St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Paediatric therapy Technical Instructor

The closing date is 18 June 2025

Job summary

This is an exciting post within the Ponseti Clinic, in the Children's Physiotherapy Department. We are hoping to recruit someone who can also get excited about providing meaningful change for babies and their families.

This is a permanent full-time post to work as a Paediatric therapy Technical Instructor within the Paediatric Physiotherapy run Ponseti clinic. The post involves supporting the team to deliver care to babies and children with Congenital Talipes Equinovarus/Clubfoot and a variety of other foot deformities, as well as working in partnership with parents and carers.

We are looking for an individual who enjoys working with and supporting parents and their children through their treatment journey. We are a friendly and relaxed service who work with babies, children and young people using the Ponseti method, the gold standard treatment used globally for clubfoot. The St George's Paediatric Physiotherapy Service is forward thinking, proactive and strongly supports and encourages continuous professional development.

The post provides excellent opportunities to develop your professional skills as you will be a key member of the Ponseti team. There will be opportunities to work alongside some of the specialist services including Orthopaedics along with close working with our acute physio colleagues.

Main duties of the job

To support the Paediatric Physiotherapy Teams in the day to day running of the Ponseti service in St George's Hospital and to work as part of a team to provide a high standard of service delivery.

To provide high quality and comprehensive administrative support to the Paediatric Physiotherapy Team, ensuring the smooth running of systems that support the clinical service.

To assist in assessment and the delivery of appropriate packages of care in a variety of settings.

Contributes to clinical governance/audit projects within local service as requested.

Have responsibility for the safe use of equipment and toys with awareness of risk to self, children and carers.

To prepare equipment and produce resources as requested by the Physiotherapist, to agreed departmental standards and sensitive to all issues of diversity.

Accountable for own actions when working independently and recognises own boundaries seeking advice as appropriate.

To act as a resource and support for other Band 4 and Band 3 Assistants and to work with the Physiotherapy Clinical Specialist and Team Lead to update procedures as necessary.

To support Physiotherapists in carrying out parent training and where appropriate staff training

About us

St George's, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey.Our sites include St George's Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC).

After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.

Date posted

05 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£31,944 to £34,937 a year pa pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

200-7201387-AK-DG

Job locations

St Georges Hospital

Blackshaw road, Tooting

London

SW170QT

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

To independently complete specific activities as designated and with appropriate training and competencies in place e.g. removing casts, teaching parents how to apply foot abduction brace

To participate in shared initial assessments

To independently deliver specific therapy interventions as designated and with appropriate training and competencies in place

Deliver Ponseti casting with a qualified Ponseti physiotherapy practitioner, and to deliver specific designated therapy interventions under the supervision of Physiotherapist

Contribute to the planning of individual therapy programmes

Develop materials and resources to support therapy management and care e.g. parent information leaflets/therapy programmes

To be responsible for monitoring of stock therapy resources and order these and bespoke items (as designated by a therapist) as required

To be a resource and offer support for other less experienced assistants on therapy techniques and programme delivery

Work within defined departmental protocols/policies and professional code of conduct.

To support induction to all new departmental assistants

Office Administration

To carry out administrative and clerical duties for the therapists in the Paediatric Physiotherapy Team including ordering equipment, and where required filing, scanning, copying, managing correspondence, and distributing letters/reports to parents/carers and relevant professionals.

To attend team meetings and frequently liaise with other members of the Physiotherapy teams.
To utilise excellent computer skills for inputting and manipulation of data, use of spreadsheets, databases and bespoke Trust software.
To support Team members in the use of department information systems
Record patient information on Trust records system
Encourage families to complete service feedback forms
Receive calls from parents, professionals and schools and triage them as appropriate
To photocopy, scan, upload and maintain a variety of paperwork accurately ensuring confidential information is dealt with appropriately
To make therapy resources as requested
To undertake such duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the grade and the needs of the service
To ensure confidentiality at all times, only releasing confidential information accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act

To have responsibility for the Health, Safety and Welfare of self and others and to comply at all times with the requirement of the Health and Safety Regulations.

To work in accordance with the Trusts Equal Opportunities policy to eliminate unlawful discrimination in relation to employment and service delivery.

To ensure skills are up-to-date and relevant to the role, to follow relevant Trust policies and professional codes and to maintain registration where this is a requirement of the role.

To comply with St. Georges Healthcare No Smoking Policies.

Communication

To regularly support and encourage parents, providing opportunities for parents to discuss the Ponseti method and the challenges with looking after a child with a lower limb deformity

To facilitate and contribute to the development of promotional / informational material for the service, e.g. internet resources, brochures, leaflets.

To receive and screen phone calls for the team and deal with appropriately, referring to therapists if necessary.

To take phone calls from clients who may be self-referring or may be requesting other information about the service.

To communicate with clients in a respectful manner.

Occasionally to support distressed parents

To take client-based information on behalf of the team and liaise with other professionals to gather data to support the child while in hospital / in order to support discharge home. This includes regularly receiving sensitive information about the clients condition and maintaining patient confidentiality.

To ensure all outgoing correspondence meets with Trust standards and agreed timescales.

To deal with complaints in accordance with Trust policy, as directed by Team Leads.

Other Responsibilities

To prioritise own workload and complete tasks with minimal supervision, working to tight deadlines.

To actively participate as a member of the Paediatric Physiotherapy Team.

To attend and contribute to department meetings.

Job Dimensions / Accountabilities

To be accountable for acting in a professional manner whilst carrying out duties.

Further Information and General Responsibilities

To participate in the staff performance and development programme and to be committed to learning.

To participate in Personal Development Review (PDR) system to identifying own learning and development and to take responsibility for achieving own PDR objective.

To adopt the ethos and values of the team and to adhere to standards and procedures.

To contribute to the development and achievement of the annual team objectives.

To undertake any other duties required by the Team Leads in accordance with the grade of the post and needs of the service.

To have responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of self and others and to comply at all times with the requirements of health and safety regulations.

To comply with the Trusts policies on diversity, the consumption of alcohol and non-smoking.

To report all clinical and non-clinical accidents or near misses promptly and when required, to co-operate with any investigation undertaken.

To ensure confidentiality at all times, only releasing confidential information obtained during the course of employment to those acting in an official capacity.

To comply with the Trusts policies at all times, including equal opportunity.

To attend any mandatory training and induction courses as designated by management.

To comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

To communicate with colleagues, patients and visitors in a polite and courteous manner at all times

Contribute to deliver and implement the Trustss Equality and Diversity Agenda by:

- Putting in place appropriate and measurable actions to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different groups

- Developing and maintaining an inclusive approach to work and embedding equality and diversity into all work activities