Therapy Assistant Practitioner
Job overview
We are looking for a highly motivated and innovative Band 4 Assistant Practitioner to join the inpatient therapy team, Team Merrit at The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (34hrs per week).
We are looking for someone who has had previous therapy support worker experience within Physiotherapy and/ or Occupational Therapy teams. The successful post holder will carry a non-complex patient caseload, working with patients from assessment through to discharge.
Additional training will be provided by registered therapists to enable the successful candidate to work autonomously delivering patient centred physiotherapy and occupational therapy to our medical inpatients.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will carry their own caseload from assessment to discharge. The post involves working alongside qualified therapists as well as with other members of the support worker team and the Care Transfer Hub team to provide therapy input to patients across the acute wards.
The post holder needs to be flexible, have good time management skills, confident IT skills, and work well in a team as well as independently.
We expect the post holder to manage their own caseload and be able to delegate duties appropriately.
We work over the weekends and Bank Holidays which is worked pro rata via a rota.
Working for our organisation
Our Poppy’s Promise Commitment
We believe that compassionate care sits at the heart of everything we do. Every member of our team — clinical or non-clinical — plays a vital role in ensuring that patients, families, and colleagues are treated with dignity, empathy, and respect at all times.
We expect all staff to demonstrate compassion not only through their words, but through their actions: by listening attentively, communicating clearly and kindly, and recognising individual needs, feelings, and circumstances of those in our care.
Effective communication is central to safe and high-quality healthcare. We value colleagues who take the time to understand others, explain information in a meaningful way, and respond to concerns with patience and understanding.
By joining our team, you are committing to uphold these values — ensuring that every patient feels heard, respected, and valued, and that compassion is embedded in every interaction, every day.
Within Therapies we have a strong culture of professional leadership and support. Each profession has a head of profession leading on delivering local, regional and national professional strategy. This includes AHP’s into action, job planning, electronic rostering, electronic data capture, quality improvement strategy, and representation at internal and external meetings raising the profile of Therapies.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For full duties and responsibilities please refer to the attached document entitled Job Description.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- GCSEs in Maths and English (Grades 9-4/A-C)
- Evidence of Knowledge and skills sufficient to demonstrate the ability and willingness to study and work at the level equivalent to a foundation degree
- Foundation Degree or equivalent / or willingness to work towards.
Work experience
Essential criteria- Previous therapy assistant experience at Band 3 (Higher Support Worker) or above
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Knowledge of therapy interventions acquired through training or experience within a NHS setting
- Knowledge of the role of the assistant practitioner and the boundaries of the position
- To have knowledge and experience of common conditions in the acute setting and the impact on the therapy intervention
Skills
Essential criteria- Experience in liaising with other agencies
- Previous experience in caring for patients in the medical or surgical setting who present with complex conditions
- Previous experience working closely with a Multidisciplinary team to achieve patient centred goals
By submitting your application to Trac, you are giving your consent for parts of your application data to be transferred to the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and other secure, internal NHS Workforce systems. This is to support and manage your recruitment and employment within your employing organisation.
If the role requires a qualification/professional registration, you will need to provide proof during the recruitment process. By submitting your application you are giving the Trust permission to check the qualification certificates provided back to the source provider.Please note that a sample of all applicant’s qualifications will be checked with the educational institution or provider.
If you require the application form in an alternative format, please call the Recruitment Team on 01743 492402 or email us at [email protected]
In the event of a high response to this advertisement, this post will be closed. Early applications are advised.
We commit to removing barriers for people with disabilities or long-term health conditions in recruitment, training, and career progression. We will offer an interview to all applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for the above position and will support reasonable adjustments wherever possible.In addition, whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from candidates who are male, from black and minority ethnic backgrounds or who have a disability, as these are currently under-represented in our workforce.
We are committed to offering an interview to applicants from the Armed Forces community who meet the minimum criteria for the position. In addition, for those who are successfully appointed from the Armed Forces community, the Trust are committed to recognising previous service and rank in terms of pay, annual leave and other terms and conditions.
We are committed to equal opportunities in employment. The policies and practices of the Trust aim to promote an environment that is free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of all people. At the heart of our policy, we seek to treat people fairly, flexibly and with dignity and respect.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people from an Ethnic minority background are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
We aim to create a trusting, flexible workplace, that attracts talent and enables everyone to be their best working self. Many of our colleagues work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need.We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise a fair and equitable process that balances your needs, the needs of our patients and service delivery.
Our Commitment to Safety and Respect - The Trust is a signatory to the NHS Sexual Safety Charter and is committed to a safe, inclusive workplace free from sexual misconduct, harassment, and discrimination.
Thank you for your interest in The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, we look forward to receiving your application for employment.