An exciting job opportunity has arisen in our Community COPD and Home Oxygen Service and we are looking for a physiotherapist or nurse with respiratory experience from previous acute, sub-acute or community roles to join our innovative team. This will initially be a fixed term contract to cover maternity leave which may become permanent in the future.

The overall service aims to improve patient quality of life, to improve the safe use of oxygen and to support patients to self-manage their disease helping to reduce emergency admissions to hospital. We collaborate closely with all stakeholders to provide an integrated approach to patient care across the system and there is a significant educational component to this role.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Main duties of the job

The main role will be delivering diagnosis, management and care to patients with COPD in their home or at various clinic venues within the Borough. However, the team works flexibly with an expectation that all service pathways may need to be covered with the correct support and training (e.g. Home Oxygen Therapy and Pulmonary Rehabilitation). You should have a broad knowledge base of respiratory medicine, including excellent assessment skills and treatment of people with COPD and those that have home oxygen. It would be beneficial to have previous experience and skills in the delivery of spirometry and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills, will be able to work autonomously and as part of a team. Professional supervision will be provided from an experienced physiotherapist and/or nurse and other team members including respiratory consultants.

The team is based at St Pancras Hospital and operates 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday. The post-holder will be required to contribute to a rotating on-call telephone advisory service which runs from 8-9am and 5-8pm, Monday to Friday.

About us

The team is comprised of Respiratory Nurses and Physiotherapists, Rehabilitation Assistants, Psychologists, Respiratory Physicians and a Smoking Cessation and Behaviour Change Specialist. It has a strong culture of integrated working between community and secondary care, established through close communication, weekly MDT's, joint training and clinical support from Respiratory Consultants at the Royal Free Hospital and UCLH.There is also a strong emphasis on learning in an open and safe environment where staff are empowered to see situations as opportunities to grow and enabled to increase their knowledge and skills.

CNWL provides NHS services throughout a person's life, in physical and mental health and everything in between, at GPs and hospitals to the community and in their own home. The majority of our services are provided in the community, which means treating people in their homes or from clinics close to home. In this sense we are a very modern part of the NHS, something the new NHS Long-Term Plan wants to see more of, with better integration and coordination of care, delivered as close to home as possible.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The main clinical responsibilities include:

• To undertake advanced assessment and treatment of acutely ill patients with COPD, with multi-pathologies including those who have highly complex presentations, to determine clinical diagnosis and treatment. This may be undertaken in a variety of settings.
• To formulate, evaluate and reassess individualised management and / or treatment plans, using clinical reasoning and utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options in order to formulate a specialised programme of care.
• To provide specialist advice and treatment for patients with COPD and other respiratory problems based on theoretical knowledge and relevant practical experience, and provide specialist advice and guidance to MDT colleagues, junior team members and other health care professionals both within and outside the trust.
• To be responsible for the maintenance of accurate written records through the use of electronic patient notes. This includes communicating to other health professionals in a contemporaneous manner.
• To ensure that high standards of clinical practice and patient care are maintained and to ensure that other clinicians in the team do likewise, through ongoing competency assessment and supervision/appraisal.
• To perform quality assured spirometry, providing advice and appropriate signposting to manage the patient effectively.
• To provide advice and training to other staff and the wider MDT as necessary.
• To communicate and present cases at the weekly MDT, identifying risks to ensure that the wider MDT are aware and involved in decision making. Supporting more junior staff members with this process.
• To screen and assess referrals into the team, including gathering medical history from GP records/referrer and identifying if appropriate or not. To be able to establish priority and assign to appropriate pathway.
• To keep up to date with clinical developments, current research and discussing and implementing changes in clinical practice accordingly
• To monitor, supervise and appraise the work of Band 6 COPD physiotherapy/nursing staff as well as rehabilitation assistants and to induct new staff as required.
• To assist and support the Clinical Lead and Manager, taking an active part in patient engagement, audit and project leading when required.
• To be involved in the recruitment, selection and induction process for staff in the COPD team

For further roles and responsibilities please see the Job Description.

If you have a keen interest in respiratory care and would like to develop your skills further, in a friendly, dynamic, forward-thinking team then Camden COPD and Home Oxygen Service is looking forward to hearing from you.

Person Specification

Education and Qualification

Essential

• oBSc Physiotherapy or BSc Nursing (or equivalent qualification)
• oUK HCPC/NMC membership
• oWorking at Masters level (equivalent of) in the management of clients with complex respiratory needs

Desirable

• Non-medical Prescribing Qualification
• Post graduate clinical courses specific to working with COPD clients
• Relevant professional body membership

Previous Experience

Essential

• oExperience of working in a health economy similar to the UK
• oWorking at band 6 or above in Respiratory Care (Pulmonary Rehabilitation and/or COPD management and/or HOS)
• oExperience of working with other agencies/range of stakeholders
• oPrevious experience of delivering training/supervision

Desirable

• Home oxygen assessment and management
• All round general experience (CoE, General/Acute Medicine, Community)

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Specialist knowledge of evidence based assessment and management of clients with COPD
• Evidence of undertaking service development & audit
• Knowledge of the role of other disciplines & experience of interdisciplinary working
• Able to demonstrate insight into the needs of people with physical and mental health illness
• Able to demonstrate excellent communication and negotiation skills
• Ability to prioritise and work under pressure
• Intermediate IT skills and experience working with computerised patient notes
• Able to demonstrate good presentation skills
• Knowledge of local, national and international COPD guidelines

Desirable

• Spirometry and interpretation
• Evidence of working as an autonomous practitioner in a community setting
• An understanding of local services
• Experience of using outcome measures relating to COPD management
• Demonstrate ability to set up and monitor standards of practice, care pathways and clinical guidelines
• Motivational Interviewing and/or coaching
• Level 2 Smoking Cessation
• CBG

Employer details

Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

St Pancras Hospital

4 St Pancras Way

Camden, London

NW1 0PE

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

333-G-CC-1246-A