Physical Health Specialist
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.
We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
We actively support anti-racism, equality, diversity, and inclusion so, if you’re excited about this job opportunity and you meet our Trust values, but feel unsure about applying, then please get in touch and we will be happy to have a conversation with you.
We are also committed to increasing diversity in the workforce, that is why we actively encourage applications from those groups of people who are currently under-represented, which include amongst others: people with disabilities; men from all socio-economic backgrounds; people from diverse ethnic backgrounds; and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Good luck and we hope to hear from you.
Job overview
Are you looking for a new challenge or to move into a health care setting?
The Buckinghamshire Early Intervention Service (EIS) specialises in working with those who have experienced a first episode of psychosis. We work with those aged 14 - 65 years. We're looking for a Physical Health Specialist to join the team on a full-time basis.
Maintaining physical health is an important part of recovery and is a core intervention of EIS. This means there is a national audit capturing our performance on this metric - as well as regular internal audits. Your role will be to ensure that all of our patients have at least an annual health check.You will also promote a healthy lifestyle. - in terms of diet, exercise & smoking cessation. You will work together with members of the MDT, contributing to care plans and monitoring those whose physical health you will be overseeing. You will also have regular supervision and training.
Bucks EIS is a supportive and inclusive team and we would welcome a new member of staff who brings enthusiasm and and an emphasis on the recovery model.
Main duties of the job- Undertaking annual heath checks
- Promoting a healthy lifestyle
- Support / accompany patients to a range of community physical health activities.
- To be involved in identifying existing physical health benefiting activities in the community as well as create new opportunities / groups.
- To be an active member of the Early Intervention Service, recording and updating clinical records and sharing information with the multidisciplinary team.
The ability to travel independently between sites within the Trust is essential for this role.
Working for our organisation
Oxford Health is a great place to work and to be able to showcase the best of yourself when making an application please read the “candidate guide to making an application” and ensure your supporting statement is tailored to the role you are applying for and addresses any essential criteria.
As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Northeast Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible.Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
- Excellent opportunities for career progression
- Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
- 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
- NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
- Competitive pension scheme
- Lease car scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists apply)
- Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Bucks EIS is a supportive multi-disciplinary team. We cover the whole of Buckinghamshire, so you will be visiting patients all over the county.
You will also be supported by the Physical Health Team in the Trust.
The Physical Health Specialist will be responsible for completing physical health assessments and yearly monitoring as well as creating bespoke interventions such as diet and personal fitness plans.
The Physical Health Specialist will be responsible for physical health equipment including phlebotomy equipment, scales, BP machine and training equipment.
The Physical Health Specialist will hold a case load of patients who have been referred for their physical health needs. They will be offered an agreed number of sessions depending on individual need followed by a review and will focus on setting up an individual goal directed program.
The Physical Health Specialist will set the individualised physical health program and work alongside the patient until they feel ready to continue with the program alone. This program may include group activities.
Person specification
Knowedge / Experience
Essential criteria- • Knowledge and understanding of NICE recommended interventions and changes in health recommendations and the ability to be able to adjust personalised care in line with changes.
- • To work with patients with first episode psychosis by offering them an alternative means of engagement. Achieved by building therapeutic relationships while focusing on physical activity with the aim of shortening the duration of untreated psychosis.
Qualifications
Essential criteria- 1) Phlebotomy. 2) Previous experience of working in a healthcare setting.
- 1) Diet & Nutrition Qualification. 2) A qualification in Mental Health NVQ 3 or Foundation degree in Health & Social Care or similar. •3) First Aid
Previous Experience
Essential criteria- 1) Competent in Physical Health monitoring i.e. BP, Pulse, Weight etc. 2) The ability to communicate effectively with patients and share relevant information with other members of the team. 3) To be able to hold and manage a case load of patients with identified physical health needs
- 1) In depth experience of working with service users with severe and enduring mental. 2) Experience in setting up personalised health improvement plans
- All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
- Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
- We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.
- Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
- We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.
- We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.
- We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
- Oxford is a world-renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing