Therapy Assistant - Older Persons Team

As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.

We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £250m estates programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.

We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.

We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.

At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.

As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.

Job overview

We are pleased to announce we are recruiting for a Band 3 therapy assistant post, supporting the Older Persons Therapy Team.

As a team we are passionate in ensuring that any older people presenting to our acute hospital receive the highest quality care from clinicians with a holistic approach and passion in caring for older people.

There may be opportunities to rotate into the community setting within Bournemouth and Christchurch to further develop your knowledge and understanding of the elderly care rehabilitation pathway.

The post holder must be a car driver and have access to a car for work purposes, please make this clear in the supporting information of your application.

Previous experience of working with older people, in an acute hospital or community setting would be desirable.

The key responsibilities would require you to work alongside the therapists on our Older Persons Medicine wards, supporting the team with rehabilitating the older person and enabling them to return to their pre-admission level of independence and function.

Interview Date: TBC

Main duties of the job

You will be required to achieve a certain competency level for which the support and training will be provided to help you achieve. We have a structured in-house training programme and a supportive team of clinical staff.

The post will include 7 day working and therefore the post holder will be expected to participate in weekend working. The post holder will need to be able to speak English as necessary for the role.

Some administrative responsibilities will be required within this role.

Working for our organisation

Our values define who we are as #TeamUHD. They underpin everything we do now and in the future. They define how we treat our patients, visitors, and each other, our valued team mates and colleagues.

UHD are investing in services across the Trust, with many being transformed and developed following merger and the New Hospital Programme.

In some cases this means that a services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or long term. Recruiting Managers interviewing for this role will be happy to answer any specific questions that you have at interview.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To understand the role in more detail please read the full job description and person specification documents which are attached to this advert.

Person specification

Qualifications

• A qualification at NVQ 3/QCF or equivalent and relevant to working in a care setting. Failing this, those with relevant skills and experience need to demonstrate willingness to undertake equivalent training in the first year in post

Experience

• Previous work as a Therapy Assistant or equivalent (e.g. Physiotherapy or Occupational Therapy Assistant, HCA, or another relevant role where direct patient care is involved).
• Assessing individuals function and mobility

• Previous experience working in a hospital
• Previous experience working with the elderly

Technical skills and competencies

• Ability to work independently, on ward and/or in patient’s homes, working on own initiative with guidance/supervision from qualified staff
• Effective time management skills
• Ability to manage own caseload with access to qualified staff.

• Experience with a range of manual handling equipment e.g. hoists, stand hoists, samhall turner
• Methods of gait re-education
• Delivering exercise programs to individuals and groups

Knowledge

• General knowledge of relevant medical conditions, e.g Parkinson’s disease, falls, Dementia and infections/conditions affecting the older person
• Desire to work with older adults

Interpersonal skills

• Demonstrates good verbal and non-verbal communication with an ability to establish a good rapport with a range of people. Able to speak English as necessary for the role.
• Ability to write results of interventions clearly and concisely demonstrating a good level of spelling and grammar.
• Basic teaching skills
• Team player

Personal attributes

• Flexible attitude and ability to respond positively to change.
• Well motivated
• Able to take direction from senior staff
• Ability to recognise boundaries of own job role

Other requirements specific to role

• Ability to drive and hold a clean driver’s license
• Ability to use a keyboard to access and input information from a computer based system
• Ability to move and handle patients and equipment using approved techniques, ability to cope with exposure to bodily fluids

Please note:

Staff recruited are expected to be available to work flexibly across all our Trust locations to meet service demands.

This advert may be closed early if sufficient applications are received.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst this vaccination is not a condition of employment we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated.

Internal Candidates: staff employed prior to merger who voluntarily change jobs will be appointed to UHD terms and conditions.