Lead Prosthetic Technician

Job description

Job responsibilities

You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click "Apply now" to view in Trac

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.

JOB SUMMARY/JOB PURPOSE

The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for providing leadership and management to a team of Prosthetic Technical staff. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the training and development of technical staff and their annual appraisal process. he Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for all technical day to day activities including fair distribution of work allocation, technician man management, all aspects of stock management, quality assurance and audit responsibility including areas such as health and safety and hazardous waste disposal, workshop equipment and maintenance schedules.

The Lead Prosthetic Technician will use their extensive production knowledge and experience to manage the production of devices proactively and in a timely manner to meet the dates supplied by the clinical staff and the needs of the service.

The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the selection and procurement of all assembly components used and all prosthetic materials and consumables purchased. The role also includes responsibility for stock take processes, sourcing the most cost-effective stock options in order to meet the service needs and to ensure optimum value for money.

The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsibility for solving complex manufacturing problems and dealing with a broad range of non-routine issues, which are often unpredictable.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Manage the prosthetic technical staff and their day to day work allocation.

Manage the training, appraisal and performance management for all grades of technician staff.

Communicate effectively with all members of the multidisciplinary team and other staff groups entering the workshop environment. This will include communicating technical issues to non-technical staff and explaining clinical and technical terminology as well as supervising and teaching processes to people on work experience placements, as well as undergraduate prosthetists on extended clinical placements.

Provide technical feedback and advice to clinical staff in relation to the prescription, alignment and hardware choices involved in assembly, maintenance and repair of the prosthetic devices.

Receive and interpret technical prescriptions from clinical staff in relation to the prescription, alignment and hardware choices involved in assembly, maintenance and repair of the prosthetic devices and allocate the work amongst the technical staff.

Provide technical guidance and advice to other MDT staff on the assembly maintenance and repair of the prosthetic device.

Communicate effectively and efficiently with a range of professional colleagues including MDT members, product manufacturer representatives, administration staff and product suppliers.

Quality assure the prosthetic devices produced and to troubleshoot and problem solve workshop and manufacturing related issues in a timely and effective way to minimise disruption and delays

Ensure at all times that all forms of user information is kept confidential and to preserve the dignity and confidentiality of patients and handle appropriately any other confidential information. To deal sensitively and tactfully with patients

Liaise with the prosthetic clinical service to confirm prosthetic prescription details and formulate decisions on the assembly and proportions of the prosthesis to be assembled, repaired or maintained and to coordinate and prioritise prescription requests and repairs as required

Planning and Organisation

The Lead Prosthetic Technician takes responsibility for solving complex manufacturing problems and dealing with a broad range of non-routine issues, which are often unpredictable.

Provide technical input to facilitate the planning of new strategies, policies, protocols or guidelines and represent the technician workforce at directorate meetings.

Organise maintenance and calibration schedules for work shop equipment, including arranging safety checks for dust and fumes and local exhaust ventilation (LEV) servicing and monitoring.

Use the Oracle and BEST IT systems ensure that a clear audit trail of purchase orders is maintained, recording batch and serial number details on patient records to enable traceability.

Responsible for the training and continued professional development of technicians, arranging and supporting junior staff competency training and facilitating training linked to new developments and procedures for senior staff. Training is regularly provided for student prosthetists on work placement requiring an insight into prosthetic manufacture.

Undertake line management responsibilities for technicians such as sickness absence reporting, coordination of annual leave, training, appraisal and performance management in accordance with UHB policy

Identify and organises any training and development that arises from the appraisal process either individually or collectively.

Conduct and records weekly technician meetings. Using the meeting to raise issues that affect day to day operations, reviewing working practices and agreeing best practice solutions, identifying and implementing training needs.

Manage work experience placements. Provide advice on work content, procedures and safe working practices.

Manage recruitment in to technical posts using the Trac system and partaking in the interview process.

Contribute to the development of any local technical guidelines which ensure that the Prosthetic service meets ongoing clinical governance or Medical Device Regulation requirements.

Responsible for the prosthetic inspection process to identify any flaws in production and complete a root cause analysis and solution to any identified trends.

Responsible for the selection and procurement of all the assembly components and prosthetic materials and consumables and workshop equipment. This includes responsibility for sourcing the most cost-effective options to meet service needs and to ensure optimum value for money.

Responsible for the purchasing of very high cost items e.g. MPKs with a value up to £50K, ensuring all relevant information is provided to expedite purchasing. Financial awareness of the very high value of stock purchased by the service on an annual basis.

Responsible for the identification and replenishment of stock levels removed from store ensuring effective allocation of stock to the individuals assembly and make cost effective use of service resources. Identify areas where more cost-effective use of resource is possible and bring into practice to the benefit of the service

Manage the scheduled program of equipment maintenance to ensure the safety and effective function of machinery, equipment and physical assets used in the manufacturing processes.

Manage general and consignment stocks of prosthetic components using the stock management module on BEST and to undertake stock checks as required

Person Specification

Essential

Essential

• Degree or equivalent level of experience in the highly specialised area of prosthetic manufacture and provision.
• Significant experience across a broad range of prosthetic manufacturing techniques understanding how each job neds to be fairly allocated across the technical workforce for equity and to meet production demands

Desirable

• Experience of managing and developing a team of technical staff.

Essential

Essential

• Highly specialised level of knowledge of all aspects of technical production. Including optimal builds and alignment using a variety of different components. Becoming the 'Go To' person for all technical queries and advice on manufacture

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Address

ALAC, Rookwoood Hospital,

Fairwater Road, Llandaff

Cardiff

CF5 2YN

Employer's website

https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/ (Opens in a new tab)