We are looking to recruit a highly motivated Physiotherapist with a keen interest in the holistic provision of care to patients living with obesity. As a part of the healthy living team at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, you will work cross site and at community sites to deliver advanced assessment, treatment, advice within the Healthy Living Team Service. This role sits within the Obesity service's multidisciplinary team who provide both Tier 2 and Tier 3 services. You will have to opportunity to work alongside dieticians and clinical psychologists, as well as take on the leadership responsibilities and support junior members of the team.
As a band 6 physiotherapist you will deliver high quality interventions to patient’s living with obesity and take on leadership and management duties within the Healthy Living Team, with the following skills and knowledge required:
• A sound knowledge of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of obesity
• Up to date knowledge of latest evidence-based practice and new research
• Understanding of Clinical Governance and the implications for physiotherapy service, including experience of quality issues and audit
• Innovative and driven approach to service development and quality improvement
• Provision of training and personal development opportunities
• Experience in mentoring and supervising junior staff and students
• Excellent organisation, prioritisation and delegation skills
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both documents please view the attachment/s below.
Department Information
The Physiotherapy and the Nutrition & Dietetics Departments are within the Therapies & Rehabilitation and the Medical Specialties Clinical Directorates, respectively. The combined departments have over 400 staff and provide services across the Trust. The Healthy Living service is managed within both departments and this post specifically within
the Physiotherapy Rehabilitation Service and its Clinical Lead Physiotherapist. The service provides nutritional and physiotherapy support to outpatients living with overweight and obesity and to staff throughout the department who manage overweight and obese patients.
Organisational Values:
Our values help us to define and develop our culture, what we do and how we do it. It is important that you understand and reflect these values throughout your employment with the Trust. The post holder will be:
• Caring:put patients first
• Ambitious: innovate and strive for excellence
• Inclusive: respect each other and work collaboratively
Professional / Clinical responsibilities
• To be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of the post-holders own work
• To carry out assessment of patients as an autonomous practitioner, including those with complex obesity presentations, and using clinical reasoning skills and knowledge of evidence-based practice, determines appropriate theory driven treatment plan utilising wide range of treatment skills including behaviour change techniques
• To provide expert delivery of healthy weight programmes to groups living with obesity ensuring it is underpinned by behaviour change theory
• To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to form accurate diagnoses in a wide range of conditions including those with a complex presentation, with occasional guidance from specialist physiotherapist
• To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best course of intervention
• To continually reassess patients in order to progress treatments effectively To co-ordinate intervention, engaging and making partnerships with other sectors to ensure patients have long term maintenance support which may include other healthcare professionals, community groups and volunteers
• To manage clinical risk within own caseload at all times
• To demonstrate physical ability to carry out physiotherapy assessment and interventions including manual therapy techniques and therapeutic handling
• To be able to manage potentially stressful, upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner, including but not limited to those in healthy living.
• To support junior when indicated in the management of challenging patients
• To provide community-based healthy weight group programmes, at times as a lone practitioner within the Trust guidance
Management and Leadership
• To be responsible for supervision and co-ordination of junior staff/students and assistants on a daily basis
• To be responsible for the operational management of the designated team in the absence of the team leader or as required
• To flexibly plan and organise own time, patient caseload, meetings, training and adjusting plans as required according to staff.
• To be able to respond to unpredictable work patterns and frequent interruptions.
• To assist in the planning of juniors, students and assistants timetables and deputise for the team leader in organisational duties.
• To ensure smooth organisation of patient group work including gym classes.
• To be responsible for competent use and maintenance reporting of all equipment used on each rotation including but not limited to gym, and to ensure that junior staff/students and assistants attain competency prior to use.
Communication
• To be able to motivate and persuade others through effective
communication skills, with the benefit of verbal and non-verbal skills,
using written and electronic information where needed
To demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive
information to patient, carers and other staff, where there may be
barriers to communication i.e. non-English speaking patients; use of
interpreters; excess noise or lack of privacy.
• To maintain close links, communication and liaison between all staff
and people involved in patient care, student education, research or
policy development as appropriate Information Management
• To maintain an accurate and evaluative record keeping system (epic) inclusive of Electronic Patient Referrals for own clinical caseload
• To supervise junior and student physiotherapists record keeping system according to departmental standards
Education & Professional Development
• To be responsible for supervision, teaching and appraisal of junior staff, students, assistants and other health professionals
• To be responsible for undergraduate student physiotherapists as allocated by the team leader and to regularly liaise with the academic institutions
• To keep abreast in understanding and knowledge of all new developments which are applicable to specific physiotherapy treatments and to attend and actively participate in the department’s in-service training program and other outside courses/ lectures as appropriate
• To contribute to the education of multidisciplinary groups, patients, families and carers as appropriate.
• To be pro-active with regard to learning from other physiotherapy staff within the department, and other MDT staff in the Trust.
• To be responsible for and actively record own personal professional
development and maintain a CPD portfolio which reflects same
• To assist in organising and actively participate in the in-service and
post registration education programme within the specialist clinical area and attend other outside courses/ lectures as appropriate
• To keep abreast in understanding and knowledge of all new developments which are applicable to specific physiotherapy treatments.
Research and audit
• To participate in the department’s ongoing audit and appropriate work related research/ evaluation projects
• To participate in evidence based projects with professional presentation of the project to the obesity team, physiotherapy department and wider multidisciplinary team.
• To keep abreast of evidenced based practice in the clinical area by use of relevant reading, attendance at in-service training, external courses and database searches
• To ensure good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor quality as appropriate.
The post holder may be required to undertake any other duties after discussion and training if necessary.
The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including:
Confidentiality / Data Protection / Freedom of Information
Post holders must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service business in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Post holders must not, without prior permission, disclose any information regarding patients or staff. If any member of staff has communicated any such information to an
unauthorised person those staff will be liable to dismissal. Moreover, the Data Protection Act 1998 also renders an individual liable for prosecution in the event of unauthorised disclosure of information. Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2005, post holders must apply the Trust’s FOI procedure if they receive a written request for information.
Equal Opportunities
Post holders must at all times fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the Trust’s Equal Opportunities Policy and equality laws.
Health and Safety All post holders have a responsibility, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and subsequently published regulations, to ensure that the Trust’s health and safety policies and procedures are complied with to maintain a safe working environment for patients, visitors and employees.
Infection Control
All post holders have a personal obligation to act to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). They must attend mandatory training in Infection Control and be compliant with all measures required by the Trust to reduce HCAIs. Post holders must be familiar with the Trust’s Infection Control Policies, including those that apply to their duties, such as Hand Decontamination Policy, Personal Protective Equipment Policy, safe procedures for using aseptic techniques and safe disposal of sharps.
Risk Management
All post holders have a responsibility to report risks such as clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly. They are expected to be familiar with the Trust’s use of risk assessments to predict and control risk, as well as the incident reporting system for learning from mistakes and near misses in order to improve services. Post holders must also attend training identified by their manager, or stated by the Trust to be mandatory.
Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
Post holders have a general responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the course of their daily duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
Smoking Policy
It is the Trust’s policy to promote health. Smoking, therefore, is actively discouraged. It is illegal within Trust buildings and vehicles.
Review of this Job Description
This job description is intended as an outline of the general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation. To be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder.
“As part of the physiotherapy department’s commitment to meeting patient needs and delivering excellence we provide a 24hours, 7day service. It is therefore essential the post holder be able to work their hours flexibly and contribute fully to both existing and new rota’s”
The Trust currently operates over two sites, Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital, and in the community. It is necessary for staff to be deployed on different sites at different times. Staffs are required to be able and willing to work on both sites. Staff may be required, from time to time, to serve in other units of the Trust at the discretion of the Director of Therapies.
This advert closes on Tuesday 18 Mar 2025