Active Ward Champion

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is committed to developing and future proofing it's model of being an Active Hospital. As part of this we hope to continue to change the physical activity culture within our hospitals to encourage patients to move more.

We are looking to recruit committed and enthusiastic individuals to take on the role as Active Ward Champions. The successful candidate will work under the leadership in the Active Ward Lead and together will members of the multi-disciplinary team to ensure that physical activity is embedded into routine care in our hospital to improve the clinical and quality of life outcomes of people accessing our services.

The successful candidate will influence behaviour change amongst our patients and our staff. They will integrate physical activity into the daily activities of patients that we care for.

The post holder will be supervised by the Active Ward Lead and supported by the Care of the Elderly physiotherapy team to work with patients and engage staff in supporting patients to be more physically active during their inpatient stay.

This role will involve providing support across 5 medical wards at North Tyneside General Hospital with the support of the Physiotherapy service, the Falls Matron and the Ward Managers.

They will provide opportunities to increase physical activity knowledge and skills. They will provide clinical leadership and to increase the frequency of physical activity conversation.

Work under the leadership of the Active Ward Lead engage in a programme of work to develop the ward culture to promote patient physical activity and cognitive engagement.

Work within the ward MDT alongside the Health Care Assistants (HCA)s to share knowledge and skills to change culture and embed active ward principles/framework.

To create and develop an environment that facilitates the ward team and patients to promote activity and engagement to maximise benefit of their inpatient stay and make every contact count.

To minimise risk of patient falls through environmental risk assessment and active engaging observation.

To work within the ward team to promote and co-ordinate activity for individuals and groups of patients

To modify activities to meet the patients requirements

To promote and encourage therapeutic engagement and reduce patient deconditioning

To facilitate continuity of rehabilitation programmes set by the registered therapists

To be responsible for the overall hygiene & maintenance of the active ward equipment and resources.

To promote a link between health & leisure or education, within the community and sign post relevant patients onto health coaches for navigation to appropriate support in the community

To document activities and engagement within the care record

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.

Working as an Active Ward Champion the post holder will:
Under the leadership of the Active Ward Lead engage in a programme of work to develop the ward culture to promote patient physical activity and cognitive engagement.

Work within the ward MDT alongside the Health Care Assistants (HCA)s to share knowledge and skills to change culture and embed active ward principles/framework.

To create and develop an environment that facilitates the ward team and patients to promote activity and engagement to maximise benefit of their inpatient stay and make every contact count.

To minimise risk of patient falls through environmental risk assessment and active engaging observation.

To work within the ward team to promote and co-ordinate activity for individuals and groups of patients.

To modify activities to meet the patients requirements.

To promote and encourage therapeutic engagement and reduce patient deconditioning.

To facilitate continuity of rehabilitation programmes set by the registered therapists.

To be responsible for the overall hygiene & maintenance of the active ward equipment and resources.

To promote a link between health & leisure or education, within the community and sign post relevant patients onto health coaches for navigation to appropriate support in the community.

To document activities and engagement within the care record.