Associate Practitioner

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust; Fleet; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust invites applications for Associate Practitioners to join the new Interim Care and Support Team (ICAST) to support patients at home while awaiting care packages. You will supervise, train, and develop junior staff, overseeing care planning and patient assessments.

A vehicle with business insurance and a valid license is required for community-based work; the role includes a 7-day roster with training and development opportunities provided.

Qualifications

• Foundation degree, NVQ Level 5 or evidence of working towards one of these qualifications, relevant to this role
• Experience as HCA, Community Support Worker or Therapy Assistant
• Ability to assess patients' needs and develop care plans

Responsibilities

• Assess patients’ care needs and write care and support plans.
• Deliver hands-on care to patients and promote independence.
• Line manage junior staff and address HR issues as needed.
• Cover a 7-day rota 08:00–20:00 for the Trust’s Intermediate Care Service.

Skills

Care planning

Assessments

Communication

Team leadership

Education

Foundation degree

Tools

Epic

Microsoft Word

Job description

Job Overview

The Interim Care and Support Team (ICAST) is a brand new team being developed by the Trust to support patients in their own homes before their care package can start. We are searching for a number of Associate Practitioners to join our team as some of the first members of the team. With a minimum of L5 qualification in a relevant subject and recent relevant practical, hands on experience, you will be supporting not only patients, but also the leadership and development of the team. In return for your dedication and support to the team and your patients, we will support you with ongoing training and professional development. You will receive regular 1:1 supervisions and annual appraisals. We pride ourselves on “growing our own” and as part of the wider Intermediate Care service, you will have opportunities to trial different teams and roles as appropriate as well as access training opportunities both internally and externally. You will also be responsible for line managing junior staff members, including their development, managing HR issues if and when they arise and ensuring a high quality of service delivery by them. As a community-based role, it is essential you have access to a vehicle for work purposes, including business insurance and a valid license. This is a seven day service and as such you will be rostered to work a mix of week days and weekends. Shift patterns are usually 7.5hrs rostered between 8am-9pm.

Your Role Will

• Involve assessing patients’ care needs and writing care and support plans whilst championing a strengths-based approach to care provision.
• Empowering patients to be as independent as possible and building on their existing support networks.
• In addition, you will also deliver hands on care to patients, ensuring the highest quality of care leading to extremely satisfied patients.
• To have a vehicle for use for work purposes and have business insurance. To work as part of a rota covering the Trust’s Intermediate Care Service 08:00-20:00 7 days a week.

Visa Sponsorship

This position is not eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants must already hold the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the contract.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available. Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too. We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users. Frimley Health Trust benefits on Vimeo

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

You can read more about the key tasks and responsibilities associated with this role in the job description attached with this advert, including the administrative and organisational duties, involvement in social and digital media development and monitoring and forward planning.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Foundation degree, NVQ Level 5 or evidence of working towards one of these qualifications, relevant to this role

Experience

• Previous experience as an HCA, Community Support Worker or Therapy Assistant
• Previous experience undertaking patient assessments.

Desirable criteria

• Community experience

Skills & Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Good communication skills to include concise and effective verbal and written reports
• Ability to follow clear instructions and feedback to senior staff
• Able to work with minimal supervision
• Previous experience undertaking assessments and rehab
• Able to motivate people and monitor progress
• Ability to cope with and analyse changing situations
• Prioritisation skills
• Confident computer skills with word and patient record systems

Desirable criteria

• Teaching skills
• Knowledge of risk assessment

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.

We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.

We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.

Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.

Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.