Clinical Lead (Wheelchair Service)

A Vacancy at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
We are looking for an experienced and innovative leader who would be responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of the all age Wheelchair service, community division. This is a permanent full time post working across Monday to Friday.
The successful applicant will have a relevant AHP background, with a sound knowledge of Wheelchair services, who can provide effective leadership to ensure that the service is responsive, efficient and well co-ordinated and that all key targets are planned and met.
The Clinical Lead should be flexible, dynamic, well organised and be able to represent the service within the division, the organisation and at a regional level. It is essential that the Clinical Lead has excellent communication skills, both verbally and written, in order that they can collaborate and influence others, build effective relationships and utilise opportunities with key partners and stakeholders.
Alongside the operational day to day management the role will have a clinical caseload and will provide specialist knowledge and skills in the assessment, prescription, provision and maintenance of mobility, posture and supportive seating equipment to users in our borough.
This is an exciting opportunity, the service is currently in a period of transition, and this is an excellent opportunity to be a part of service innovation and development.
• To take a clinical role in providing specialist knowledge and skills in the assessment, prescription, provision and maintenance of mobility, posture and supportive seating equipment to users in Ashton, Leigh and Wigan.
• To act as a source of expertise in the management of patients within the communities different localities providing an advisory service to patients, relatives, other healthcare professionals, medical staff and agencies involved with the patient.
• To undertake a role, alongside the clinical manager, in planning, co-ordinating, delivering and evaluating community Wheelchair service provided to the patients within the community Wheelchair service providing access for those across localities in Ashton, Leigh and Wigan.
• To educate and train therapists, other health professionals and students in the management of patients in the community.
Choose Well – Choose WWL
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff, makes for happy patients’. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement and living our values ‘the WWL Way’.
WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. With this in mind we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.
COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID-19 vaccination is not a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated there is helpful advice and information available by contacting covid-19.vaccine@wwl.nhs.uk where you can also ask about how to access vaccinations.
Duties and Responsibilities
• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work, including the management of patients in your care. To ensure high standards of clinical care for the patients under your management, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to form accurate diagnosis and prognosis in a wide range of complex conditions, to recommend the best course of intervention, and to develop comprehensive discharge plans.
• The Post Holder will be the Information Asset Owner for various systems within their department; as such they will understand and address the risks to these systems making SIRO aware of risk and providing assurance.
Planning and Organisational Duties
• Post holders are required to work independently, within broad clinical & professional guidelines. Work is managed rather than supervised.
• To undertake the comprehensive advanced assessment of patients, including those with a complex presentation, using investigative and analytical skills. To formulate individualised management and prescriptions, using clinical reasoning and utilising a wide range of experience to create person-centred objectives to meet an individual’s goals, within the scope of the service eligibility criteria.
• To accept clinical responsibility for a varied designated caseload, and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To demonstrate highly developed clinical skills in order to receive, screen and interpret referrals, direct to appropriate pathway and prescription.
• To demonstrate highly developed clinical skills in order to assess and prescribe mobility seating and pressure distribution equipment independently, adhering to criteria and working within defined protocols.
• To regularly participate in working parties developing policy changes within the community Wheelchair Service team and bedded areas that will impact on service users.
• To ensure that designated staff implement policy and service development changes.
• To work with the Clinical manager to be responsibility for the delivery of the Wheelchair Service Strategy.
• To work with the Clinical manager in developing the operational and strategic management of the service within the community Wheelchair Service
• To train, supervise and performance manage more junior staff, wheelchair support staff and students. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.
• To train, supervise and performance manage, via the use of competencies, qualified and unqualified staff, in specific areas of mobility, posture and supportive seating equipment
• To maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments, and incorporate them as necessary into your work.
• To undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of Evidence Based Practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with the Clinical Manager. Use information gained to make recommendations for change.
• To decide priorities for own work area, balancing other patient related and professional demands, and ensure that they remain in accordance with those of the section as a whole.
• To maintain accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date documentation, in line with legal and departmental requirements and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in form of reports and letters.
• To be actively involved in the collection of appropriate data and statistics for the use within the community Wheelchair Service
• To comply with the organisational and department policies and procedures and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate.
• To undertake any other duties that might be considered appropriate by the Clinical Manager
Communications & Key Working Relationships
• To represent the Trust and the service within internal and external meetings regarding Wheelchair services when liaising with external stakeholders, commissioners and referrers.
• To facilitate effective communication and co-ordination between health (hospital and community-based medical personnel, nursing staff and Allied Health Professionals), Social Services, Education Services, the Approved Repairer, contracted Specialist Seating Provider, homecare and day care staff, voluntary sector agency staff and private industry. Attendance at individual case conferences and clinical reviews as required.
• To provide support and highly specialist advise to colleagues working within other clinical areas regarding patient’s requirements for the assessment, prescription, provision and maintenance of mobility, posture and supportive seating equipment.
• To communicate effectively with patients and careers to maximise rehabilitation potential and to ensure understanding of condition. Use communication skills such as persuasion, motivation explanation to encourage patients to undertake their management programme.
• To use communication tools (verbal and no-verbal) to gain informed consent with patients, where there will often be barriers to effective communication e.g. loss of hearing, altered perception, expressive and receptive dysphasia, pain, fear, etc..
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients where there is a lack of capacity to gain consent to treatment.
• Exhibit empathy and sympathy towards user’s disabilities/problems and maintain knowledge of frequently encountered conditions.
• To assess users understanding of service intervention, gain valid informed consent for this intervention and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with users who lack the capacity to consent.
• Exhibit good listening skills and a patience to understand especially when users have learning difficulties/speech problems.
• To participate in users case conferences, either in person or providing specialist written information, as appropriate.
• Carry out assessments and treatments which physically involves physically assisting patients to stand and walk, kneeling, squatting, crouching, bending to low furniture, twisting, maintaining static/awkward postures for short periods of time. Lifting, carrying and adjusting wheelchairs several times a day on a daily basis.
• Involves frequent exposure to unpleasant working and weather conditions. On a daily basis, e.g. sweat, bodily fluids, lice, unhygienic surroundings, smoke filled rooms, cramped conditions. Exposure to verbal and occasionally physical aggression.
• Work alone in varied environments such as e.g. people’s homes, residential homes, nursing homes, outdoors. Assessing and managing risk frequently on a daily basis.
• To cope with driving in busy and adverse conditions throughout the working day.
• Transportation of wheelchairs/equipment in own car, loading and unloading equipment
• To maintain high levels of concentration throughout the day e.g. during communication within a busy office environment, whilst driving, during user contact time, writing user notes, and reading clinical information and advising other staff.
Responsibility for Finance
• Support clinical manager in achieving budget requirements
• Contribute to ensuring the effective use of all resources
• Bring any potential efficiency savings or anticipated budgetary pressures to the attention of the service manager.
Responsibility for Human Resources
• To be actively involved in the recruitment and selection of lower grade staff.
• Supervise, educate and assess the performance of students; this would be to a graduate standard and involve working with Universities to ensure the standard of practice and teaching meets the standards set by the degree level qualification.
Responsibility for Health & Safety
Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 – the post holder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.
Responsibility for Teaching
• To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of mobility, posture and supportive seating equipment, and to ensure a consistent approach to the patients care.
• To provide specialist advice, teaching peer support and training to the wider community delivering to provide awareness training and education to other health professionals, schools etc. as required.
• To be an active member of the in-service training programme by the attendance and delivering of presentations and training sessions at staff meetings, tutorials, and training sessions in house and by attending external course and practising reflective practice.
This advert closes on Sunday 7 Jan 2024