Employer Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Employer type NHS Site ALAC, Rookwoood Hospital, Town Cardiff Salary £37,898 - £45,637 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 16/04/2025 23:59
Lead Prosthetic Technician
Band 6
WHO WE ARE:
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is one of the largest Integrated Health Board in the UK, employing over 16,000 staff and providing over 100 specialist services. Serving a population of around 500,000 people living in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, we are focussed on the health and care needs of our local population whilst also working with our partners to develop regional services. Together we are committed to improving health outcomes for everyone and to delivering excellent care and support.
Our mission is “Living Well, Caring Well, Working Together”. We have recently refreshed our strategy, Shaping Our Future Wellbeing, which sets out the Health Board’s Vision for improving the health and wellbeing of the populations we serve by 2035 through the delivery of our strategic objectives; Putting People First, Providing Outstanding Quality, Delivering in the Right Places, and Acting for the Future. We have challenging times ahead, but we are confident that by tackling these challenges together, we can support people to live healthier lives and reduce the unfair differences in the prevalence of illness and health outcomes we see in our communities today. We aspire to deliver outstanding care and treatment for people when they need it, where they need it; care that compares well with the best in the world, but to do so, we need to transform how we deliver services over the next decade and beyond.
We are a values-driven organisation and our goals will only be realised if our values are at the heart of everything we do. Created by colleagues, patients and their families and carers, our values are:
* We are kind and caring
* We are respectful
* We have trust and integrity
* We take personal responsibility
OUR REGION:
Wales has much to offer with miles of stunning coastline, UNESCO world heritage sites and beautiful countryside. Cardiff, the thriving Welsh capital, has something for everyone. It is a fantastic city to live and work in with an abundance of sports, arts and cultural attractions. Situated to the west of Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan offers a combination of beautiful Welsh countryside and a dramatic natural coastline, as well as charming towns including Penarth and Cowbridge. Those seeking more culture may find themselves drawn to the National Museum, St Fagan’s Museum of Welsh Life or the Millennium Centre, home of the Welsh National Opera. Whether city life or rural living, Cardiff and the Vale offers the best of both worlds.
Please be advised that there is a temporary top up for Bands 2 and 3 to reflect the incorporation of the top up to the living wage of £12.60 per hour - £24,638 per annum. This temporary top up will be in place until the annual pay uplift for 2025/26 is confirmed.
Job overview
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for providing leadership and management to a team of Prosthetic Technical staff. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the training and development of technical staff and their annual appraisal process. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for all technical day to day activities including fair distribution of work allocation, technician man management, all aspects of stock management, quality assurance and audit responsibility including areas such as health and safety and hazardous waste disposal, workshop equipment and maintenance schedules.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician will use their extensive production knowledge and experience to manage the production of devices proactively and in a timely manner to meet the dates supplied by the clinical staff and the needs of the service.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the selection and procurement of all assembly components used and all prosthetic materials and consumables purchased. The role also includes responsibility for stock take processes, sourcing the most cost-effective stock options in order to meet the service needs and to ensure optimum value for money.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for solving complex manufacturing problems and dealing with a broad range of non-routine issues, which are often unpredictable.
Main duties of the job
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for providing leadership and management to a team of Prosthetic Technical staff. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the training and development of technical staff and their annual appraisal process. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for all technical day to day activities including fair distribution of work allocation, technician man management, all aspects of stock management, quality assurance and audit responsibility including areas such as health and safety and hazardous waste disposal, workshop equipment and maintenance schedules.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician will use their extensive production knowledge and experience to manage the production of devices proactively and in a timely manner to meet the dates supplied by the clinical staff and the needs of the service.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the selection and procurement of all assembly components used and all prosthetic materials and consumables purchased. The role also includes responsibility for stock take processes, sourcing the most cost-effective stock options in order to meet the service needs and to ensure optimum value for money.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for solving complex manufacturing problems and dealing with a broad range of non-routine issues, which are often unpredictable.
Working for our organisation
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is one of the largest Integrated Health Boards in the UK, employing over 17,000 staff, providing over 100 specialist services. Working across 6 hospital sites, we have a diverse range of career opportunities to offer. Serving over 500,000 people living in Cardiff and the Vale, we are focussed on the health and care needs of our local population whilst working with our partners to develop regional services. Together we are committed to improving health outcomes for everyone, delivering excellent care and support.
Our mission is “Living Well, Caring Well, Working Together”, and our vision is that every person’s chance of leading a healthy life should be equal. Our 10-year transformation and improvement strategy, Shaping Our Future Wellbeing, is our chance to work collaboratively with the public and our workforce to make our health board more sustainable for the future.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click "Apply now" to view in Trac.
The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.
JOB SUMMARY/JOB PURPOSE
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for providing leadership and management to a team of Prosthetic Technical staff. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the training and development of technical staff and their annual appraisal process. The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for all technical day to day activities including fair distribution of work allocation, technician man management, all aspects of stock management, quality assurance and audit responsibility including areas such as health and safety and hazardous waste disposal, workshop equipment and maintenance schedules.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician will use their extensive production knowledge and experience to manage the production of devices proactively and in a timely manner to meet the dates supplied by the clinical staff and the needs of the service.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for the selection and procurement of all assembly components used and all prosthetic materials and consumables purchased. The role also includes responsibility for stock take processes, sourcing the most cost-effective stock options in order to meet the service needs and to ensure optimum value for money.
The Lead Prosthetic Technician is responsible for solving complex manufacturing problems and dealing with a broad range of non-routine issues, which are often unpredictable.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Communication and Relationships
· Manage the prosthetic technical staff and their day to day work allocation.
· Manage the training, appraisal and performance management for all grades of technician staff.
· Communicate effectively with all members of the multidisciplinary team and other staff groups entering the workshop environment. This will include communicating technical issues to non-technical staff and explaining clinical and technical terminology as well as supervising and teaching processes to people on work experience placements, as well as undergraduate prosthetists on extended clinical placements.
· Provide technical feedback and advice to clinical staff in relation to the prescription, alignment and hardware choices involved in assembly, maintenance and repair of the prosthetic devices.
· Receive and interpret technical prescriptions from clinical staff in relation to the prescription, alignment and hardware choices involved in assembly, maintenance and repair of the prosthetic devices and allocate the work amongst the technical staff.
· Provide technical guidance and advice to other MDT staff on the assembly maintenance and repair of the prosthetic device.
· Communicate effectively and efficiently with a range of professional colleagues including MDT members, product manufacturer representatives, administration staff and product suppliers.
· Quality assure the prosthetic devices produced and to troubleshoot and problem solve workshop and manufacturing related issues in a timely and effective way to minimise disruption and delays.
· Ensure at all times that all forms of user information is kept confidential and to preserve the dignity and confidentiality of patients and handle appropriately any other confidential information. To deal sensitively and tactfully with patients.
· Liaise with the prosthetic clinical service to confirm prosthetic prescription details and formulate decisions on the assembly and proportions of the prosthesis to be assembled, repaired or maintained and to coordinate and prioritise prescription requests and repairs as required.
Planning and Organisation
· The Lead Prosthetic Technician takes responsibility for solving complex manufacturing problems and dealing with a broad range of non-routine issues, which are often unpredictable.
· Provide technical input to facilitate the planning of new strategies, policies, protocols or guidelines and represent the technician workforce at directorate meetings.
· Organise maintenance and calibration schedules for work shop equipment, including arranging safety checks for dust and fumes and local exhaust ventilation (LEV) servicing and monitoring.
Information Resources
· Use the Oracle and BEST IT systems ensure that a clear audit trail of purchase orders is maintained, recording batch and serial number details on patient records to enable traceability.
· Responsible for the training and continued professional development of technicians, arranging and supporting junior staff competency training and facilitating training linked to new developments and procedures for senior staff. Training is regularly provided for student prosthetists on work placement requiring an insight into prosthetic manufacture.
Human Resources
· Undertake line management responsibilities for technicians such as sickness absence reporting, coordination of annual leave, training, appraisal and performance management in accordance with UHB policy.
· Identify and organises any training and development that arises from the appraisal process either individually or collectively.
· Conduct and records weekly technician meetings. Using the meeting to raise issues that affect day to day operations, reviewing working practices and agreeing best practice solutions, identifying and implementing training needs.
· Manage work experience placements. Provide advice on work content, procedures and safe working practices.
· Manage recruitment in to technical posts using the Trac system and partaking in the interview process.
Analytical and Judgemental
· Contribute to the development of any local technical guidelines which ensure that the Prosthetic service meets ongoing clinical governance or Medical Device Regulation requirements.
· Responsible for the prosthetic inspection process to identify any flaws in production and complete a root cause analysis and solution to any identified trends.
Financial and Physical Resources
· Responsible for the selection and procurement of all the assembly components and prosthetic materials and consumables and workshop equipment. This includes responsibility for sourcing the most cost-effective options to meet service needs and to ensure optimum value for money.
· Responsible for the purchasing of very high cost items e.g. MPK’s with a value up to £50K, ensuring all relevant information is provided to expedite purchasing. Financial awareness of the very high value of stock purchased by the service on an annual basis.
· Responsible for the identification and replenishment of stock levels removed from store ensuring effective allocation of stock to the individual’s assembly and make cost effective use of service resources. Identify areas where more cost-effective use of resource is possible and bring into practice to the benefit of the service.
· Manage the scheduled program of equipment maintenance to ensure the safety and effective function of machinery, equipment and physical assets used in the manufacturing processes.
· Manage general and consignment stocks of prosthetic components using the stock management module on BEST and to undertake stock checks as required.
Person specification
* Degree or equivalent level of experience in the highly specialised area of prosthetic manufacture and provision.
* Significant experience across a broad range of prosthetic manufacturing techniques understanding how each job needs to be fairly allocated across the technical workforce for equity and to meet production demands.
* Experience of managing and developing a team of technical staff.
* Highly specialised level of knowledge of all aspects of technical production, including optimal builds and alignment using a variety of different components. Becoming the ‘Go To’ person for all technical queries and advice on manufacture.
MANAGING YOUR APPLICATION:
We are committed to promoting inclusion, where all staff have a sense of belonging. We welcome applications from everyone and recognise the need for our workforce to represent the diversity of the population we serve. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment where staff treat one another with dignity and respect and where diversity is celebrated. We aim to create a working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential no matter their disability, sex, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity or marriage and civil partnership status. We are keen to break down barriers in the UHB, and encourage applications from under-represented groups.
Applicants are invited to apply in Welsh. Any application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application made in English.
The UHB reserves the right to close this vacancy after 24 hours if a large number of suitable applications are received. Therefore, we encourage early applications to ensure consideration for this post.
Please check your email account regularly. Successful applicants will receive all recruitment related correspondence via the email account registered on the application form.
To work in the UK, all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship to obtain either a Health and Care visa or Skilled Worker visa, unless you have permission to work via another route. Non UK / RoI candidates wishing to apply should self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship by visiting Work in the UK. If you are eligible for the Health and Care visa, application costs are lower and you do not need to pay the annual Immigration Health Surcharge.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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