Physiotherapy Band 3 Hand Therapy Assistant
Band 3; 23 hours per week – Crow Thorne Therapies Centre, Torbay Hospital
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 3 MSK Therapy Assistant to join our Hand Therapy department. In this role, you will provide 1:1 patient care and lead group rehabilitation sessions for individuals recovering from musculoskeletal hand injuries, orthopedic surgery, and rheumatological hand conditions. This is a brand new role for our team, and we are enthusiastic about collaborating with the successful candidate to shape the role to meet our service needs, as well as the individual's strengths and our line manager's vision.
Experience working with MSK conditions in healthcare or fitness settings, including supervising exercise or leading group rehab classes, is an advantage, but not essential.
Our Hand Therapy team offers regular clinical support and places a strong emphasis on service development. We operate a rapid access service with some patients coming directly from the fracture clinic, while others are routine referrals. We accept referrals from GPs, consultants, other clinicians, and self-referrals post-injury.
In this role, you will work under the direction of a physiotherapist or occupational therapist but will frequently operate independently. You will also manage a caseload of MSK hand therapy patients referred by our therapists within the service.
For further information, please contact Mrs Suzanne Smith at suzanne.smith7@nhs.net
The post holder will support the physiotherapy and occupational therapists to deliver assessment, diagnosis & treatment of a specified caseload within the hand therapy team either on an individual or group therapy basis. This caseload will be allocated and indirectly supervised by the relevant qualified Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist.
The caseload will be variable, but will mostly consist of elective and trauma hand patients (adult and paediatric) but will also include cancers, congenital deformities, rheumatological and pathological conditions. Patients will be treated in a range of settings including clinics (Consultant and therapist), the rehabilitation departments (outpatients) and wards (inpatients). Patient management will include exercise therapy, scar management, group rehabilitation, and splinting amongst others.
This post may also involve support of students.
The post holder will also be involved in maintenance of stock / equipment / leaflets and may also be involved in clerical and administration duties.
As an organisation Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) values staff and the diverse experiences and contributions they bring. We pride ourselves in being an inclusive organisation where every individual has the opportunity to make a difference. We are a mindful employer recognising employee health and wellbeing as a fundamental part of our success.
TSDFT is a leader in innovation-integrated health and social care across acute and community services. Our aim is to provide high quality, safe health and social care at the right time, in the right place to support the people of Torbay and South Devon to live their lives to the full. The Physiotherapy Service is integral to ensuring that this statement of purpose is delivered to our communities. For staff this gives unequalled scope for joint working, skill sharing and learning in a supportive environment.
Care to join us?
60% of workload is clinical; running groups and 1 to 1 session, 40% patient related non-clinical activity and general administration and stock control
Some aspects of work will involve delivery of care as part of a multidisciplinary team
To undertake ongoing assessment of patients including those with diverse and complex presentations / multi-pathologies, use basic clinical reasoning skills and assessment techniques to provide a basis for effective intervention
Deliver individualised and group MSK hand therapy exercise programmes to adults and paediatrics based on knowledge of evidence-based practice and using agreed exercise protocols. Evaluate patients’ progress, alter treatment plans within designated protocols, and report back to the referring clinician when a change in treatment or review is required
To facilitate exercise with an individual and/or group basis and support health education, joint protection and disease awareness.
To manage clinical risk within own patient caseload
For a full job description and role requirements please see the attached job description & person specification.
