Main area Older persons Therapy Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract 6 months (The post is being recruited on a fixed‑term basis due to temporary service requirements, including current reliance on bank cover and the need to maintain safe staffing levels.) Hours
* Full time
* Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (1 weekend every 8 weeks) Job ref 153-SP05723
Employer University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal Bournemouth Hospital Town Bournemouth Salary £27,485 - £30,162 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 16/03/2026 23:59
Therapy Assistant Practitioner
NHS AfC: Band 4
As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.
We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £500m transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state‑of‑the‑art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.
In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.
We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.
We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.
At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.
As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.
We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their application. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of your own experience and suitability. Personal integrity is an important part of the recruitment process.
Job overview
We are thrilled to announce an exciting opportunity for a full time Band 4 Therapy Assistant Practitioner within the Older Persons Services Therapy team based at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. The successful post holder will support our registered physiotherapists and occupational therapists to provide high level assessments and interventions of older persons across our acute inpatient wards, to support early mobilisation and functional activity, baseline assessment and rehabilitation to optimise the recovery and safe, timely discharge of acutely unwell older people.
During a time of transformation, now is a fantastic time to join University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. As an organisation we are looking to the future and designing exceptional services to meet the needs of our population. Apply to join our innovative and dynamic team today!
Location: Bournemouth Hospital
Main duties of the job
Experience of working in a therapeutic role with older people, in an acute hospital or community setting is essential. You would need to manage your patient caseload with support from registered therapists. The post holder will need to be able to speak English as necessary for the role.
The Key responsibilities would require you to work alongside the supporting multidisciplinary team, assessing and rehabilitating the older person and enabling them to return to their pre‑admission level of independence wherever possible and ensuring patients do not decondition whilst waiting for discharge.
You will be provided with support and training opportunities to enable you to meet your competencies. We have a structure in house training programme and a supportive team of clinical staff.
Administrative responsibilities will be required within this role to support the registered therapists. You would be expected to support the updating of IT systems, contribute to the planning of the daily work and support our in house training programme.
You must be a car driver with a full driving licence and ideally have access to your own car. The role may include assessing patients in their own homes with support from registered clinicians.
Working for our organisation
UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service‑specific questions at interview.
If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions.
UHD has active networks including Women’s, BAME, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes.
AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Integrity is key to our recruitment process.
For UHD employees, this fixed‑term post will be offered as a secondment in line with the Trust’s Secondment Policy. Please speak with your line manager before applying.
We cannot offer sponsorship for this position due to the length of contract.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
* To work as part of the multi‑disciplinary team to provide a Therapy service to patients by managing a caseload of patients from specified diagnostic groups.
* To organise and be responsible for own caseload on a daily basis.
* To carry out functional assessments to determine the patient’s level of independence and commencing discharge planning including referrals to external service providers.
* To assess for and provide equipment in the patient’s home environment to promote independence and safety.
* To identify patients who require a home assessment. Completing these visits as appropriate under guidance of qualified therapist or referring those with more complex needs to a qualified Therapist.
* To cover for the other Therapy Support staff within the team and carry out Therapy Interventions on the wards as required.
* To ensure all assessments, treatments and discharge planning is discussed with a qualified therapist
Person specification
Qualifications
* Foundation Degree in health or assistant practitioner qualification equivalent.
* Or another relevant qualification.
* Attainment of competencies gained from multi‑professional team working
Experience
* Previous work as a Therapy Assistant or equivalent
* Working with adult patients with chronic disease or multiple pathologies
* Previous experience working in an acute setting
* Working within a multidisciplinary team.
* Experience of evaluation, standard setting and evidence based practice within a healthcare/ rehabilitation setting
* Ability to assess a patient with specific objective assessment tools, sometimes without supervision
* Ability to work independently on own initiative with guidance/supervision from qualified staff, mainly at a distance.
* Effective time management and organisational skills.
* Ability to manage own caseload when necessary
* Basic computer literacy.
* Ability to act on own initiative, eg responding to an emergency situation
Knowledge
* General knowledge of Elderly care pathologies.
* The effects of physical and cognitive impairment, on skills abilities and lifestyle
* Basic rehabilitation techniques.
* Exercise prescription and monitoring eg of physiological signs during exercise
* Health and safety responsibilities.
* Data protection and patient confidentiality
* General knowledge of relevant medical conditions.
* Audit
Other requirements specific to the role
* Ability to drive, hold a clean driving license and access to a car for work purposes.
* Ability to move and handle patients and equipment using approved techniques.
Personal Attributes
* Well motivated.
* Able to work independently when required with rational, safe clinical reasoning skills.
* Able to take direction from senior staff and work well within a team
* Empathy with older people.
* Ability to recognize boundaries of own job role.
* Highly organised with excellent time management skills and able to organize own workload on a day to day basis.
* Good verbal communication skills both face to face and over the telephone.
* Ability to document results of interventions clearly and concisely.Ability to establish rapport.
* Basic teaching skills.
* Ability to engage, motivate and inspire patients.
* Confident in dealing with difficult situations e.g. aggressive behaviour, conflict.
Language requirement
* Be able to speak English as necessary to undertake the role
Please note:
Staff recruited are expected to be available to work flexibly across all our Trust locations to meet service demands.
This advert may be closed early if sufficient applications are received.
COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst this vaccination is not a condition of employment we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated.
Internal Candidates: staff employed prior to merger who voluntarily change jobs will be appointed to UHD terms and conditions.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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