Specialist Mental Health Physiotherapist

Job overview

A new and exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Specialist Mental Health Physiotherapist to join the well-established mental health Physiotherapy team providing physiotherapy assessment and treatment across mental health inpatient services in Cambridge and Peterborough.

The post will also provide opportunity for supporting the inclusion of evidence based physical activity and exercise interventions to patients with a range of mental health diagnoses.

Main duties of the job

To work clinically with patients from across both the adult and older adult acute mental health inpatient services.

To assess and provide specialist treatment for patients who may have highly complex presentations.

To formulate and support the delivery of specialist exercise groups.

To promote the physiotherapy service and the vital role of supporting physical health needs for both physical and mental wellbeing, at all levels.

To provide specialist physiotherapy advice to other health professionals, carers and other agencies, within and outside the Trust.

To support the physiotherapy team in regular service review and development

To support the physiotherapy team in providing training opportunities for staff and as part of physiotherapy placement provision.

Working for our organisation

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your work, including the management of patients in your care.
2. To be responsible for managing a designated caseload and to organise this efficiently and effectively with regard to clinical priorities, use of time, clinical skills and to ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management and those of assistant staff.
3. To undertake a comprehensive, highly specialist assessment of patients, including those with a complex presentation of physical and mental health conditions, using investigative and analytical skills.
4. To formulate an individual physiotherapy management and/or treatment plan, using advanced clinical reasoning skills and utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options in order to deliver a specialised programme of care
5. To use highly developed physical skills, precision and hand/eye sensory co-ordination in providing manual treatment for patients.
6. To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of physiotherapy and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
7. To provide specialist advice and training to physiotherapy and other colleagues in various multi-disciplinary teams, regarding the management of patients requiring physical rehabilitation.
8. To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential and to ensure understanding of conditions, using the skills of persuasion, motivation and explanation and gaining informed consent where possible. To find ways of overcoming frequent barriers to communication, e.g. hearing loss, altered perception, cognitive impairment, pain or fear.
9. To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment and support assistant staff to do likewise.
10. To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with multidisciplinary team across health and social care sectors to ensure the delivery of a coordinated multidisciplinary service. This will include case conferences, ward rounds and informal meetings.

Person specification

Education/qualification

• Chartered Physiotherapist (CSP)
• Member of Health Care Professional Council (HCPC)
• Evidence of continuing professional development applicable to mental healthcare

• Evidence of additional CPD activities related to motivational interviewing/CBT approaches
• Member of the specialist interest group ‘Chartered Physiotherapists in Mental Health’
• Clinical Educator qualification

Experience

• Broad range of experience in the core areas of physiotherapy including musculoskeletal, respiratory, falls, post-operative care, orthopedic, medical and neurological rehabilitation
• Specialist clinical experience in working with adult and/or older adult patients with mental health diagnoses
• Experience in delivering physiotherapy led groups.
• Experience in supervision and appraisal processes
• Experience of supervising and training physiotherapy students
• Specialist clinical experience in working with patients as part of mental health services

• Evidence of working with a multiprofessional and inter- agency approach.
• Evidence of keeping abreast of new trends in the wider physiotherapy practice.
• Lived experience of mental health

Skills and Abilities

• Assess and manage appropriate levels of risk to inform physiotherapy interventions and ensure patient safety.
• Knowledge of a range of mental health conditions and presentations
• Able to demonstrate commitment to high quality care and service provision
• Ability to work flexibly as part of a team
• Able to assess plan and implement care, including caseload management and clinical prioritisation
• Good level of IT skills working with a variety of software packages and virtual meeting and appointment formats.
• Able to assist in the planning and evaluation of the delivery of the service.
• Proactively support people exhibiting challenging behaviour or who may be distressed.
• Must be able to travel between inpatient settings.

• Understanding of the Mental Health Act and implications for physiotherapy practise.
• To contribute to the wider network of physiotherapists in mental health and to inform physiotherapists in other specialties of your role

Knowledge and understanding

• Listens to and understands directly and indirectly expressed feelings
• Recognise peoples’ right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect.
• Understand and commit to equal opportunities and challenges relating to people who use mental health services.
• Communicate effectively with patience, empathy and show sensitivity for the client/patient group.
• Demonstrates empathy for the concerns of others

Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services.

We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including:

• Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people;
• Specialist mental health and learning disability services;
• Children and young people’s mental health services;
• Children’s community services in Peterborough;
• Social care;
• Ground-breaking research

We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/equalityanddiversity.

CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances.

Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a ‘Red List’ country.

Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over.

If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation.

All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.