Oncology Assessment Unit Senior Therapy Assistant
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.
In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train.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
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust have an exciting opportunity for a Band 4 AHP Assistant to work in the Oncology Assessment Unit (OAU) at Poole Hospital. This is a new, 9 months fixed term post funded by the Wessex Cancer Alliance to investigate the holistic needs of patients that are admitted to OAU.
Base location: Poole Hospital
There is a planned change of the base site to Royal Bournemouth Hospital at the end of 2025.
Main duties of the job
The key responsibility will be to screen and assess for Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetic and Speech and Language Therapy needs of the patients that are admitted to OAU. The post holder will work autonomously within set competency criteria providing rehabilitation, equipment provision, advice and referral to other services, accessing supervision and guidance of senior AHP colleagues where needed.This role will also support the ongoing rehabilitation needs of cancer patients across the hospital. The post holder will work with senior AHP colleagues and the Personalised Cancer Care Project Lead to collect relevant data and outcome measures to support the need for this service and post in the longer term.
This data will be reported back to the Wessex Cancer Alliance and wider Trust.
It is expected that applicants will have relevant experience working with at least one AHP profession (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetic or Speech and Language Therapy) and/or have considerable experience working within the oncology setting.There will be a period of training to ensure competence in the other disciplines before working clinically on OAU.
If you have further questions regarding this post please contact Anna McHillier, Personalised Cancer Care Project Lead on [email protected].
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 teammates and colleagues.
UHD are investing in services across the Trust, with many being transformed and developed following merger and the New Hospital Programme.
This means that some 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 about this at interview.
There is a possible move of this service anticipated during Winter 2025, when this role and base of work will relocate to Royal Bournemouth Hospital site. Upon relocation of the role/service, excess mileage allowance / reimbursement will not apply, and any travel between the postholder’s home and work base will be classified as a commute.Any other changes unrelated to this, will be handled in line with Trust/National terms and conditions.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further details on main responsibilities of post, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification
Person specification
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria- Foundation degree Health and Social Care, or equivalent level 5 qualification; plus, A-levels and GCSEs or equivalent(s), including Functional Skills (level 2) Or - as a level 5 apprenticeship, such as the Assistant Practitioner apprenticeship
- Care Certificate Substantial experience in health and care settings, including in the relevant field of work
Supporting service users
Essential criteria- Demonstrates that they consistently deploy person centred care, treatment and support startegies
- Understands the aims and principles of health promotion, protection and improvement and importance of relevant interventions for individual service users and their families, including making every contact count
- Develops, manages, and maintains positive, appropriate relationships with service users, families and carers, demonstrating respect, kindness, compassion and empathy at all times.
- Understands the social, cultural, and economic influences, individual circumstances, behaviours, and lifestyle choices that impact on health outcomes for service users and their families, including health inequalities.
- Applies principles of behaviour change within individualised contexts to enable personalised discussion, sensitively communicating complex and/or potentially challenging information to service users if appropriate to facilitate change including through social prescribing.
Clinical, technical and scientific roles and responsibilities
Essential criteria- Understanding of role boundaries and the importance of supervision and carrying out appropriately delegated tasks. Able to understand and follow procedures, protocols and plans
- Able to work independently with service users within the scope of the role and operational policies, protocols and procedures.
- Manages own workload and time, including prioritising tasks and resources, taking account of changing circumstances.
- Within scope of role and working to operating procedure, protocols and procedures plans, implements and monitors own treatment and care plan interventions, including adapting to circumstances
- Gathers and interprets relevant information working under protocols and forms a judgement on the improvement or deterioration in the physical, mental or behavioural condition of service users and responds by referring or escalating concerns to a registered practitioner.
- Ensures safe and effective use of equipment, including fitting, demonstration and teaching of safe and appropriate use. Adapts equipment where appropriate and monitors individual’s progress. Carries out basic risk assessment and able to document in care records. Ensures equipment is safe.
- Developed knowledge of clinical, technical and/or scientific theory and practice, within their immediate field of practice. Understands the importance of evidencebased practice.
- Understands the impact of complex care needs and other factors when prioritising care activities within their own or the team’s defined workload.
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.