Band 7 Highly Specialist Prosthetist

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS FT; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Highly Specialist Prosthetist, an experienced clinician who will work closely with the Clinical Lead Prosthetist and the Multidisciplinary Team to facilitate safe, high‑quality care for all our patients. They will ensure prosthetic prescriptions for adults and children after limb loss are suitable and cost effective.

The post holder will manage their own caseload, supervise others, develop the service, and provide input to wider

Qualifications

• BSc Honours Degree in Prosthetics or equivalent qualification
• Current HCPC registration
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development
• Member of British Association of Prosthetist and Orthotists (BAPO)

Responsibilities

• Assessing, analysing and developing treatment plans for patients with highly complex disabilities.
• Managing own caseload, supervising other prosthetists and students, and contributing to efficient, cost‑effective service delivery.
• Specifying, evaluating, modifying and ensuring safety and quality of bespoke prosthetic devices, with communication to the workshop.
• Communicating complex information to patients, carers, and colleagues, and maintaining accurate patient records.
• Providing clinical leadership, developing evidence‑based services, undertaking research and audits, delivering training and managing projects.
• Performing risk assessments and ensuring safe use of equipment in line with consent and capacity requirements.

Skills

Clinical assessment

Prosthetics fitting

Communication skills

Leadership

Digital scanning

Education

BSc Honours Degree in Prosthetics

Job description

The Highly Specialist Prosthetist will be an experienced clinician, who will work closely with the Clinical Lead Prosthetist and the Multidisciplinary Team to facilitate the provision of safe, high-quality care for all our patients. They will ensure prosthetic prescriptions for adults and children following limb loss are suitable and cost effective. The Highly Specialist Prosthetist will also be expected to support and manage other members of the team, to develop the service and ensure best outcomes for all prosthetic users. Alongside this, they will need to provide advice and input to wider West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre services and satellite services as required.

Main duties of the job

• Clinical Care: Assessing, analysing and developing individualised treatment plans for patients with highly complex disabilities, including performing challenging casting/shape capture and fitting bespoke prosthetic devices to paediatric and adult populations
• Service Management:Managing their own caseload, supervising other prosthetists and students, and contributing to the efficient, cost-effective delivery and development of the prosthetic service.
• Technical Expertise:Specifying, evaluating, modifying (including positive model rectifications), and ensuring the safety and quality of bespoke prosthetic devices, involving detailed communication with the manufacturing workshop.
• Communication & Documentation:Effectively communicating complex and sensitive information to patients, carers, and colleagues, and maintaining accurate, confidential patient records in line with professional standards.
• Leadership & Development:Providing clinical leadership, assisting in developing evidence-based services, undertaking research and audits, delivering training, and managing projects within the service.
• Safety & Compliance: Performing risk assessments, ensuring the safe use of equipment, and adhering to legal frameworks for consent and capacity. The post holder must be fully conversant in the use of equipment within the clinical and technical environment that is used to treat patients and to manufacture and adjust prostheses, and to document every clinical contact.

About us

Be Part of Our Team...

BCHC has more than 5000 staff working across Birmingham and the West Midlands in a wide range of community nursing and specialist healthcare roles. BCHC delivers over 100 clinical services, in people's homes, health centres, clinics and inpatient facilities. We deliver a wide range of services for children, young people and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehab Centre and one of Europe's leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.

If you want to 'Be Part of Our Team' and work with a Foundation Trust which is continuously striving for best care and healthy communities, we want to hear from you.

IMPORTANT

Job responsibilities

For further details on the job description and main responsibilities, please see the attached documents.

Qualifications

• BSc Honours Degree in Prosthetics or equivalent qualification
• Current registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC)
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development
• Member of British Association of Prosthetist and Orthotists (BAPO)

Experience

• Extensive post registration clinical experience providing a broad range of experience in prosthetic service provision
• Extensive experience of working both as part of a multidisciplinary team and autonomously
• Significant experience in measuring, fitting, assessing and evaluating the function of a broad range of bespoke and stock prostheses
• Significant experience of problem solving related to prosthetic product
• Significant experience and ability of assembling, adjusting and fine tuning prosthetic products utilising appropriate tools and instruments to ensure safe and optimal fit and function
• Significant experience in Mentorship for undergraduates and other learners and to provide training, mentorship and support to placement students, graduates and less experienced members of the team.
• To identify and undertake clinical audits and/or research projects, in conjunction with the Prosthetic Clinical Lead and the Clinical Team.
• Paediatric Experience

Skills & Knowledge

• Evidence of assessment skills with particular reference to patients with highly complex disability
• Comprehensive knowledge of procurement of appropriate best value prostheses/ consumables/ custom prosthetic supply using accurate prescriptions
• Significant knowledge of clinical and technical information of available prostheses
• Significant knowledge of up-to-date evidence base in specialist area
• Excellent communication and listening skills with an understanding of the needs of people with disabilities and their carer
• Knowledge and experience of Digital scanning Technologies
• Basic workshop and machine skills for Manufacturing and adjusting prostheses
• Ability to demonstrate individual responsibility in respect of Health and Safety
• Motivation, negotiation, and reassurance and require expert verbal and non-verbal communication skills. (Use of simple and complex communication technology may be used by patients and interpreters on occasions)
• Ability to manually handle patients and / or equipment safely to attain positioning necessary to perform safe and effective clinical assessment / treatments
• Understands risk assessment and applies it to all areas of practice advising others as necessary Knowledge of and ability to apply relevant legislative frameworks and policies relating to care e.g. Mental Capacity Act, Safeguarding, Consent to Treatment
• Communication skills for conveying sensitive and highly complex information to patients, carers, colleagues and other agencies including children and patients with learning difficulties, mental illness or distress

Personal Qualities

• Highly self-motivated
• Can prioritise own workload / caseload and has insight into own coping strategies in stressful situations
• Is able to reflect on own clinical practice and initiate appropriate changes
• Can deal with conflict and use negotiation to manage patient expectations any changes within a team
• Excellent interpersonal skills, Listening and counselling skills
• Formal involvement with multidisciplinary team
• Ability to maintain legible, accurate, legal clinical records this may include digital and handwritten notes
• Supporting the wider team in achieving common goals
• Problem solving skills for rare or unique disability/ deformity or specific rehabilitation goals
• Demonstrable commitment to clinical supervision/CPD

Other

• Independently mobile to meet the travel requirements of the role

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£49,387 to £56,515 a yearper annum (pro rata)