About this role
Job summary
At North London Foundation Trust, we are committed to improving the physical health of our service users and are passionate about addressing the health inequalities faced by those with mental health needs.
As part of this prioritisation, we are setting up a Physical Health Therapies Team within the acute adult mental health in-patient services. This team will comprise of Allied Health Professionals often underrepresented on acute mental health wards.
We are looking for an experienced Physiotherapist with a special interest in extending and/or developing their work with service users whilst in acute mental health care. You will be equally passionate about addressing inequality and committed to working alongside other AHPs to improve the physical health therapy offer.
We have four acute sites in the Trust, the largest of which is in Highgate, London. The other sites are in Barnet, Haringey and Enfield. Your flexibility to work across these sites and to respond to need is essential.
We are keen to evidence the difference this team can make. Development and quality improvement will be embedded as part of this role. We have close working relationships with our local physical health provision and will ensure these posts do not become isolated but are fully linked in with the North London wide offer.
If this sounds exciting to you, like it does to us, please apply!
Main duties of the job
The Physical Health Therapies Team will provide Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Dietetics and Podiatry services. The team will work in collaboration with established AHP teams and other physical health colleagues within the care group to deliver physical health interventions for adult service users in acute mental health wards within the North London NHS Foundation Trust. The postholder will provide clinical, operational, and professional leadership and managementof physiotherapy within the Physical Health Therapies Team, and help lead on the design, delivery, and development of high-quality care within this new service in line with advances in evidence-informed practice, digital transformation, etc.
About us
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.
Our Five-Year Strategy:
We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care Why NLFT?
We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities. We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives. NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme Excellent internal staff network
In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
Job description Job responsibilities
The postholder will deputise for the team manager of the Physical Health Therapies Team and will assume the team manager's responsibilities in their absence alongside senior colleagues. They will autonomously utilise highly specialist knowledge and skills to provide assessment, diagnosis, and management to services users with physical health presentations, thus optimising the clinical pathway, and guide and support others to do the same. The postholder will provide expertise and promote good practice in relation to the moving and handling of patients for all Allied Health Professionals in acute care. The post holder will provide leadership and oversight of the exercise and physical activity offer across the inpatient acute sites.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Degree-level professional qualification in Physiotherapy High level post-graduate courses in related area of expertise Registered member of CSP and HCPC
Desirable
Member of relevant Clinical Interest Group, e.g. Chartered Physiotherapists in Mental Health.
Skills Essential
Highly specialist level of clinical skills - able to implement appropriate assessment, diagnosis and treatment for complex physical health and mental health presentations. Demonstrate the ability to manage and prioritise own/team's workload equitably, responding to unpredictable changes to patients and staffing levels Ability to work efficiently, effectively and professionally as part of a multi-disciplinary team, understanding the role and nature of team working Effective communication skills - able to engage a wide range of stakeholders to optimise care and service management, including use of negotiation skills and communicating complex, sensitive and contentious information in an understandable form Demonstrable clinical leadership skills, able to develop, lead, manage and support staff
Experience Essential
Working knowledge and experience of clinical governance. Participation in projects for the improvement of patient care and service developments, including leading on projects. Evidence of active participation in and organisation of in-service training programmes.
Desirable
Knowledge and experience of working with service users who have mental health presentations Knowledge of mental illness and its impact on physical health
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
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 North London NHS Foundation Trust
Address Chase Farm hospital
127 the Ridgeway,
Enfield
EN2 8JL
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)