Therapy Assistant Practitioner

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our Integrated Occupational and Physiotherapy team. This position will be based in older peoples services (OPS). The role will consist of rehabilitation and reablement of older people, which may have cognitive impairments such as dementia. The acute OPS team aims to support discharge of patients from the acute, to the community in a timely manner.

We are seeking someone with experience of working as a Therapy assistant or experience at a similar level in a related field of health or social care. You will be taking a key role supporting Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists but also working independently in the assessment and safe discharge planning of patients from hospital.

You will have demonstrable experience of delivering tailored rehabilitation and care of a wide variety of patients. You will carry out assessment for and provision of appropriate equipment. Experience of working in an acute hospital setting would be beneficial.

A flexible approach to working hours including supporting a 7 day service and working Saturday/Sunday shifts on a rota basis.

We offer a very supportive approach to personal development and the opportunity to be a key part of shaping the future of how therapy services are delivered. There is a clear competency framework, and opportunity for teaching and training.

To manage and organise a designated caseload of patients and own professional activities across the older peoples wards

To provide specific skilled support to the registered therapists in providing technical therapy interventions to patients in a variety of settings.

To use an evidence-based, person-centred approach in the planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of agreed interventions following guidelines and protocols to promote the functional fitness of patients to aid discharge from hospital in a way that is consistent with their abilities, preferences and cultural beliefs.

To be able to work flexibly over a 7 day service rota.

To communicate complex and sensitive information effectively to patients using skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, negotiation and empathy. There may be barriers to understanding such as hearing loss, speech difficulty, anxiety, fear and depression.

To work with patients and carers to identify therapy goals for safe, timely discharge, using specialist, standardised assessment tools to assess their skills deficits and functional needs.

In collaboration with the patient, to plan and implement a programme of interventions using treatment techniques to meet the patient's needs for safe timely discharge. These will be achieved using professional, theoretical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills.

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here -

Do you enjoy problem solving and demonstrating compassion in motivating people to seek independence ?

Please get in touch to discuss the post if you have any questions. We would be happy to speak to you and answer your questions.

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.