Job summary
BAND 6 PHYSIOTHERAPIST - ROTATIONAL Full-time (37.5 hours per week) | Permanent

We are pleased to offer an opportunity to join our forward-thinking Integrated Therapy Team, consisting of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians and assistants working seamlessly together. Our diverse Band 6 rotations include:

• Stroke/Neuro
• Acute Medicine
• ICU/Cardio-Respiratory/General Surgery
• Orthopaedics

Rotations are eight months, giving you time to develop and embed new skills, as well as play a key role in service development ideas and projects before transferring these to your next rotational area. We have a strong positive relationship with our community partners enabling us to work closely together.

We offer excellent supervision, training and skill development opportunities within each specialism provided by supportive clinicians and opportunities to build on skills such as student/junior supervision, audits and service development projects.

We have a strong reputation for home grown career progression through welcoming every new team member and supporting them to settle, develop and grow. We are large enough to offer a number of rotational experiences but small enough to be able to respond quickly in delivering services in response to patient needs.

Main duties of the job
You will be responsible for your own complex caseload consisting of patients with a variety of different conditions and lead on the development of junior colleagues. Good prioritisation, organisational and time management skills will be needed to balance clinical and non-clinical duties.

You will be responsible for ensuring the use of advanced effective assessment skills to identify appropriate patients and to formulate, implement and evaluate individualised treatment and rehabilitation plans, some of which will be specialist in nature, based on expert analytical and clinical reasoning skills. You will need advanced communication skills to ensure a successful multidisciplinary approach to patient care and will be in regular discussions with patients, carers, JPUH colleagues and community partners on therapy plans. You will be responsible for other non-clinical duties such as leading on team meetings; in-service development ideas; training/supervision of students, therapy assistant practitioners and Band 5 and 6 colleagues. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.

About us
The James Paget is a vibrant university hospital providing the best possible care to the people of east Norfolk and north Suffolk. Situated on the coast with beautiful beaches and the Broads National Park on the doorstep we are within commuting distance of Norwich City with many of our staff car sharing from here. Onsite parking is available.

Service Improvement: The Integrated Therapy Department is positive and forward thinking, always striving to improve services, particularly post-pandemic. Our links with the Research Department are growing with joint projects being worked on. Our therapists represent the Trust at CSP, RCOT, BOA and BGS conferences.

Personal and professional development is key. We are developing our research and innovation strategy in line with the national AHP Strategy. We will support you in achieving your career goals through our well-structured supervision and appraisal system, actively encouraging utilisation of training courses (clinical, non-clinical and leadership skills) with use of CPD funding. We also have a Band 6 peer support group.

Development of others: You will be supported to provide education to your team but also to our wider workforce. We support development of our future workforce through our close links with the University of East Anglia, Suffolk College and City College Norwich providing teaching and placements to apprentices, under and postgraduates.

Job responsibilities
This is a full-time post with core working hours being 08:00-16:00, working as part of a seven-day roster.

The Band 6 rotations cover the following clinical areas:

• Stroke/Neuro: Working within our Stroke Team, you will be part of the wider multidisciplinary team providing specialist therapy rehabilitation to our acute patients. Part of this role will also be outreaching to other areas to provide specialist neuro assessments and therapy to our patients with complex neuro needs
• Acute Medicine: Working as part of the multidisciplinary team to provide a holistic approach to patients admitted to a range of general medical wards including functional and cognitive assessments to increase independence and enhance quality of life
• ICU/Cardio-Respiratory/General Surgery: This role also involves working as part of the multidisciplinary team to provide specialist respiratory management across wards using a range of respiratory skills as well as providing specialist surgical management and enhancing patients surgical pathway to reduce complications and increase independence
• Orthopaedics: Providing specialist therapy skills to patients who have experienced complex orthopaedic trauma including spinal injuries and a range of elective pathways

Main responsibilities include:

• To be responsible for a defined area of working, e.g. a section of a specialty, or a particular type of patient, working without direct supervision. Clinical/professional supervision takes the form of direct observation of practice or formal training/clinical reasoning sessions (at least monthly). Advice and support are always available
• To assess and treat own caseload of patients, who may have complex presentations, and maintain own records as an autonomous practitioner, prioritising own workload alongside the demands of the team
• To be involved in complex case management including family planning meetings as part of a wider multidisciplinary team
• This rotational post requires the post-holder to rotate through each specialist area every eight months
• To supervise rotational Band 5 physiotherapists, therapy assistant practitioners and undergraduate physiotherapy students if required
• To be involved in in-service training rotas, evidence-based practice reviews and audits on a regular basis
• To work a rostered seven-day service/shift pattern and respiratory on-call rota
• To work within the James Paget University Hospital or in a community health setting as required

Please see the attached Job Description for more details.

Please watch the following video for an insight into our Integrated Therapies Department:
https://youtu.be/tklpzav7UrU

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential

• Diploma/Degree/MSc in Physiotherapy
• Current Health and Care Professions Council registration
• CPD record should include evidence of up-to-date manual handling, in-service training and reflections of learning

Knowledge and Experience
Essential

• Experience at Band 5 level within a range of areas; patients with multi-pathology, including dementia, falls, palliative care and bariatric patients
• Significant clinical experience within the NHS to include acute hospital setting and discharge planning
• Experience of working with a range of professionals within multidisciplinary teams
• Evidence of acting in a supervisory manner, providing specialist guidance, training and support to other staff or students
• Evidence of reflective learning, demonstrates self-directed learning
• Awareness of relevant professional practice, new research and guidelines
• Understanding of legal issues, safeguarding and mental capacity
• Working knowledge of clinical governance and implications for own work

Skills, Abilities and Competencies
Essential

• Communication skills including empathy, assertiveness and negotiation skills
• Ability to build good rapport with a wide variety of people
• Ability to prioritise and organise workload and support others with this
• Ability to act as an autonomous practitioner with minimum supervision
• Ability to work proactively under pressure and work flexibly
• Recognise own limitations and know when to ask for help
• Forward thinking, able to problem solve with positive approach
• Ability to travel within the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area. Must hold a full current driving licence or be able to make own travelling arrangements to fulfil the duties of the post, including on call working
• Basic IT skills

Other - Personal Qualities
Essential

• Physically fit and able to comply with Trust manual handling guidelines
• Professional demeanour and appearance
• Evidence of interest/motivation for a Band 6 role

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).

Employer details
Employer name: James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address: James Paget University Hospital, Lowestoft Road, Gorleston, NR31 6LA, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Integrated Therapies Administrator, Julie Power, ITAT@jpaget.nhs.uk, 01493453121

James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice.