Children's Physiotherapy/Occupational Therapy Assistant

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust; Gateshead; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

An established healthcare provider is seeking a dedicated Therapy Assistant to join their Children's Therapy team. This role involves supporting qualified therapists in delivering therapeutic interventions to children in various settings, including clinics and schools. The ideal candidate will possess strong communication skills and a passion for helping children develop essential skills. With a commitment to compassionate care and a supportive work environment, this position offers an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the community.

Benefits

Flexible Working

Training Opportunities

Supportive Work Environment

Qualifications

• Experience in health, social care, or education settings is essential.
• Willingness to participate in competency work-based training program.

Responsibilities

• Implement treatment protocols and monitor progress.
• Assist with therapy programs and provide feedback.

Skills

Communication Skills

Teamwork

Problem Solving

Time Management

Education

GCSE in English and Math

Competence based level 3 Qualification

Tools

IT Skills (Email/Internet)

Job description

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

About

Why Choose Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT)?

We understand that whether youre just starting out or have plenty of experience, moving jobs can be both exciting and daunting, but youve made a great choice in considering joining Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT). We are an exceptional place to work with remarkable teams of hard working and dedicated clinical and non-clinical staff all delivering high standards of patient care.

Operating on an ethos of One Culture of Care , where we look after each other with the same care and compassion that we show to our patients, colleague engagement, and creating an open, honest and inclusive organisation is high on our agenda. Colleague engagement is about listening to each other and sharing our ideas so that we take action which improves patient care and the organisation that we work in. We want to create a place of work that feels open, and honest; where colleagues arent shy about saying how they feel, where they can make suggestions and where they know they will be supported if they pick up on other peoples behaviour that isnt OK.

Our values and behaviours; put the people first,do the must dos, work together to get results an go-seed underpin our strategy and our culture: every step of the way we support one another to grow, develop, learn, and contribute, to ensure all colleagues are able to look after each other, and ultimately, our patients. Find out mo Why Choose CHFT?re -

Were Ambitious

We are an ambitious trust and are continuing to make significant changes to the way we work and provide our services in order to meet the expectations of 21 st century care. In fact weve recently received capital funding of £196.5million to support the creation of two state of the art hospitals by 2025 to meet the needs of the local community. So its never been a more exciting time to join us as we move into the next phase of our transformation journey.

We Have Great Benefits

In addition to helping make a real difference to your local community we offer a wide range of benefits to all staff.

Were Charitable

Our CHFT NHS Charity allows donations from colleagues, patients and the community to allow us to purchase specialised equipment, improve our environments, support our staff and provide those all-important personal touches to our services that are over and above what NHS funding supports.

Our Future Plans

https://future.cht.nhs.uk/

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Key details

Location

SiteChildren's Therapy Department, Princess Royal Health CentreAddressGreenhead RoadTownHuddersfieldPostcodeHD1 4EWMajor / Minor RegionWest Yorkshire

Contract type & working pattern

ContractPermanentHours37.5 hours per week (up to 37.5 hours)

• Full time
• Flexible working
  
  

Salary

Salary£24,625 - £25,674 per annum, pro rataSalary periodYearlyGrade(NHS AfC: Band 3)

Specialty

Main areaChildren's therapyInterview date02/06/2025

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics.

We are committed to recruiting to our values. Leading One Culture of Care underpins our values by creating an environment, tone and behaviours across all parts of the Trust that are fundamentally rooted in compassionate care.

We are open to considering a wide range of flexible working arrangements. There are opportunities to flex the days of the week, hours and times of work and place of work including: part-time, job-share, flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home when appropriate. Please talk to us during the interview process to discuss any flexibility that you may require.

Why Choose CHFT?

Our Future Plans

https://future.cht.nhs.uk/

Job Overview

We are seeking a Therapy Assistant to join our friendly Childrens Therapy team in Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. The service consists of Dieticians, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists working with children across Huddersfield and Halifax.

You will provide support to the qualified Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists, working in a variety of settings to include clinics, schools and nurseries. Following delivery of a competency based training, you will be expected to work independently but under the direction of a qualified therapist to deliver therapeutic interventions to children. Experience of working with the public in a Health or social care or education setting is essential and it would be desirable to have some experience of working with children.

Advert

Duties May Include But Not Limited To

• Implementing treatment to protocols and based on competencies.
• Monitoring progress and feeding back to the registered practitioner or assistant practitioner
• Making minor adjustments to treatment programmes within pre-determined limits
• Assisting registered practitioners with complex treatment.
• Assessing for ordering and issuing predetermined basic equipment/ orthotics to protocols and established guidelines.
• Leading and assisting with group exercise and advice sessions.
• The training of others.
• Monitoring equipment stock and ordering replacements.
• Cleaning of equipment and workspace.
• Administration tasks.
• Participating in multi-disciplinary team meeting
  
  

Working for our organisation

We employ more than 6,500 staff who deliver compassionate care from our two main hospitals, Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary as well as in community sites, health centres and in patients homes. We also are incredibly proud to have almost 150 volunteers here at CHFT.

We provide a range of services including urgent and emergency care; medical; surgical; maternity; gynaecology; critical care; childrens and young peoples services; end of life care and outpatient and diagnostic imaging services.

We provide community health services, including sexual health services in Calderdale from Calderdale Royal and local health centres. These include Todmorden Health Centre and Broad Street Plaza.

We continue to modernise and invest in our health services to build on our strong reputation. Foundation trusts are public leaders in improving quality in health services. They are part of the NHS yet decisions about what they do and how they do it are driven by independent boards. Boards listen to their Council of Governors and respond to the needs of their members patients, staff and the local community.

Foundation trusts provide what the health service wants, yet are also free to invest quickly in the changes to the local community needs, in striving to be the best, and in putting their patients first.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Following appropriate clinical skills training and assessment of competence in the workplace, supported by theoretical knowledge, the post holder will be able to undertake the following duties:

Towork to competencies & local protocols and understand local communication networks. This includes making judgments around what may or may not be significant changes in a childs presentation, involving observation and engagement skills and whether or not to report to a registered practitioner.

To ensure full compliance with local hand hygiene policy.

To Prepare clinical areas, including participation in infection control procedures when preparing and cleaning clinical areas, and undertake responsibility for stock control (including monitoring & ordering) of clinical & non-clinical supplies.

To assist the registered practitioners in the delivery of therapy programmes, as per service competencies.

To support children with self-care and self-management of their condition. This may be carried out individually or in groups. This includes raising awareness of health and wellbeing.

To carry out planned intervention as prescribed by registered practitioner (as per service competencies).

To provide and set up therapy equipment, for example specialised seating and walking aids, as per agreed competencies. To give information to parents and other involved professionals to the safe use and basic maintenance of equipment

To communicate with children and young people, and those involved in their care by establishing the most effective methods of communication and enabling children and young people to participate in communication.

To develop relationships with children and young peopleusing play and other methods according to the age of the child or young person, in order to help them understand the situation.

To organize and plan your own day to day work, including delegated workload, whilst coping with occasional last minute changes. Prioritise your own workload and assist other members of team when workloads vary, with indirect supervision available as required.

To carry out, provide feedback on and contribute to revisions to the plan of care activities for which you are responsible, within predetermined parameters.

Tomaintain contemporaneous records (written & electronic) in line with Trust policy. This includes the ability to take accurate referral information.

Relate to & interact with othersusing encouragement, sensitivity, support and interventions as necessary. Maintain effective communication with your team and others you come into contact with.

To comply with legal requirements for patient/client confidentiality.

To maintain up to date knowledge and skills relevant to the field of practice ie undertake competency based training in conjunction with theoretical learning where require .dParticipate in Trust appraisal.

To participate in clinical supervision and maintain your reflective portfolio to Directorate standards.

To carry out your responsibilities at workincluding taking responsibility for daily running of a specific aspect of the service, which is appropriate to experience and level of expertise.

To work as part of a Multi-disciplinary team, making suggestions for improvement where appropriate.

Make sure your whereabouts are known during working hours.

Participate in regular supervision.

Attend all mandatory training.

Participate annually identifying, developing and agreeing your own development plan with your Line Manager using the Trust Appraisal.

Comply with all Trust policies, procedures and protocols.

Carry out duties with due regard to the Trusts Equal Opportunity Policy.

Seek advice and support from Line Manager whenever necessary.

Maintain professional conduct including appearance at all times.

To undertake all such reasonable other duties as may be required as part of the role.

Our vision is to provide One Culture of Care for one another in order that we can provide compassionate care for the people who use our services. We are passionate about creating a workplace where we work together to get results, encouraging colleagues to have their say, in order to co create the change we want to see. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce thats why we encourage applications from all. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants.

Please ensure your application is submitted with referees who can verify your employment/education history over the last three years and include valid email addresses for them. We will request electronic Factual Employment References from your previous employers. These references will be requested before you are issued with an unconditional offer of employment letter.

If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system. The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

This is a condition of your employment.

CHFT is part of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), a collaborative of the NHS hospital trusts from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate working together to provide the best possible care for our patients.

If you have any questions please contact [email protected] for assistance.

Applicant requirements

info This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Person specification

Qualifications / Training

Essential criteria

• English and Math GCSE grade 9-2 (A*-E) or equivalent
• Competence based level 3 Qualification e.g. NVQ or Diploma in Care or The Care Certificate issued by an employer
• Willingness to participate in competency work-based training programme
• Willingness to undertake additional and mandatory training as required.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Previous competency-based training in relevant field
  
  

Knowledge, Experience & Expertise

Essential criteria

• Recent relevant experience working and communication with the public in education/social care/health care
• An understanding of rehabilitation and reablement principles.
• An understanding of enabling a person to learn or re-learn skills
• IT literate (email/internet)
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Recent relevant experience of working in the community with children with physical difficulties.
• Recent relevant experience working in a multidisciplinary team in education/health/social care setting.
• An understanding of the issues when working in users homes and in educational settings.
• Manual handling training
• Understands the needs of specific client group
  
  

Communication And Relationships (including Management Responsibilities)

Essential criteria

• Demonstrates positive attitudes and behaviours.
• Able to work on own following agreed protocols, seeking help appropriately, particularly around unforeseen circumstances.
• Able to use initiative but be aware of limitations of role.
• Problems solving/decision making skills based on patient/client needs.
• Good communication skills.
• Tactful, diplomatic, supportive and resourceful.
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Good time management skills
• Ability to work well in a team
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Have an awareness of all Trust policies and procedures.
  
  

Documents

• JD and Person Spec (, 480.3)PDFKB
• Job Description Appendix A (, 259.2)PDFKB
  
  

Further details / informal visits contact

NameLesley SmithJob titleTeam leader - Children's TherapyEmail address [email protected]Telephone number07786678622Additional information

Lesley Smith, Team Lead - Children's Therapy

[email protected]

07786678622