Job summary
Are you looking to develop your career within Specialist Palliative Care?

This will be the perfect opportunity for you! We are currently recruiting within the Community Specialist Palliative Care Service for an experienced Physiotherapist. The post holder will have the opportunity to continue to develop and grow their career within an innovative, collaborative, and experienced multi professional Specialist Palliative Care Service. The Specialist Palliative Care Service prides itself on supporting excellent symptom management and providing emotional support, enabling patients to be cared for according to their preferences. The team values close working relationships with clinicians in primary, secondary, and social care, as well as with the local hospice provider.

The post holder will develop advanced skills in the clinical assessment and management of palliative patients and will acquire the professional knowledge required to work towards autonomous patient assessment. This includes developing a rationale for initial treatment, and providing appropriate supportive management. The role will also require the ability to communicate complex and distressing information.

We have a strong commitment to personal and professional development across all professions. Continued professional development is central to retaining expertise within our speciality and to promoting and delivering quality and excellence in palliative and end of life care. We offer opportunities for professional development.

Main duties of the job
The Specialist Occupational Therapist provides specialist palliative occupational therapy input for a defined patient and carer population, practicing as an integral member of the multidisciplinary team. The post holder delivers care across agreed clinical settings and professional boundaries, working collaboratively with statutory, voluntary and hospice providers to support seamless, patient-centred care.

The role encompasses enhanced clinical assessment and decision-making, leadership in care coordination, contribution to education and practice development, and engagement with service evaluation and research. The post holder is accountable for delivering high quality, evidence based palliative care and works towards increased autonomy and advanced clinical competence within their scope of practice, seeking supervision and support as required.

About us
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides joined-up mental and physical healthcare for around two million people across our communities. With over 13,000 staff working in the community and local hospitals, we deliver care at every stage of life, helping people live their best and healthiest lives.

Our mental health services include community-based support and early intervention in psychosis (EIP) for both adults and young people, alongside a network of specialist inpatient wards covering forensic, learning disability, eating disorder and older person's care.

We deliver extensive physical health services too, from urgent community response teams helping frail and older patients remain safely at home, to hospitals at home teams providing acute-level care in familiar surroundings. Our neurological services offer rehabilitation and treatment for conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Head Injury, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. Across Hampshire, our community hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation as a step down from acute care, and our dedicated teams also staff Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Portsmouth, offering expert, compassionate support.

Everything we do is underpinned by our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence

Job responsibilities
Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

Qualifications
Essential

• Registered Occupational Therapist with education to Degree level or equivalent.
• Current Health Care Professions Council registration as an Occupational Therapist
• Advanced communications skills training or be prepared to work towards this.
• Evidence of Continuing Education
• Car driver with current licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes

Desirable

• Experience at delivering education
• Post graduate training or equivalent experience with deteriorating, life-limiting conditions
• Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapists
• Advanced Communication Qualification
• Level 5 Leadership Courses
• Experience in posture management

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

At present, the Trust is unable to offer Skilled Worker visa sponsorship for this post. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK at the time of application.