Rapid Access Physiotherapist | Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 04 April 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £42,471 - £50,364 per annum inc HCAS (pro rata if P/T) |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 04 May 2024 |
| Location: | London, NW1 0PE |
| Company: | CNWL NHS Foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 6203419/333-G-CC-1313-B |
Summary
Rapid Access Services is a 7-day community service comprising of three pathways; Urgent Community Response, Discharge to Assess, and Virtual Ward. Our physiotherapists work together with OTs, nurses, paramedics, social workers, pharmacists, and support staff to prevent admission to hospital for unwell patients, or facilitate early discharge from the local hospitals for patients who will recover quicker in their own home.
There is an Urgent Response Falls pathway for non-injured fallers. We work closely with the ambulance service and other external agencies to respond within 2 hours to these patients.
The caseload is varied and we work closely with our community neuro and respiratory teams, GPs, ambulance service and acute hospitals to provide an urgent response and risk assessment for people in their own homes.
This is a 7 day service consisting of varying shift patterns between 9am-10pm.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
This post will involve cross working over the two pathways incorporated within the Rapid Access Service: the Rapid Response Team and the Discharge to Assess (D2A) team which are all based at St. Pancras Hospital near vibrant Camden Town but cover the whole of the London Borough of Camden, one of the most diverse populations in London. The service is purely community based and has the privilege of being invited into the homes of Camden residents from as far north as the borders of Golders Green and as far south as Holborn and everywhere in between.
The Rapid Response Team care for patients who are acutely unwell and at risk of admission to hospital and require a timely, same day, intervention to provide acute nursing and therapy intervention to prevent that admission. D2A facilitate same-day discharge from Camden’s local hospitals for patients who are medically fit for discharge and below their functional baseline requiring additional support at home.
Experience of working autonomously is essential, as our team is often faced with some challenging situations which present themselves in the home environment. We are a high functioning team, adapting to the evolving changes within the primary care setting.
The main Physio role as part of the Discharge To Assess (D2A) and Virtual Ward (VW) pathway, is to support timely discharges from acute hospitals. These are variable in complexity, consisting of simple risk assessments for those below their usual functional ability, but also for those with a new ongoing delirium, non-weight bearing, or those with a specialist brace due to a spinal fracture. It is crucial that they have an immediate assessment in their own home environment to ensure their safety and optimal function upon discharge.
Within the Urgent Community Response (UCR) pathway, the key is to provide Physio assessment, treatment and interventions in people’s home in order to prevent hospital admissions. This can also consist of supporting same day discharges from A&E. There is opportunity to work alongside our OT, nursing and paramedic colleagues, and social workers in order to provide an MDT approach to meet people’s wishes to remain at home. This is the best place for recovery where possible, and also reduces ambulance and acute hospital pressures.
As a member of the Rapid Access Service, you will be expected to be a skilled physiotherapist who is an excellent communicator, is flexible and able to adapt to the needs of both patient’s and service.
This is a challenging and highly rewarding role within a fast-paced, and ever evolving primary care team. This will enable you to develop your skills in the holistic treatment within a variety of areas. These include knowledge of medications and their impact on function; being competent in taking observations and completing NEWS2 scores on patient’s, interpreting these scores and identifying and escalating when a patient is unwell; being exposed to an array of medical and long-term conditions in people over the age of 18; identifying the need for a GP or specialist review as part of diagnostics, and being competent in liaising directly with the appropriate specialist community teams to ensure seamless care.
Due to a 7-day working pattern, you will have a have a shared team caseload. You will provide complex assessments and interventions and will make high impact clinical decisions. You will be expected to work autonomously whilst being very well supported by a dynamic and approachable team, who will encourage growth and leadership in your role. You will have the opportunity to develop skills in supervising junior staff and identifying and participating in service development through QI projects.
As part of your role you will also have the opportunity to be ‘Clinician of The Day’ (COD). This consists of screening all referrals for all pathways. This is a key leadership role in which the COD is required to challenge where necessary the appropriateness of referrals, and ensure all the relevant information is gained to ensure safety for all parties. The COD co-ordinates and oversees the therapists’ caseload on that given day, and allocates new referrals as they are discharged from hospital. This is a balancing skill in order to ensure the team have capacity and the discharge is well co-ordinated in line with the integrated discharge teams.
There is much scope for development of clinical skills within this role, and our team has a proud history of a high staff retention rate and have experience of developing and promoting therapists within the team.
This advert closes on Sunday 21 Apr 2024
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