Band 5 Rotational Physiotherapist

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Communication 

• To ensure patient understanding regarding planned interventions and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment 

• To gain appropriate advice and liaise with senior staff in relation to the management of more complex patients 

• To be able to contribute to the effective working of a physiotherapy team. This will involve working with other team members to manage the work load and to also assist in imparting knowledge to colleagues as required 

• To be able to motivate and persuade patients, carers and other staff through effective communication skills (verbal and non-verbal skills) for example, patients with communication difficulties, hearing or sight impairments, memory loss, mental illness or those who may be unable to accept diagnosis 

• To demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff, where there may be barriers to communication i.e. non-English speaking patients, communication impairment, and cognitive impairment, use of interpreters, excess noise or lack of privacy 

• To maintain close links though communication and liaison between the multi-disciplinary team members and other patient services involved in patient care to ensure effective treatment and discharge, participating in case conferences as appropriate 

Responsibility for patient care/analysis and judgement  

• To carry out assessments of patients as an autonomous practitioner, using clinical reasoning skills, to determine an accurate diagnosis and care plan, utilising a wide range of assessment skills 

• To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to form accurate diagnoses. These are drawn from a wide range of information sources including but not exclusive to medical notes, nursing notes, web-based information services and patient computer databases  

• To formulate goals/clinical objectives with patients/carers/relatives and other health professionals and continually re-assess patients to evaluate progress, and alter treatment programmes accordingly 

• To formulate and deliver an individual physiotherapy treatment programme based on a sound knowledge of evidence based practice including; manual and electrotherapy techniques, therapeutic handling, patient education, exercise classes, and other alternative options 

• To co-ordinate intervention, this may include other disciplines and /or referral to members of the multidisciplinary team for further investigation where appropriate 

• To represent the physiotherapy service at the multi-disciplinary team meetings. This will include discussion of patient care and progress, risk assessment, and involvement in discharge planning and referral to intermediate care services, making recommendations for best course of intervention as appropriate 

• To be involved in co-ordinating home visits with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to facilitate a patient's safe return into the community, and subsequently making recommendations for best course of action with regards to discharge planning 

• To be responsible for maintenance of accurate written and electronic records, involving comprehensive progress and discharge reports, in line with CSP and Trust standards and to monitor the record keeping of undergraduate students and assistants where necessary 

• To manage clinical risk within own patient caseload at all times with appropriate support from senior staff 

• To use developed physical skills, including dexterity, co-ordination and sensory skills for therapy assessment and treatment techniques in all clinical settings. These skills require regular supervision and practice sessions in order to maintain the sensitivity and specificity of handling 

• To carry out assessments and treatments involving moderate physical effort frequently throughout the day 

• To comply with trust manual handling policy and local therapeutic handling guidelines at all times 

• To work in an environment where the work patterns may be disrupted by demands from patients, clinical staff, students and administrative support staff 

• To actively participate in lone working in the emergency out of hours on call rota once assessed as competent 

• To be mentally alert when responding to the stressful situation of an emergency on-call bleep at any stage of an on-call period (24hrs) 

• To sensitively deal with distressing or emotional circumstances regarding patient care such as realistic expectations of rehabilitation outcome, difficult family and social circumstances or terminally ill patients which may lead to exposure to anxiety and aggressive behaviour 

• To be frequently exposed to unpleasant working conditions e.g. bodily fluids including sputum, vomit, urine, faeces and some infections, hydrotherapy chemicals and occasional exposure to verbal or physical aggression and unpredictable environments including patients homes 

Planning and organisation  

• To flexibly plan and organise own time, prioritise patient caseload, administrative duties and meetings (including ward, departmental and service development meetings) and respond to unpredictable workloads, working conditions and frequent interruptions 

• To assist senior staff to delegate, organise and monitor the work of assistants, undergraduate students and technical instructors to meet priorities on a daily basis 

• To assist the senior staff in ensuring an efficient system for the organisation and management of waiting lists for patient classes/group work 

Responsibility for policy and service development implementation  

• To contribute to evaluation of clinical effectiveness within the service and support Trust and departmental strategies regarding clinical governance issues  

• To contribute to research surveys, audits and evaluation activity or other projects  

within the department, underpinned by appropriate methodology and documentation 

• To complete an evidence based project on each rotation and present back to colleagues 

• To ensure a good working knowledge of national and local standards 

• To actively assist in the implementation of new policies and practice in the current area of practice in the department 

Responsibility for physical resources 

• To be competent in the use/application of specialised equipment 

• To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment used in the course of patients' treatment programmes