Musculo-skeletal Outpatient Practitioner

To liaise with other physiotherapists as necessary regarding patient care and arrange outpatient /community /clinic appointments when required. 

To be an active member within the team and ensure good communication skills with other professions both verbally and in writing e.g., in the patients’ notes and be responsible for the writing of legal reports when necessary.  

To communicate effectively with other disciplines outside the immediate team both internally and externally to ensure an ongoing multidisciplinary approach to care. This communication will be both verbal and written such as by providing clinic letters, transfer reports. 

To initiate and maintain contacts with local and national clinical interest groups appropriate to the clinical field. 

To be able to motivate others through effective communication skills. 

To communicate effectively with patients with a variety of communication difficulties e.g., blind, deaf, dysphasic, and for people who do not have English as their first language, on a one-to-one level and to enable the patient to integrate in group activities.  This will involve the effective use of verbal, written, pictorial, tactile and visual communication tools. 

Educate patients, carers, and relevant MDT staff on a range of topics including therapeutic positioning, exercises, mobility activities and advice and education with regards to patient condition 

Use advanced empathetic, tactful, and interpersonal skills to encourage and empower patients and carers to maximise patients’ rehabilitation potential, giving opportunity for unloading / sharing of concerns and issues and providing informal counselling. 

To be able to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff including imparting unwelcome news. 

To be able to manage potentially complex situations where patients, relatives or colleagues have voiced concerns, or where there is confrontation. To be able to manage situation sensitively and in accordance with trust policies, seeking senior support where required.  

To be a patient advocate when required and liaise with those involved in patient care. 

To be able to deliver important clinical information and advice to patients and carers in a class or group setting, e.g., Rehabilitation classes. 

To ensure timely and effective communication with the Physiotherapy Manager and Senior Staff on all professional matters. 

To attend and be an active participant in relevant peer group and departmental staff meetings. 

To be aware of the standard information available for patients and use it appropriately.  

Keep accurate and comprehensive documentation of all patient contact in line with CSP standards and local guidelines.  

To initiate and maintain contacts with local and national clinical interest groups, appropriate to the clinical field. 

Respond promptly and appropriately to telephone enquiries / messages/ e-mails received. 

To have effective telephone communication skills, thus enabling the assessing and giving of advice to patients over the telephone in Physio Direct. 

To be responsible for implementing within your clinical practice, the relevant standards, and policies, including those applicable to the Trust, and wider policies and guidelines, for example set by the CSP / NICE etc. 

To ensure that as an individual practitioner the post holder advises the Team Lead and Physiotherapy Manager of any changes to the service to ensure quality and effectiveness of care for their patients. 

To work with the physiotherapy team to provide an efficient and effective service. 

Be involved in the proposal/development and implementation of departmental policies, pathways, guidelines etc. 

To comply with fire, health & safety, universal precautions, infection control measures and all other departmental policies. 

To report all complaints/incidents to the immediate senior member of staff and document accordingly. 

To identify areas where the service is not working as effectively or efficiently as possible and liaise with line manager, offering reasoned ideas for solutions. 

To propose and make changes to working practices in consultation with the team lead where applicable. To support the ongoing development and improvements of Physiotherapy services. 

To work a rostered 7-day service when implemented. 

To ensure that junior members of the team are informed of developments and changes and that they work to these standards. 

To assist in the supervision of Band 5 physiotherapists, physiotherapy technicians, and physiotherapy students on clinical placements. 

To share responsibility for the training of students on placement, juniors, technicians, and assistants within the clinical area. Being proactive with teaching in practical situations, assessing competencies, delivering good quality in-service training.   

To participate in the Trust Appraisal Scheme both as an appraiser and an appraisee. 

To carry out role as an appraisee by appraising staff in-line with department appraisal guidelines, at least annually and jointly helping devise learning needs, objectives, and development plans for staff.  

To give staff ongoing support to aid them in achieving their objectives. 

To have a role in organising relevant in-service training programmes and supporting its delivery 

To communicate on a regular basis with staff regarding the trust’s objectives, plans and business developments. 

To discuss expected outcomes of training and development activity with staff prior to attending training events. 

To discuss outcomes with staff after attending training and development activity and to assist staff to transfer, develop and use new skills acquired. 

To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through continued professional development activities and recording this in a portfolio and in the KSF document. 

To keep abreast of all new developments which includes activities such as attending IST, relevant study days and reading current literature. 

To be pro-active regarding learning from senior staff and peers within the department 

To maintain a high standard of clinical care using evidence-based practices and evaluate the outcomes. 

To be responsible as an autonomous practitioner to undertake a significant clinical caseload and identifying signs of serious pathology and refer on to appropriate specialists. 

To undertake the comprehensive triage and assessment of patients including those with complex presentation using investigative and analytical skills. To seek guidance from Senior staff as required and give guidance to junior staff. 

To devise an individualised management and/or treatment plan, using clinical reasoning skills, utilising a range of treatment options and evidence-based practice. 

To be able to devise and lead specialist treatments which may include group work, e.g., in-patient pulmonary rehabilitation, back class. 

To demonstrate a sound understanding of clinical governance, clinical risk and to demonstrate the use of treatment plans with an evidence-based link. 

To demonstrate physical ability to carry out assessment and interventions, including highly developed manual techniques and therapeutic handling. There is sometimes a requirement to exert moderate physical effort for some periods of the day. 

To be responsible for implementing within your clinical practice, the relevant standards, and policies. 

To demonstrate the trust values and attitudes regarding the management of patients and everyday working with colleagues. 

To seek guidance from senior staff as required and to give guidance to more junior staff. 

To be responsible for the safe use of equipment used in carrying out duties, adhering to the department’s medical devices policy. This includes competence and accuracy to use equipment by yourself and other healthcare professionals, carers, and patients e.g., monitoring and maintaining the safety and condition of the gym equipment. 

To be able to manage potentially stressful, upsetting, or emotional situations in an empathetic manner including patients with chronic pain presentations and psychosocial problems. 

To be solely responsible for leading outpatient classes including hydrotherapy, conditioning lower limb, dynamic lower limb, back and shoulder classes. 

To be able to assess and treat patients over the phone on the physio direct advice line.