Job responsibilities
Professional / Clinical responsibilities
To be responsible for the day to day operational planning and delivery of the childrens physiotherapy service. This may include organising leave, rota management, sickness absence management and recruitment of staff; as well as working alongside management to support the strategic direction of the department.
To evaluate and support the teams along with the Head of Acute Childrens Therapy
To deputise for the Lead for acute Childrens Therapy and support fellow therapy team leads.
To ensure effective communication within own team, across specialities and all other appropriate professional groups
To work as an autonomous practitioner and to be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work, including the management of patients in your care.
To evaluate the latest evidence base regarding paediatric respiratory physiotherapy techniques to develop a wide range of skills. To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management, and to support and supervise more junior staff to do likewise.
To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to assist in the formulation of accurate diagnoses and prognoses in a wide range of highly complex conditions. To recommend the best course of intervention and to develop comprehensive management or discharge plans.
To make sure that clinical audit and the development of clinical services are in line with patient need, identified by audits and recent evidence base research.
Take a role in identifying research need in the acute Paediatric Physiotherapy service, and develop a research and evidence based practice culture within the service in conjunction with other senior members of the team.
To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients, and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
To carry out highly developed dexterity, co-ordination and palpation skills for assessment and manual treatment of patients, e.g. auscultation.
To represent the Trust externally (locally, nationally and internationally) regarding physiotherapy respiratory services provided to paediatric patients.
To communicate effectively with patients and carers in order to maximise participation in physiotherapy and to ensure good understanding of the presenting condition.
To work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.
To plan, co-ordinate, lead and partake in the Paediatric Physiotherapy In-service training programme for Specialist and Junior members of staff, undergraduate students, MSc Students and work experience students.
To carry out highly specialist comprehensive assessments demonstrating highly specialised respiratory skills while working independently on a wide range of patients, of varied ages, levels of ability, communication barriers, ethnic backgrounds and social status.
To maintain accurate and concise electronic medical records, adhering to Problem Orientated Medical Records format and ensure that all other staff are doing likewise, within defined time frames.
To work flexibly as the service requires.
To ensure that the patients management is viewed holistically being aware of their social, educational and health needs and ensuring that treatment is carried out in the most suitable environment i.e. school, home, hospital.
To be able to cope with frequent interruptions during clinical and managerial work, while demonstrating the ability to multi-task on a frequent basis. Such interruptions may include phone calls, bleeps, queries for impromptu advice and the prioritising of urgent referrals.
To frequently be able to demonstrate the ability to convey sensitive patient information to the patient/carer regarding the patients condition, taking into account especially the impact of the condition on the emotional, psychosocial or physical status of the patient. To be able to deal with emotionally upset patients/carers in an empathetic manner.
To be able to maintain concentration whilst switching between clinical and non-clinical tasks.
To daily manage a patient caseload, treating patients in a continuous manner within different settings, presenting with conditions from all aspects of the paediatric perspective.
To be able to cope with the frequent physical demands of the post e.g. manual handling, therapeutic handling, prolonged standing, the moving and use of relevant equipment. To comply with Trust Manual Handling regulations and to support other physiotherapy staff in doing likewise.
To be able to maintain a balance between clinical and non-clinical responsibilities e.g. a widely varied clinical caseload, teaching, team supervision, project planning and implementation of policies, guidelines and service development, meetings and case-conferences.
To be able to cope with frequent exposure to patients with communicable diseases. To be able to cope with frequent exposure to bodily fluids and to comply with Trust infection control procedures in the handling and disposal of such fluids.
To be aware of the hazards of working in an environment where exposure to radiation may occur e.g. from x-rays machines. To comply with departmental and Trust policies concerning this risk and to ensure that other physiotherapy staff do likewise.
To be able to manage situations where a patient/family member or carer may become verbally or physically aggressive. To ensure staff and patient safety and comply with Trust polices related to harassment, bullying and aggression etc.
To be able to cope with the emotional stress of managing patients who are dying and their distressed relatives. This may include the decision to withdraw active treatment. To be able to manage clinical situations where visually distressing sights such as open wounds and injury occur and to ensure the support of other team members in this situation
To be able to cope with the emotional stress of working with families with children who have been neglected and abused and to handle issues sensitively in line with the Trust child protection policy and Government guidelines. To be able to identify children at risk and to instigate referrals which you know may result in a child being placed on the protection register or into care.
To work within a legal framework with parents who lack the capacity to consent to treatment. To work with patients with communication barriers, and different ethnic backgrounds and social status.
To organise and attend patient related meetings ensuring effective communication of the patient's therapy needs thus ensuring a well co-ordinated and comprehensive therapy plan.
Management:
To work with staff who are underperforming, reporting any on-going poor performance or competency issues in a timely manner to management, and provide a clear action plan to address this.
To respond to Datixs
To formulate guidelines and policies, frameworks and competency documents as needed to formalise practice in line with best evidence-based care, along with the Band 7 staff.
To deal with initial verbal complaints sensitively, and understanding when to pass to the Head of Childrens Therapies. To have a knowledge of the Trusts Complaints procedures.
To advise the lead for paediatric therapy on issues of service delivery including shortfall service pressures and identify service development opportunities.
To carry out management tasks as delegated by the lead, for example recruitment, annual leave management, rota management.
To manage leave requests (annual, study etc.) in conjunction with the lead for Paediatric therapy ensuring an appropriate level of staff cover is maintained across the service.
To assist in the recruitment and selection of Physiotherapy staff, through open days, short listing, interviews, agreeing to references and informing individuals of the interview outcome where delegated to by the Lead of the recruitment process.
Communication & Information management
To be able to take an active role including chairing where necessary, in the Paediatric Physiotherapy departmental, multidisciplinary team (MDT), case or inter-agency meetings. This may include feedback, planning patient progress, departmental planning, acting as a primary named worker etc.
To communicate effectively throughout each day, both verbally and in writing, with professional colleagues, to ensure that information is disseminated appropriately throughout the whole team. To be able to act upon any matters arising and to ensure that all staff are aware of management plans and decisions including information on departmental and team organisation for the day.
To ensure collaborative working. To communicate daily with those involved in the care of paediatric patients, in a professional, concise, accurate and detailed manner via telephone, letter, e-mail, ward rounds or in person. This may include the sharing of sensitive information relating to patient progress, physiotherapy input or other matters affecting clinical intervention. To also ensure that all other Physiotherapy staff do likewise.
