Physiotherapy Assistant

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is a leading teaching hospital with world-class facilities. Physiotherapy is playing an instrumental role in the exciting developments in the Trust and our team is growing. Our patients rate us highly on quality of care and having friendly approachable staff. We are looking for like-minded individuals to join us and take advantage of the opportunities we have on offer.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Physiotherapy Assistant to work within our Older Persons Medicine Physiotherapy Team. You would be supporting the physiotherapy staff working with in-patients on our acute Older Persons Medicine wards.

As post holder you will work within a team of Physiotherapists and Physiotherapy Support Workers undertaking a variety of non-clinical and clinical tasks to support the delivery of physiotherapy services to patients. You will assist the Physiotherapists with their interventions and carry out prescribed exercise or functional practice programs that will benefit patients and support the team.

Excellent communication skills are essential as you will be working as part of a team and with a caseload of patients with possible complex communication needs.

Particularly with the in-patient roles, the patients that you will be required to see are frequently extremely unwell and therefore previous experience of working in a care setting is desirable. You will be dealing with patients with physical and cognitive decline.

This exciting role offers the opportunity to develop your clinical and non-clinical skills with access to in-service training and personal development. You will receive supervision and annual appraisal and take an active role within your own personal development.

Join us at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and be part of a workforce of over 10,000 staff!

The NNUH is one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, providing first-class acute care for around one million people, living in Norfolk and surrounding areas. We are a teaching and research hospital, at the forefront of innovation, home to state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Quadram Institute. We are pleased to work closely with the University of East Anglia, providing teaching opportunities for our staff and placement opportunities for their students. We attract some of the best and leading professionals from across the country and are proud that our workforce represents 94 countries from across the world.

We are a friendly, collaborative hospital, working with local services and home to N&N Hospitals Charity

We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits/discounts and in addition:

• Flexible working hours
• Fast Track Staff Physiotherapy Service
• Multi Faith prayer room
• Discounted gym memberships
• Excellent pension scheme and annual leave entitlement
• Wagestream - access up to 40% of your pay as you earn it
• Free Park & Ride service direct to NNUH site
• Free 24-hours confidential counselling support
• On-site Nursery
• On-site cafes offering staff discounts
• Support in career development
• Flexible staff bank
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars, Cycle to Work scheme and home electronics
• With support and supervision, to manage an allocated workload efficiently and effectively with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To collect relevant patient information from a variety of sources to assist with clinical prioritisation and patient management e.g. ward handovers, observation charts, medical and nursing records.
• To use good communication to gain valid informed consent prior to undertaking any clinical tasks. With support, to work within the legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.
• To work under direct/indirect supervision and direction of qualified physiotherapists and Physiotherapy Assistant Practitioners/Senior Physiotherapy Assistants in the performance of specific tasks for individuals or groups of patients as part of treatment and rehabilitation programmes.
• To undertake other duties within the specialty/service.
• To be aware at all times of changes in the patient’s physical and/or psychological condition and respond appropriately.
• To assist in the moving, handling and treatment of heavily dependent patients who require the use of hoists and patient handling equipment. This includes supporting and stabilising patients as part of their rehabilitation programme.
• To assist with holistic patient care, g. bed making, patient comfort / nutrition / hydration.

Please see the attached job description for full details.