We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for a Band 4 Therapy Assistant Practitioner to work within the Early Intervention Therapy Team (EIT) at Cambridge University Hospitals.
You will work alongside the EIT Therapy team to provide appropriate therapy assessments and treatments for patients with acute and long term conditions such as, but not limited to, stroke, falls, neurological conditions, trauma / fracture management, acute MSK conditions and patients with highly complex needs.
You will be responsible for supporting and working alongside EIT Therapists to provide a high standard of assessment, advice and evaluation of patients to formulate appropriate plans of care for patients discharged into Community settings and refer on to appropriate MDT members for patients admitted to the hospital setting.
If some patients were deemed appropriate by the EIT Therapy team, you may be expected to complete simple mobility assessments and collect collateral information with the aim of admission avoidance and early supported discharge. You will be expected to manage your own caseload under the guidance of a qualified Clinician.
The EIT Therapy team are dynamic and are constantly looking at ways to improve the service. They work very closely with members of the Multidisciplinary team and are constantly collecting data with the aim of service improvement.
Administrative responsibilities will be required within this role to support qualified Therapists.
Main duties of the job
Support and assist the Early Intervention Team with admission avoidance and early supported discharge in the Emergency Department and Emergency Short Stay areas.
In addition, you will work closely with Frailty Specialist Nurses, Discharge Planning Specialist Nurses, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists.
Provide a high standard of assistance to Therapy staff (Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists) in order to support admission avoidance and early mobility where appropriate.
This role is paramount in supporting patient flow throughout the Trust and provides the opportunity to work with the MDT and our service partners in best practice, while providing expert advice on the management of patients with complex discharge planning needs.
You will be a key resource to the MDT supporting patients and their families with decisions around discharge, completing appropriate onward referrals to ensure their care needs will be met safely, and supporting ward staff with the preparations of discharge.
EIT is a very proactive and innovative multidisciplinary team of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Frailty Specialist Nurses and Discharge Planning Specialist Nurses. EIT is well respected and has been acknowledged for providing Admission Avoidance, early supported discharge and proactive Frailty screening. EIT works in the Emergency Department including short stay areas, Urgent treatment Centre, and Medical Assessment Units.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Good general education to GSCE or similar level of attainment
- NVQ Level 3 or equivalent level of knowledge and experience in a health care setting
- Evidence of relevant in service training
Desirable
- NVQ Level 3 Care certificate
- Willingness to undertake relevant training in line with the demands of the role
Experience
Essential
- Experience of managing a delegated workload, independently assessing, prescribing appropriate interventions and evaluating outcomes
- Working in a variety of health / caring settings in a direct patient role
- Working as a team member
- Prioritising, planning and organising own tasks
- Working within guidelines
- Experience of working with challenging and complex patient groups
- Working independently with indirect supervision
- Assisting with personal care
- Experience of moving and handing patients and equipment
Desirable
- Working with individuals with a disability / illness including assisting with personal care activities
- Working in project groups on service development, contributing to the development of learning environment
- Experience of working in the NHS
- Experience of working in an acute hospital
- Experience of working in a Therapy team
Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge of the role of confidentiality within healthcare
- Knowledge of the roles of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Nurse and Discharge Planning
- An awareness of commonly encountered medical conditions in an acute hospital settling such as falls, confusion, stroke
- Awareness of frailty and admission
Desirable
- To recognise how disability can affect patients performance in activities of daily living
Skills
Essential
- To exhibit effective and adaptive communication skills
- IT skills including e-mail, Word and Excel
- Close team working
- Professional attitude and appearance
- Seeks guidance appropriately and proactively
- Work under pressure
- To work independently under the supervision of qualified clinician
- To administer clinical assessments, formulate treatment plans and carry out interventions with a specified patient group as determined by a qualified Clinician
- To be able to make informed decisions under guidance of a Team Leader
- Good observation skills
- Able to report on patient related activities accurately both verbally and in documentation
- Able to effectively organise own time
- Able to report / react to unexpected circumstances appropriately
- Personal time management
- Able to work within boundaries of job role
- literacy and numeracy skills
Desirable
- Dealing with inappropriate and challenging behaviour
- Managing resources e.g. equipment stock levels
- Ability to complete risk assessments
- Prioritisation skills in order to manage a case load with indirect supervision from team leader
- Awareness of needs of other members of the team
Additional Requirements
Essential
- The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of Safe, Kind, Excellent.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 16 February 2026
