Therapy Assistant – Specialist Palliative CareNHS

Job summary

An exciting opportunity to join the specialist palliative care team in the community mainly based in the West area. The applicant will be someone who enjoys working with people and has some experience of physiotherapy, occupational therapy or similar discipline as a support worker/assistant.

Whilst experience is desirable it is not essential and the successful applicant will be supported to develop in the role, we have clear structured competencies for the new post holder to work towards during their probationary period.

The role involves working with people at the end of life or approaching the end of life usually in their own homes; we strive to help people to live well for as long as possible and help them to achieve life goals.

The successful applicant will have a positive, caring approach and be able to work well in a multi-disciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expected to:

To be responsible for own caseload.

To assist the qualified Therapists with providing ward and home-based assessments and treatments to patients with complex and highly complex needs with cancer and other life threatening illnesses of limited prognosis.

To provide administrative support to the Therapists to obtain resources and maintain information on resources.

To undertake appropriate training as indicated by the Therapist.

To perform any other reasonable duty as directed by the Therapist.

Job description

Assist the Therapists to assess patients with complex palliative care needs in hospital and their own home including the fitting of appropriate items of equipment.

Carry out assessments and other tasks that have either a) been screened by an OT or physiotherapist or b) where the work boundaries are clearly defined (excluding complex assessments) with direct and indirect supervision of a registered Therapist.

Undertake appropriate training specific to client group

Assist qualified staff in administrative tasks including requisitioning resources and maintaining updated resource information

Liaise and feedback to other members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).

Review and reflect on your own practice and performance through regular participation in supervision and appraisal.

Assist in the development of Therapy service provision in palliative care.

Participate in quality improvement projects as allocated by the Therapist or Operational Management Team.

As part of a team, incorporate up to date techniques and ideas of positive practice into your interventions.

To participate in team audit projects and evaluation activities as agreed with supervisor.

About us

We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality - opening a state of the art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn't, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare, this is the Northumbria Way! Please read 'applicant guidance notes' before submitting your application.