Activities Co-ordinator

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Job overview An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Therapy Team as an Activity Coordinator within the Intermediate Care Team at Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. We are seeking someone who is caring, adaptable, enthusiastic, and committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care as part of a dynamic and supportive team.

This is a largely independent role within a supportive multidisciplinary therapy team, requiring a motivated and proactive individual who can effectively self-manage their time, workload, and daily planning in a busy ward environment. Although supported by the therapy team, the postholder must be confident working autonomously day-to-day. The postholder will be responsible for independently planning, coordinating, and delivering a range of meaningful group and one-to-one activities to support patients' social, emotional, and physical wellbeing during their admission. Activities should be adaptable and tailored to meet a wide range of needs, abilities, and preferences, using creativity and initiative to maximise patient engagement.

Main duties of the job Our patient group is predominantly older adults, many of whom present with reduced mobility, cognitive impairment, low mood, and other age-related comorbidities. The successful candidate will have experience working with this population, demonstrating the ability to understand individual needs and deliver person-centred, meaningful activities relevant to their needs and abilities. The successful candidate will be responsible for creating, updating, and communicating the weekly activity timetable, ensuring sessions run smoothly across the ward and that resources are maintained. Activities may include quizzes, bingo, puzzles, board games, arts and crafts, reminiscence sessions, gentle movement, sensory stimulation, and other therapeutic occupations that promote social, emotional, and physical engagement.

Excellent communication, organisation, and time management skills are essential. The postholder must ensure clear and effective communication with the MDT so that daily activity plans are well coordinated, visible, and aligned with patient care.

This role will be based across Newton Community Hospital and the Duffy Suite at St Helens Hospital, therefore flexibility to travel between sites is essential.

Working for our organisation Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

• Acute Care - Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
• Primary Care - Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
• Community Services - Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
• Specialist Regional Services - We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities To assist in/support the identification of health needs and participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of individual care interventions under the direct/indirect supervision of a registered Practitioner depending upon competency/complexity of work. Work with members of the MDT to prepare for and implement a range of activities. Ensure there is access to a range of individual activities for patients e.g., board games, electronic games, crafts, music therapy, reading materials and puzzles.

Arrange 1:1 sessions with patients based on their individual ability.

Organise group activities for patients to promote social interaction.

Arrange social events on the ward to include patients, staff, visitors, and relatives. To provide advice to clients and carers in relation to any needs and the wider public health remit of the Health and Social Care organisation under the direct/indirect supervision of a registered practitioner.

To maintain accurate, clear, concise, and contemporaneous records as per trust policy and communicate information to members of the Team as necessary.

To be aware of the role limitations of practice and when to seek further advice from a supervising Registered Practitioner.

Liaise with external agencies for additional support and advice.

Person specification Qualifications

• Willingness to undertake continuing professional development and lifelong learning
• NVQ Level 2/3 in Health Care or equivalent experience/qualification
• Experience within the NHS or caring employment
• Clerical/administrative experience or qualifications

Experience

• Awareness of own strengths and limitations
• Able to work under supervision and as part of a team
• Evidence of effective working within an MDT
• Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
• Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
• Ability to deliver groups independently under minimal supervision
• Knowledge of, and ability to design suitable activities to meet patients' needs
• Experience using a variety of IT systems e.g., email, Word, Excel
• Ability to demonstrate a good level of knowledge and skills in Therapeutic interventions
• Awareness and understanding of conditions that would contribute to cognitive impairment

Skills

• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
• Accurate record keeping, report writing, manual dexterity and IT skills
• Have a flexible approach to working with good time management

Other

• Be able to handle difficult or emotional situations
• Demonstrate care, compassion, empathy, and professionalism
• Provide support to patients, families, and carers as appropriate

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

eVisa Update For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK. Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.

Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

• Understand how to generate an eVisa share code
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