Go back East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Therapy Assistant Practitioner
The closing date is 08 April 2026
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full-time Band 4 Therapy Assistant Practitioner working within the Ipswich East Integrated Neighbourhood Team. We are a busy dynamic team who actively support staff new to the community.
We would consider a Band 3 developmental role to Band 4.
The Ipswich East Integrated Neighbourhood Team is based at Constantine House, 5 Constantine Road, Ipswich IP1 2DH. You will be required to work across the Ipswich East area, and the wider community services to meet service requirements. The team consists of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, District & Community nurses, Assistant practitioners, generic workers and social care workers. The Therapy team is led by a Band 7 Therapy Lead with an INT manager managing all teams within the INT.
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Main duties of the job
Under the supervision of a registered Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist, you will be expected:
* To manage a designated caseload of patients.
* 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 and 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.
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 and 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 (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer 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 and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.
Find out about living and working here -www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A
Job responsibilities
Do you enjoy problem solving and demonstrating compassion in motivating people to seek independence?
Please get in touch to discuss the post if you have any questions. We would be happy to speak to you and answer your questions.
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Can demonstrate intermediate level of theoretical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills acquired through coursework, in-house training and experience to NVQ Level 3 level or equivalent
* Assistant member of Professional group such as CSP or BAOT or working towards this
* Membership or special interest in a community care and integration
Experience
* Experience as a Therapy assistant or experience at a similar level in a related field of health care / health and fitness / social care sector
* Demonstrable experience of delivering tailored personal care
* Completion of Integrated Therapies assistant core and/or specific competencies or equivalent
* Experience of rehab and reablement of patients of patients
* Knowledge of community resources and whole systems/ pathways approach to care
* Experience of working across and liaising with variety of teams
Knowledge
* Ability to work on own initiative without direct supervision
* Able to maintain clinical records and complete basic reports.
* Ability to provide and receive complex and sensitive information
* Knowledge of basic medical conditions and Understanding the impact of illness and disability on individuals/families
* Knowledge of roles of the MDT
* Understanding of the role and application of occupational therapy and physiotherapy
* Understanding of reablement in the ward and community setting
Skills
* Good written and verbal communication skills
* Willingness and ability to travel across Ipswich and East Suffolk using own or pool transport
* Teaching skills for use with patients etc.
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
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