About this role
Job summary
We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced HCPC registered Band 6 Podiatrist to join our friendly Community Podiatry Team covering the West Lancashire patch on a full-time, permanent basis. This is an exciting opportunity to work across a range of community clinic locations helping us deliver high-quality, person-centred care closer to home.
You will work with patients in clinic settings and in their own homes, including nursing and residential homes, providing assessment, treatment and ongoing management for people with a wide range of podiatric needs. The role offers the chance to build strong multidisciplinary relationships across neighbourhood services and make a visible difference to the health and wellbeing of the local population.
This post is ideally suited to a podiatrist with post-registration experience who is confident working both independently and as part of a supportive team, and who is committed to delivering high standards of clinical care.
You will assess, diagnose, plan and deliver treatment for patients with a range of complex needs, including people living with long-term conditions and those requiring wound management. We are therefore looking for someone with strong clinical reasoning, excellent communication skills and a compassionate, proactive approach to care. In return, you will join a service that values professional development, collaborative working and continuous improvement.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will manage a defined caseload and take responsibility for the assessment, planning, delivery and review of care for patients with acute and chronic complex podiatry needs. You will work autonomously, using evidence-based clinical decision-making to provide proactive, responsive care that supports both anticipatory and ongoing maintenance needs. The role involves building effective communication with patients, carers, colleagues and wider stakeholders to ensure continuity of care, identifying and managing risk within agreed guidelines, and contributing to service quality, audit and improvement within the team.
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families and carers to design and develop future services together. We are continually transforming and improving our services so that we can provide high-quality care in the most effective and sustainable way.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Job description Job responsibilities
Responsible for the provision of appropriate, high quality care to a defined caseload.
Responsible for workload planning and delegation of work to other team members, taking into account competence levels.
Undertake holistic assessments of need for the patient and family, which may be highly complex, using the appropriate model of care and evidence based practice.
Work in partnership with other professionals to enable patients/clients to be maintained in an appropriate environment, thus avoiding hospital admission.
Provide advice to patients, clients and carers on a wide range of health issues to include health promotion, life style advice and health care. Ensure that the team provides a high quality clinical service to its clients by participation in caseload and clinical supervision.
In conjunction with the team leader, develop new ways of working to provide a responsive service to patients with both planned and unplanned care needs.
Develop partnerships and joint working within other agencies as appropriate.
Maintain registration in line with professional bodies.
Clinically lead, direct, mentor and support the team.
Support the team leader in the development of caseload management across the local health economy.
Acts as an advocate and champion for patients and/or clients.
Act as a role model to team members and students so that patients/clients receive the most effective care possible.
Contribute to the development of policy and services to reflect the needs of the local neighbourhood population.
Participate in the development, implementation, and monitoring of the clinical team contract/objectives.
Provide information to the team leader on staff and patient/client activity as requested, to enable the effective management of the team.
Support the team leader in the implementation of practice development, improvement and service modernisation initiatives.
Support the team leader by monitoring and recording sickness and absence, capability and other issues within the team, reporting them as soon as possible.
In conjunction with other caseload holders, provide day-to-day supervision and support for the team.
Support the team leader in providing induction to the local working environment, clinical services and policies for new team members and students.
Undertake personal development plans with other members of the team, as delegated by the team leader.
Act as an authorised signatory for mileage and time cards for submission to the team leader.
Communicate with the multi-disciplinary team to provide best outcomes for patients/clients; this may include organising case conferences related to highly complex cases.
Participate in individual and group supervision.
Monitor record keeping within the team and inform the team leader of any issues.
Support the training and development of team members who need to improve on the level of patient care delivery.
This includes record keeping and improving clinical competency.
Support the implementation of any initiatives to improve quality within the clinical governance framework.
Participate in patient satisfaction reporting to improve patient care.
Work with the team leader to ensure achievement of your own personal development plan.
Maintain up to date knowledge and competence in line with professional and service requirements and demonstrate critical thinking, decision-making and reflective skills to ensure own professional development.
Support the Team Leader in creating an environment in which learning and practice development is fostered, evaluated and disseminated.
Facilitate effective learning within the area of practice for all students and practitioners.
Facilitate pre and post registration student placements within the team.
Mentor and assess pre-registration students.
Participation in clinical audits and research, as required.
The post holder shall as necessary provide cover for and undertake duties of absent colleagues.
The post holder shall follow all the policies and procedures of the organisation. Participate in individual and group supervision
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Registered Professional Teaching/mentorship qualification or equivalent or equivalent work-based experience
Desirable
V300 Prescriber, if required for the post
Experience Essential
Demonstrable post registration/qualification experience Experience of successful multi-agency working Demonstrable experience in relevant area of practice or equivalent
Desirable
Management and clinical leadership experience
Knowledge Essential
Evidence of CPD/Short courses Awareness of current national and local agenda in health and social care Understanding of partnership working Understanding of the principles of care management Awareness of factors that contribute to good health and the importance of promoting these in line with organisational public health policy
Skills Essential
Evidence of being able to communicate complex information and advice on healthcare to patients/clients, carers and colleagues Excellent communication, organisational and interpersonal skills Risk assessment skills Self-management and motivation skills IT literate Able to transport self around the LCH community
Values Essential
Continuous improvement - committed to making improvements to our services for the benefit of all Accountability - taking ownership to anticipate, develop and deliver high quality care Respect - how we treat others in an inclusive and supportive way Enthusiasm - demonstrate our passion and pride for what we do and how we do it Support - actively supporting others with compassion and courage
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address Clayton House
Langley Place, Burscough Industrial estate
Ormskirk
L40 8JU
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)