Job Description

The community children's physiotherapy team in Haringey are seeking Band 6 children's physiotherapists to join the team. We have full time and part time opportunities available. We are based at Tynemouth Road Health Centre in Tottenham. We are co-located with other members of the community children's health team including paediatricians, health visitors and other therapists. The roles will involve working with children and young people at Tynemouth Road and across mainstream and special schools. There is a well established physiotherapy team who can provide support and training and Whittington Health offer a range of leadership and training opportunities.



The post holder will manage a caseload of children and young people with a range of neurological and developmental conditions. You will be supported to undertake assessment and provide intervention which promotes young people's well being and independence. We offer interventions which include serial casting, orthotics and postural and mobility equipment.



You will be encouraged to participate in audits and service evaluations and to help the development of students and assistant staff.



Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.



PATIENT/CLIENT CARE



1. To carry a personal clinical caseload maintaining a high level of professional competence and demonstrate developing clinical expertise.



2. To undertake comprehensive assessment of children with complex developmental, neurological and specialist orthopaedic conditions. Investigative and analytical skills should be used to formulate individualised management and treatment plans incorporating a wide range of treatment skills and using clinical reasoning.



3. To provide physiotherapy treatment of children using clinical reasoning and utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options and provide ongoing treatment programmes.



4. To provide specialist advice and assessment for the provision of appropriate aids and equipment and monitor their use.



5. To administer specialist standardised and structured assessments, interpret results and contribute to accurate diagnosis and prognosis within the team responsible for the child's care.



6. To assess and treat individual children with complex needs, in their homes and school or clinic setting, working as part of the multi-disciplinary team, and liaising closely with education staff and parents/carers.



7. To use a range of communication strategies to overcome barriers to communicating e.g. language, communication difficulties or cognitive impairment and English as a second language, to engage and motivate the child and their family/carers in their Physiotherapy treatment.



8. To attend meetings necessary to co-ordinate multi-agency care of the child e.g. transition planning, child protection.



9. To make referrals to other services as required to meet the child or family's identified needs.



10. To keep accurate and adequate records, and write reports and discharge summaries as required, ensuring that confidentiality and information-sharing standards are met as in Trust and professional standards.



11. To communicate complex clinical information and care plans to parents, carers, and staff in other agencies, for them to understand and carry out effective treatment or management of the child.



12. To establish relationships with community services and facilities, and to assist children and their families to make links with resources available to them.



13. To work effectively with clients, carers, and colleagues around individual case management, providing advice, guidance and support as necessary and involving them in the planning and prioritisation of care wherever possible.



14. To reflect on clinical practice; adequately identifying strengths & needs of clients, reviewing their response to therapy and providing evidence of sound clinical judgement.



15. To monitor and review the progress of children on caseload and facilitate the development or modification of packages of care / targets as appropriate using evaluation/outcome measurement tools.



16. To adapt practice to meet individual client/carer's circumstances, considering cultural and linguistic backgrounds.



17. To produce accurate, & detailed reports, therapy programmes, advice and information as necessary in a timely manner.



18. To respond to the requirements of the 1996 Education Act, The Children's and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice (2015), by completing written advice for children who may have Special Educational Needs.



19. To refer children to other Health, Education or Social Services professionals as necessary.



20. To undertake home visits, as necessary, in compliance with Home Visiting Safety Policy.

COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIP SKILLS:

1. To be able to gather information that may be sensitive or complex and analyse it as part of a full assessment of a client's strengths and difficulties.



2. To work closely with clients and carers using empathy, tact, reassurance and active listening to complete assessments, discuss results, and agree treatment options.



3. To develop skills in motivating clients/carers to engage in the therapeutic process.



4. To negotiate and manage conflict effectively in a range of settings, with support and supervision from line manager.



5. To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible



6. To form effective therapeutic relationships with clients and/or carers who may be under stress and/or having challenging behaviour.



7. To provide training to a variety of audiences on aspects of physiotherapy