Hand Therapist

Clinical: • To prioritise and manage a specialist clinical caseload, working as an autonomous practitioner and to monitor the caseloads of all hand therapy team members to ensure that an efficient and effective hand therapy service. • To provide treatment to patients in various locations including hand therapy outpatients, in-patient wards, day surgery/hand management unit and consultant clinics. • To undertake highly specialised hand therapy assessments and incorporate into treatment session, utilising appropriate therapy techniques and therapeutic handling skills of all types of hand conditions and trauma to form diagnoses and/or establish impairments and disabilities. • To carry out highly specialist diagnostic assessments on request from consultants when a diagnosis and clinical opinion is required. • o To monitor and evaluate treatment to measure progress and to ensure effectiveness of the intervention and to identify quickly when treatment requires modifying. • To cross traditional professional boundaries and demonstrate use of hand therapy assessment and treatment techniques usually performed by occupational therapists and physiotherapists, including static/dynamic splinting, sensory assessments/re-re-education, pressure garment, exercise therapy and manual techniques. • To use advanced clinical reasoning skills to determine if any other treatment is required and if necessary ensure timely written and/or verbal referral to other professions • To support more junior staff, both physiotherapists and occupational therapists in the development of their assessment, treatment and clinical reasoning skills to ensure a high standard of care to hand therapy patients. • To be available for spontaneous highly specialist advice to patients, therapists and other professionals. Leadership and Management • To be responsible for providing an efficient and effective hand therapy service, by demonstrating good leadership, organisational, time management and prioritisation skills. • To work closely with the other band 7 team leads, as well as the band 8a and 8b at all times to ensure that all organisational roles are covered but without needless duplication. • To be heavily involved in service development, in conjunction with the clinical specialist and Consultant hand therapist and MDT • To take a lead role in the teaching, supervision and appraisal of static and rotational band 5 and 6 therapists (both physiotherapist and occupational therapists), • To jointly organise with the other band 7s the hand therapy team schedule in order to cover all clinical areas with the requisite number of staff and relevant level of experience and to update at least one month in advance • To be involved in and lead the recruitment and selection of more junior staff Professional Development • To be responsible for personal continuous professional development and mandatory training • To participate in the appraisal system as appraiser and appraisee, and be responsible for fulfilling your agreed objectives and personal development plan Education and Research • To participate in and contribute to in-service training programme • To be responsible for the training and induction of all new members of staff to hand therapy team • To participate in or lead teaching at a high level including to senior medical and nursing staff • To provide clinical supervision and teaching to more junior staff, students and therapy assistants • To be involved in developing, leading and completing local and multicentre research and audits undertaken in hand therapy • To provide highly specialist advice, teaching and training to other professionals Job description Job responsibilities Clinical: • To prioritise and manage a specialist clinical caseload, working as an autonomous practitioner and to monitor the caseloads of all hand therapy team members to ensure that an efficient and effective hand therapy service. • To provide treatment to patients in various locations including hand therapy outpatients, in-patient wards, day surgery/hand management unit and consultant clinics. • To undertake highly specialised hand therapy assessments and incorporate into treatment session, utilising appropriate therapy techniques and therapeutic handling skills of all types of hand conditions and trauma to form diagnoses and/or establish impairments and disabilities. • To carry out highly specialist diagnostic assessments on request from consultants when a diagnosis and clinical opinion is required. • o To monitor and evaluate treatment to measure progress and to ensure effectiveness of the intervention and to identify quickly when treatment requires modifying. • To cross traditional professional boundaries and demonstrate use of hand therapy assessment and treatment techniques usually performed by occupational therapists and physiotherapists, including static/dynamic splinting, sensory assessments/re-re-education, pressure garment, exercise therapy and manual techniques. • To use advanced clinical reasoning skills to determine if any other treatment is required and if necessary ensure timely written and/or verbal referral to other professions • To support more junior staff, both physiotherapists and occupational therapists in the development of their assessment, treatment and clinical reasoning skills to ensure a high standard of care to hand therapy patients. • To be available for spontaneous highly specialist advice to patients, therapists and other professionals. Leadership and Management • To be responsible for providing an efficient and effective hand therapy service, by demonstrating good leadership, organisational, time management and prioritisation skills. • To work closely with the other band 7 team leads, as well as the band 8a and 8b at all times to ensure that all organisational roles are covered but without needless duplication. • To be heavily involved in service development, in conjunction with the clinical specialist and Consultant hand therapist and MDT • To take a lead role in the teaching, supervision and appraisal of static and rotational band 5 and 6 therapists (both physiotherapist and occupational therapists), • To jointly organise with the other band 7s the hand therapy team schedule in order to cover all clinical areas with the requisite number of staff and relevant level of experience and to update at least one month in advance • To be involved in and lead the recruitment and selection of more junior staff Professional Development • To be responsible for personal continuous professional development and mandatory training • To participate in the appraisal system as appraiser and appraisee, and be responsible for fulfilling your agreed objectives and personal development plan Education and Research • To participate in and contribute to in-service training programme • To be responsible for the training and induction of all new members of staff to hand therapy team • To participate in or lead teaching at a high level including to senior medical and nursing staff • To provide clinical supervision and teaching to more junior staff, students and therapy assistants • To be involved in developing, leading and completing local and multicentre research and audits undertaken in hand therapy • To provide highly specialist advice, teaching and training to other professionals