Occupational Therapist/Physiotherapist - Hand Therapy

Occupational Therapist/Physiotherapist - Hand Therapy

To provide high quality and specialist handle therapy interventions to a wide variety of outpatients including the advanced assessment and treatment of hand trauma (Orthopaedics, Plastics), Rheumatology A+E, provision of individual and group education and treatment, provision of assistive devices (splints) and equipment.

To utilise specialist skills to work without direct supervision with patients who vary greatly in age, communication ability, language, functional ability, cultural and social background.

To work in a highly diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and socio-economically varied environment and gain further skills in outpatient hand therapy. Ensure treatment is of the highest standards regardless of cultural or language differences and support the staff you supervise in doing likewise.

Main duties of the job

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own clinical and professional work, including the management of patients/clients in your care.
• To manage a caseload of routine and complex patients requiring specialist hand therapy assessment and interventions to ensure rehabilitation is of the highest and evidenced based standards with consideration given to all available treatment options.
• Prioritise and plan own workload to manage conflicting and competing priorities both clinically and professionally to ensure patient care and treatment is carried out in an efficient and timely manner.
• To interpret findings of assessment and formulate client centred and specialised programmes of hand therapy treatment plans based on current evidence, and a sound knowledge of available treatment options using advanced clinical assessment and reasoning skills and a knowledge.
• To undertake comprehensive standardised and non-standardised assessments of clients with a range of health and social care needs and multi-pathologies; use advanced clinical reasoning, analytical and communication skills to determine diagnosis and prognosis of condition.

About us

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

Person Specification Experience

• Clinical experience working in a hand therapy department.
• Consistently met all core competencies and developmental milestones required for a Band 5 Occupational Therapist, as evidenced through successful annual appraisals and portfolio development.
• Equipment provision and assessment
• Working within a multidisciplinary and/or occupational / physiotherapy team
• Contributing to professional development and clinical education of more junior staff, students and assistants
• Experience of working with a musculoskeletal upper limb caseload.
• Experience in the prescription and fabrication of splints.
• Experience working on a rotation.
• Involvement in audit, research and understanding of quality issues
• Supervising junior staff/ students

Skills

• Understanding of Clinical Governance and its implications for hand therapy and client care
• Ability to prioritise, organise and delegate
• Ability to communicate and present information, orally and in writing, in a clear and logical manner
• Understanding of the legal responsibilities of the profession
• Ability to keep accurate and legible patient notes in line with local and national standards and policies
• Ability to carry out moderate to intense physical effort throughout the working day and manage competing demands and interruptions
• Ability to cope working in a fast paced and stressful environment and with at times, emotionally distressed patients and carers.
• Ability to work autonomously, acting decisively on behalf of self and others, setting own priorities.
• Ability to assess and act against risks to self, clients as a consequence of exposure to clients and environments which may be highly distressing, antagonistic, open to aggression and/or unpleasant.
• Ability to assess, advise and educate clients and carers about safe manual handling techniques (including use of equipment and adaptations).
• Evidence of participation in audit/research
• Wound care experience

Qualifications

• Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy
• HCPC Registration
• DBS clearance
• Evidence of CPD maintained in a portfolio including attendance at recent post graduate courses/training relevant to rotational clinical specialties
• Working towards BAHT hand therapist accreditation

Other

• Ability to work flexibly.
• Ability to treat people with respect, irrespective of age, gender, culture, religion & sexuality.
• Proactive, self-directed with innovative approach.
• Understanding of and commitment to RCOT/CSP and HPC guidelines and codes of ethics and professional conduct.
• Knowledge and understanding of Health and Safety Legislation and ability to integrate into clinical practice.

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.