We are seeking an experienced and dynamic professional to take on the role of Service Lead for the Wheelchair Assessment Service and Repairs. This pivotal role is integral to driving excellence in service development, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, community-based care, and leading a multidisciplinary team within a robust quality framework.
This role offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of individuals with complex needs, while shaping the future of a vital community-based service. If you are a passionate leader with a commitment to excellence in healthcare, we encourage you to apply.
Key Responsibilities:
• Service Leadership:Take the lead in developing and enhancing the Wheelchair Assessment Service and Repairs, ensuring the highest standards of patient care and service provision.
• Team Management:Provide senior leadership and guidance to a multidisciplinary team, including wheelchair therapists, rehabilitation engineers, repairs team lead.
• Clinical Expertise:Maintain a clinical caseload, delivering specialist wheelchair and postural assessments for patients with complex mobility and postural management needs. The role balances clinical and managerial responsibilities with a 40:60 ratio.
• Quality Assurance:Uphold and promote quality standards, ensuring patient-focused care and the efficient management of resources.
Find out more about working for our organisation here:
Apply now to join an organisation that has been awarded an Outstanding rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the highest possible rating and the first stand-alone NHS community trust in the country to be awarded the title.
Main Duties & Responsibilities
Clinical Responsibilities
• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients who have complex postural and mobility needs, and to organise this efficiently and effectively with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management, and those of other staff.
• To undertake comprehensive highly specialist complex assessment, prescription, and the evaluation of outcomes of patients accessing wheelchair services, with a variety of presentations.
• This will include investigation and analysis of complex facts and taking into account eligibility criteria and local policies of provision in order to formulate prescriptions to meet individual needs.
• To make onward referrals as required.
• To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to patients, relatives, carers and other professionals to ensure the aims of the wheelchair service are met and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
• To receive and provide complex, sensitive information. In communicating effectively with patients and carers, skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation and gaining informed consent will be used. Barriers of effective communication will be evident with some patients e.g., impaired hearing, altered perception, speaking a language other than English, pain and fear. Patients may lack the ability to consent to treatment. Increased emotional effort is required, as at times equipment has to be withdrawn.
• To utilise highly developed communication/interpersonal skills with users, carers, health professionals, Authorised Repairers etc. to facilitate high quality user service/pathway using a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools.
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment, and to support other staff likewise.
• To maintain clinical records in line with Trust Policy and Professional Standards.
• To ensure that Trust’s clinical system, SystmOne, is maintained accurately so as to optimise patients care along treatment pathways.
• To ensure that Assessment management database is being unitised and adhere to. (eQuip)
• To triage referrals coming into the service.
• To lead a multidisciplinary team within a quality framework to ensure that the highest standards of care are met.
• To lead and contribute to relevant multidisciplinary meetings and patient reviews as appropriate.
• To provide supervision, advice and support to members of the team.
Leadership Responsibilities
• To provide senior leadership and be responsible for the strategic management of the Wheelchair Service and Repairs.
• To provide senior leadership round performance to enable the service to meet 18-week RTT
• To proactively work alongside senior management teams to ensure efficient patient flow. (Hospital Discharge etc)
• To build and maintain strong multiagency relationships with key stakeholders
• To work with all health care professionals to provide seamless and integrated service to patients
• To plan and organise efficiently and effectively with regard to patient management and use of time.
• For NCH&C to take a lead role and contribute to delegated strategic projects, represent the organisation at a strategic level and lead on the development of new processes and projects.
• To have an excellent working knowledge of key operational priorities, legislation, and procedures
• To work flexibly across geographical areas in response to clinical demands.
• To line manage and provide management and clinical supervision, for staff within the Wheelchair Assessment team and WRS Team Lead.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for improvement, make recommendations for service change, and lead the implementation and evaluation of new ways of working.
• To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out Wheelchair Services duties e.g., clinic equipment, hoists, assessment equipment. To adhere to departmental policy including competence to use equipment and ensure safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training and supervision of practice.
• To ensure adequate supplies through robust stock control, including ordering, receipt of goods, storage, and safe use. The post holder will be the authorised signatory for travel expenses and will hold a delegated budget.
• To be actively involved in the collection of appropriate data and statistics for use by the trust and / or department
• To comply with the organisational and departmental policies and procedures and to be involved in the development, reviewing and updating as appropriate. To perform any other duties that are considered appropriate
• To continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the clinical service to ensure consistent and effective practice across the team. This may be achieved through the completion of audit and clinical effectiveness outcome measures. Evaluation of the service should guide appropriate clinical service delivery.
Further information can be found on the job description attached
This advert closes on Thursday 13 Feb 2025
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .