Band 4 Therapy Support Worker - Short Stay Therapy

Job summary

ARE YOU WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR, DO YOU ASPIRE TO BE AN EXCELLENT GENERIC THERAPY SUPPORT WORKER BASED IN OUR THERAPY TEAM? The successful candidate will work under the supervision of qualified therapists and will be based at the Good Hope site.

The post will combine competencies from predominately physiotherapy and occupational therapy disciplines. The role includes working as part of an MDT to assess patients to determine the most appropriate treatments, rehabilitation and discharge destination. You will work in range of areas, to include: Short Stay, wards and OPAL, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions wherever possible.

The candidate should have experience working as an OT/PT or generic therapy support worker and should hold an NVQ 3 or equivalent. You should be able to work independently as well as part of a team and demonstrate excellent communication, clinical reasoning and prioritisation skills. This will involve accepting patients referred by the therapists for treatment, working unsupervised, reporting back regarding patient progress, informing the therapists of any problems and maintaining appropriate records.

You will be supported with any training requirements to be able to complete the role coupled with plenty of training opportunities, both on the job and training provided by others outside of the team.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

To use specialised technical skills to assist in the physical, psychological and functional maintenance, treatment or rehabilitation of patients in the specified clinical area.

To facilitate discharge of patients or transfer of care to a more appropriate health care setting working in collaboration with the wider MDT. To be responsible for delegated aspects of clinical intervention, working without direct supervision and providing feedback to the Registered Therapist regarding assessment of patient progress.

Facilitate planning/preparation of and accompany registered therapists on home visits.

Assess patients with a view to preventing admission or ensuring length of stay in hospital is limited.

The post holder will require a flexible approach. Excellent team working, organisational and time management skills are essential. There are many opportunities to extend scope of practice within this role in the teams.

We are committed to continued professional and career development of all staff. This role includes participation in a weekend cover rota. Hours vary depending on area working in.

If you would like any further information about this role please contact Lorraine Garratty Clinical team leader of the Health Care for Older People and Short Stay Therapy teams on 0121 424 7798. Pager 2284/Craig Colton Short Stay Therapy Team leader on 0121 424 9666

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is an equal opportunities employer and enforces a no smoking policy.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;
Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

Job description

*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description* 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

*Education to GCSE level or equivalent including English and maths at grade C or above

*Able to demonstrate competence in maths and written and spoken English

*Educated to A Level / NVQ 4/ BTEC or equivalent (e.g. NVQ 3 or similar vocational qualification PLUS 2 years' experience working in a care setting)

*Care certificate or be willing to work towards this

Desirable

*Evidence of recent education / personal development related to Healthcare.

*Demonstrated has been proactive with continuing professional development

Experience

Essential

*Comprehensive experience supporting therapists in a relevant clinical setting

*Comprehensive experience of delivering acute inpatient rehabilitation programmes across a variety of clinical settings with evidence of MDT collaboration and hospital discharge planning

*Can demonstrate an in depth understanding of relevant areas of therapy, the effect of illness/clinical conditions / disability on function and health and basic aims of rehabilitation

*Comprehensive understanding of the role of therapy support worker in the relevant area

*Understanding of confidentiality and data protection in healthcare

Desirable

*Experience of communicating with and motivating patients who may have communication difficulties

*Good understanding of working on Acute hospital wards

*Experience of working in an Acute Health Setting

*Good understanding of working environment --healthcare/NHS/UHB trust/acute care/community as applicable

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

For help with your application, contact: 

Lorraine Garratty 

Lorraine.Garratty@uhb.nhs.uk 

01214247798