Specialist Children's MSK Physiotherapist

Clinical – patient / client care

1.    To be responsible for own practice and accountable for all aspects of physiotherapy treatment and care delivered to the patient.  To ensure clinical effectiveness using evidence based practice.

2.    Manage the physiotherapeutic treatment of children with a range of conditions, including children with cognitive impairment or disabilities.

3.    To undertake highly specialist physiotherapy assessment and treatment as an autonomous practitioner, and support / advise colleagues where appropriate.

4.    To assess, diagnose and develop individual care/treatment plans for a range of paediatric conditions in conjunction with parents/carers, some of which will be highly complex or will be for patients with complex clinical, social and emotional needs.

5.    To be responsible for reassessing patient care as treatment progresses and alter treatment programmes as appropriate.

6.    Be able to analyse clinical and social information from a range of sources and integrate into physiotherapy assessment and development of care/treatment plan.

7.    To be a source of  MSK clinical expertise and advice for other physiotherapists in the team and colleagues in the acute services.

8.    To provide specialist advice on patient care to other health, social, educational and voluntary sector services.  This may involve negotiating or requesting changes to treatment programmes/care plans set by other paediatric professionals.

9.    Analyse and understand impact on child and physiotherapy treatment of various treatment plans/diagnosis from other disciplines.  This includes interpreting medical and educational and psychological assessments of the patient.

10.  Be responsible for maintaining a high standard of clinical practice using evidence based practice to ensure a high quality physiotherapy service.

11.  Be highly skilled in communicating with children of all ages who have a range of physical and psychological barriers to understanding eg. autism.

12.  Be able to motivate and persuade children of all ages, some with a range of complex conditions/disabilities to work with treatment programmes and work towards treatment goals. 

13  To initiate multi-disciplinary case meetings/team meetings to discuss individual patients or groups of patients when appropriate.

14.  Write reports in accordance with service procedures/guidelines and ensure timely delivery to other members of the wider care team. The position will require you to have, or to attain a working knowledge of best practice under the Special Educational Needs and Disability reforms which came into force on 1 September 2014.

As part of this you will need to be able to, or be willing to learn how to compile reports to contribute to an Education, Health, Care Plan via a physiotherapy assessment, and be able to complete reviews where necessary.

15.  Ensure good communication with patient carers, demonstrating the ability to discuss difficult diagnoses with tact and sympathy.  Managing distressed or aggressive patients or carers.  Attend and contribute verbally and write reports for Child Protection proceedings.

16.  To deal with complaints with tact and understanding to minimise escalation according to the Trust Complaints Policy.

17.  To observe confidentiality of records and health information and to share information with others in the interest of the child.  Observing the Data Protection and Caldecott Information in line with guidelines. 

18.  To work within Infection Control and Health & Safety guidelines in order to deal appropriately with unpleasant conditions related to client contact as they arise e.g. exposure to body fluids and infectious conditions encountered on a regular basis. 

19.  To undertake complex risk assessments and advise others in determining appropriate management especially relating to manual handling and safe use of equipment. 

Professional

20.  To demonstrate a sound understanding of clinical governance, including ability to audit own and teams practice.

21.  To use audit results, current research and government guidelines to recommend changes to service delivery and to clinical practice, demonstrating evidence based link to the development and improvement of clinical practice.

22.  Lead on aspects of changes in working practices and clinical practices of the physiotherapy team.  Ensure that where this impacts on the work of other health professionals or services they are informed and assisted with managing the changes to work organisation/service delivery.

23.   To work within standards set by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and national standards e.g. Nice guidance, NSK for children’s services and SEND reforms.

24.  To ensure timely referrals of clients to other services as appropriate.

25.  Be responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to-date patient records using EMIS templates.. 

Service Development/Management

26.  To participate in cross organisation/MDT working parties to develop clinical and policy changes within the paediatric service.  This may involve being the lead physiotherapy contributor to local treatment procedures and guidelines or improvements to cross organisational communication regarding patients.

27.  To be responsible for monitoring and developing high service standards and patient care.

28.  To have day to day operational management responsibilities for a defined team within the service.

29.  To act and deputise for the head of service as appropriate.

30.  Propose changes to service delivery within the paediatric team and implement when necessary, acting in partnership with the children’s physiotherapy service lead.

31.  To plan, organise and prioritise own patient caseload and to assist band 6 and therapy assistants to plan and prioritise delegated caseloads/work.

32.  Organise and manage appropriate delegation of patient care/work to therapy assistants.

33.  Plan, organise and deliver training to the physiotherapy team, members of the multi-disciplinary team and staff from other agencies.

34.  To organise the appraisal and assessment of other physiotherapists and therapy assistants for whom you have line management duties.

35.  Undertake own CPD, participate in peer reviews, and maintain up-to-date knowledge of specialty through research and work of clinical interest groups.

36.  Comply with the duties placed on employees by the Bromley Healthcare’s Health and Safety Policy and Related Procedures and to act in accordance with all instruction, information and training supplied in relation to those duties.