UHWA Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist

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The initial vacancy is one specified purpose vacancy in this area.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Professional / Clinical

The Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist will:

• Identify and prioritise the requirements of the service within a constantly changing environment.
• Provide advanced physiotherapy assessment, management and treatment/appropriate interventions for patients assigned to his/her caseload.
• Ensure a high standard of physiotherapy assessment, treatment and management is provided for patients under his/her care and ensure that professional standards of practice are adhered to.
• Work as the lead contact (advanced practitioner) in line with competency level, triaging, diagnosing, treating and managing of patients with postnatal related conditions.
• Collect and analyse data to evaluate the effectiveness of their input. He/she will be required to produce and present reports in relation to their service on request
• Be an expert clinical lead for Women’s Health Physiotherapy service
• Promote and ensure clinical effectiveness of Women’s Health physiotherapy services through performance management, education, audit and research
• Oversee, monitor and uphold the standards of professional practice through clinical audit, supervision and training.
• Operate within the scope of Physiotherapy practice as per CORU requirements and in accordance with local guidelines.
• Be responsible for a clinical caseload.
• Ensure a high standard of physiotherapy assessment, treatment and management is provided for service users under his/her care.
• Operate within the scope of practice of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists
• Participate in weekend and bank holiday rotas as required.
• Ensure the privacy and dignity of the service user is respected at all times.
• Keep abreast of research and practice developments in relevant clinical area(s); advise on and, in collaboration with the Physiotherapy Manager, introduce improvements / changes to work practices, procedures, techniques or technology in light of new developments.
• Communicate with other Clinical Specialists nationally and internationally to further develop clinical excellence and research.
• Act as an advanced clinical advisor in the specialist clinical area(s) to Physiotherapists and other Health Care Professionals regarding the management of complex cases
• Keep accurate written and/or electronic records on the assessment, treatment, outcome and other information relevant to service users.
• Ensure the privacy and dignity of the service user is respected at all times.
• Serve on and provide specialist advice to committees / working groups that may be set up relevant to the area of clinical speciality.
• Participate in relevant service and professional meetings.
• Undertake other duties within the hospital as specified by the Physiotherapy Manager including maintaining their own ward competency level. This will also involve taking part in the on-call rota and weekend rotas.
• Contribute to forward planning and development pathways

Education & Training

The Clinical specialist Physiotherapist will:

• Participate in mandatory training programmes
• Take responsibility for, and keep up to date with Physiotherapy practice by participating in continuing professional development such as reflective practice, in service, self-directed learning, research, clinical audit etc.
• Be responsible for the induction and clinical supervision of staff in the designated area(s)
• Manage, participate and play a key role in the practice education of student therapists. Take part in teaching / training / supervision / evaluation of staff / students and attend practice educator courses as relevant to role and needs
• Engage in personal development planning, clinical supervision and performance review for self and others as required
• Initiate and participate in own continuous professional development and performance management with the Physiotherapy Manager and Respiratory Consultants
• Serve as a resource to contribute to the continuing professional development activities and education programmes of the physiotherapy services at Acute, community and regional levels, as appropriate.
• Attend where possible relevant post graduate courses and lectures.
• Agree and undertake appropriate training to provide advanced practice physiotherapy activities based on local service need, cognisant of Physiotherapy scope of practice and Legislation frameworks

Health & Safety

The Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist will:

• Develop and monitor implementation of agreed policies, procedures and safe professional practice by adhering to relevant legislation, regulations and standards
• Ensure the safety of self and others, and the maintenance of safe environments and equipment used in Physiotherapy in accordance with legislation
• Assess and manage risk in their assigned area(s) of responsibility
• Take the appropriate timely action to manage any incidents or near misses within their assigned area(s)
• Be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment, aids and appliances both by clients and staff under their supervision

Administrative

The Clinical specialist Physiotherapist will:

• Be responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of a quality service in line with best practice
• Oversee and monitor the standards of best practice within their Physiotherapy team
• Contribute to the service planning process
• Assist the Physiotherapy Manager in service development encompassing policy development and implementation
• Review and evaluate the Physiotherapy service regularly, identifying changing needs and opportunities to improve services
• Develop and promote quality standards of work and co-operate with quality assurance programmes
• Collect and evaluate data about the service area as identified in service plans and demonstrate the achievement of the objectives of the service
• Oversee the upkeep of accurate records in line with best practice
• Collate and maintain accurate statistics and render reports as required
• Represent the department at meetings and conferences as appropriate
• Inform the Physiotherapy Manager of staff issues (needs, interests, views) as appropriate
• Promote a culture that values diversity and respect in the workplace
• Participate in the control and ordering of Physiotherapy stock and equipment in conjunction with the Physiotherapy Manager
• Be accountable for the budget, where relevant
• Keep up to date with organisational developments within the Irish Health Service
• Engage in IT developments as they apply to clients and service administration
• Perform such other duties appropriate to the role as may be assigned by the Physiotherapy Manager

The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of he post while in office.