March 2026
We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 4 General Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join the inpatient Medical Team at Ipswich Hospital.
We are looking for an individual who is confident, professional and keen to develop their skills and knowledge under the supervision of qualified therapists, working across the inpatient medical wards which include Cardiac, Respiratory, Renal, Oncology, General Medical wards. We have an in‑service training programme, regular 1:1 supervision and Performance Development Reviews.
If you are interested in working with our medical team, please contact either Julie Burrows (Julie.burrows@esneft.nhs.uk, 01473 702071) or Anna Waters (anna.waters@esneft.nhs.uk, 01473 702071) and we would be happy to discuss the post with you.
Main duties of the job
* To manage and organise a designated caseload of patients and own professional activities across the hospital wards.
* To provide specific skilled support to the registered therapists in providing technical therapy interventions to patients in a variety of settings.
* To use an evidence‑based, person‑centred approach in the planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of agreed interventions following guidelines and protocols to promote the functional fitness of patients to aid discharge from hospital in a way that is consistent with their abilities, preferences and cultural beliefs.
* To be able to work flexibly over a 7‑day service.
* To communicate complex and sensitive information effectively to patients using skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, negotiation and empathy. There may be barriers to understanding such as hearing loss, speech difficulty, anxiety, fear and depression.
* To work with patients and carers to identify therapy goals for safe, timely discharge, using specialist, standardised assessment tools to assess their skills deficits and functional needs.
* In collaboration with the patient, to plan and implement a programme of interventions using treatment techniques to meet the patients' needs for safe timely discharge. These will be achieved using professional, theoretical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills.
About us
We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes. We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.
We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training & development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.
Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (if applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offers a variety of services.
Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.
We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.
If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills & knowledge, then we want to hear from you. Find out about living & working here YouTube.
Job responsibilities
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.
Person Specification
Experience
* Experience as a Therapy Assistant or experience at a similar level in a related field of health and social care.
* Demonstrable experience of delivering tailored personal care with an associated level of senior responsibility.
* Knowledge of medical conditions and functional needs within medical, surgical or similar context.
* Completion of Integrated Therapies assistant core and/or specific competencies at Band 3 or 4 level or similar in a health and social care setting.
* Knowledge of discharge pathways from the acute/community hospital settings.
* Knowledge of discharge to assess services across health and social care.
* Knowledge of community services.
* Experience of working across and liaising with a variety of teams.
Qualifications
* Can demonstrate intermediate level of theoretical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills acquired through coursework, in‑house training and experience to NVQ/Diploma Level 3 or equivalent.
* Care Certificate or working towards completion of Care Certificate.
Knowledge
* Ability to provide and receive complex and sensitive information.
* Ability to exchange condition‑related information with MDT, patients and carers.
* Ability to manage communication difficulties/barriers.
* Able to evidence ability to plan, prioritise and maintain own clinical caseload.
* Knowledge of role of therapy in Acute Care.
* Able to demonstrate role and duties to MDT and community colleagues.
* Able to delegate appropriate aspects of patient care to other support workers.
* Understanding of the role and application of occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
* Experience of group work with patients.
* Ability to plan and deliver range of prescribed interventions.
* Ability to prescribe and implement care programmes to facilitate timely discharge for patients.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
£27,485 to £30,162 a year (pro rata)
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