Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key results from the job holder

• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated area of work and to plan and organise efficiently and effectively with regard to patients management and use of time.
• To maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments, and incorporate them as necessary into your work.
• To decide priorities for own work area, balancing other patient related and professional demands, and ensure that they remain in accordance with those of the section as a whole.
• To work within an interdisciplinary team (IDT) to provide physical, functional, psychological and emotional rehabilitation as part of a holistic approach to patients with neurological dysfunction.

Planning and Organisational Duties

• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients in your care. To ensure high standards of holistic clinical care for the patients under your management, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• Post holders are required to work independently, guided by defined clinical and professional guidelines. Access to a more senior physiotherapist is available when necessary. Clinical work is evaluated on a regular basis.
• To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to form accurate diagnosis and prognosis in a wide range of conditions, to recommend the best course of intervention, and to develop comprehensive discharge plans.
• To undertake the comprehensive assessment of patients, including those with a complex presentation, using investigative and analytical skills and to formulate patient centred treatment plans, using clinical reasoning and utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options to formulate a programme of rehabilitation
• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients, and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time
• To accept partial responsibility for any tasks delegated to less senior qualified or unqualified staff.
• To demonstrate appropriately developed dexterity, co-ordination and palpatory senses for assessment and manual treatment of patients.
• To maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments, and incorporate them as necessary into your work.
• To undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of evidence based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with team leader. Use information gained to make recommendations for change.
• To decide priorities for own work area, balancing other patient related and professional demands, and ensure that they remain in accordance with those of the section as a whole.
•  To be responsible for ensuring the effective selection and use of all treatment modalities available, both on the community settings and hospital sites.
• To maintain records, comprehensive and up-to-date documentation, in line with legal and departmental requirements and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in form of reports and letters.
• To be actively involved in the collection of appropriate local, regional and national data and statistics for the use of the physiotherapy service and neurosciences.
•  To comply with the organisational and departmental policies and procedures and to participate in the reviewing and updating, as appropriate.
• To demonstrate a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management and apply to work situation.

Communications and Key Working Relationships

• To work within an interdisciplinary team (IDT) to provide physical, functional, psychological and emotional rehabilitation as part of a holistic approach to patients with neurological dysfunction.
• To support the team leader in developing policy changes within neurosciences.
• To assist the team leader in ensuring that designated staff implement policy and service development changes.
• To work with the team leader and therapy lead in developing the operational management of the orthopaedic physiotherapy service.
• To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential. Use communication skills such as persuasion, motivation, explanation to encourage patients to undertake their rehabilitation programme in line with patient orientated goals.
• To use communication tools (verbal and non-verbal) to gain informed consent where there will often be barriers to effective communication, e.g. challenging behaviours, impaired cognition, anxiety, dysphasia, etc. to assist rehabilitation.
• To assess capacity, gain valid consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• To communicate complex patient-related information (as well as non-patient information) effectively and work collaboratively with medical, nursing and therapy colleagues to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service. This will include case conferences, ward rounds, attendance at specialist services appointments, consultant appointments and discharge planning meetings.
• To advise the team leader and therapy lead on ordering, monitoring and maintaining equipment used in carrying out physiotherapy duties and to adhere to departmental policy, including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training and supervision of practice.
• To deputise for the team leader in terms of operational issues, as required.

Responsibility for Finance

• To identify deficits in resources required to carry out the job and bring to the attention of the Therapist
• To be responsible for the monitoring of materials and equipment and maintain stocks
• To maintain timely statistics and other records as requested by the Therapy Service and the Trust.

Responsibility for Human Resources

• To assist the team leader to educate, supervise and performance manage more junior staff, trainee assistant practitioners, physiotherapy assistants and students. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.
• To participate in the staff appraisal scheme and personal development plan (PDP) as both appraiser and appraisee

Responsibility for Health & Safety

Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 – the post holder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

Responsibility for Teaching

• Supervise, educate and assess the performance of physiotherapy students; this would be to a graduate standard and involve working with Universities to ensure the standard of practice and teaching meets the standard set by the degree level qualification.
• To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of physiotherapy, and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
• To provide advice and support to physiotherapy colleagues working within other clinical areas (out-patient departments, sub-acute sites and other in-patient specialities) regarding patients with neurological dysfunction.
• To provide advice, teaching and training to other members of the IDT/MDT regarding the management of patients with neurological conditions.
• To be an active member of the in-service training programme by the attendance and delivering of presentations and training sessions at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions in house and by attending external courses and practising reflective practic