Physiotherapy Associate Practitioner

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Newcastle Frailty Virtual Ward (FVW) plays a vital role in supporting frailty patients at their usual place of residence, both preventing hospital admissions and supporting early discharge. This geriatrician-led team enables the medical management of acute illness and frailty syndromes with the patient supported in their own environment, supplemented by additional members of the frailty multidisciplinary team.

Patients will be referred to the FVW from ‘Front of House’ (Emergency Department (ED), Assessment Suite (AS), ‘Back of House’ (ward step-down, initially from Older People’s Medicine (OPM) wards) and Community ‘step-up’ locations. Following initial assessment to confirm diagnoses, eligibility and both acute and long-term care needs, patients will be admitted to the FVW and a multidisciplinary management plan devised and communicated to patient and carers. This may involve interventions from geriatricians, specialist community nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dementia and delirium specialist nurses, pharmacists and health care assistants (HCA).

Working in partnership with the patient to achieve their goals, the team will ensure the patient has the appropriate follow up in place; home visits will be conducted as indicated by patient status, with regular face to face visits likely to be established initially, but later reviews may be conducted by telephone or video. While on the FVW, patients will have access to most of the medical treatments available in hospital.

The successful candidate will have awareness of current evidence based approaches to patient care and be confident in evaluating care plans and assessing ongoing needs within own level of competency, documenting changes accordingly and maintaining accurate electronic records in accordance with Trust Policy. The successful candidate will also have excellent communication skills both with patients and their relatives and/or carers including in advising service users on prevention of illness and accidents, but also with the wider MDT and have good knowledge of frailty and its management.

Lone working is a significant part of the role and the candidate should be familiar with the Trust lone working policy. Lone working safety devices will be available to staff. 

• To undertake specific skilled support work to aid the Physiotherapy team in the efficient and effective delivery of Physical Rehabilitation to patients within speciality area within the framework of clinical governance
• To accept a patient caseload referred by a physiotherapist according to specific criteria. To treat patients according to set protocols, monitoring patient progress, modifying and progressing patient treatment programmes as required, with referral back to physiotherapists as/when appropriate 
• To carry out basic assessment and treatment of non-complex patients as delegated by the physiotherapist (to include basic chest physiotherapy and mobility protocols) 
• To provide and deliver individualised exercise programmes 
• To accurately record rehabilitation progress as per Trust documentation / database including physiotherapeutic outcome measures
• To undertake a clinical caseload within speciality area , without supervision for at least 50% of the time within protocols and guidelines set by the designated physiotherapist
• To coordinate, supervise and teach junior therapy assistants

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