Vacancies

Specialist Moving and Handling Assessor

About the role

We take a collaborative approach to care, working with the person and their care provider.
Involve and encourage the person to engage in activities to achieve their goals.
Undertake a person centred assessment of moving and handling needs.
Ensure they receive the right amount of care and therapy in the correct environment.
Support care providers with expert advice and guidance on complex manual handing cases.

What will you be doing?

Undertake and complete highly skilled and specialised moving and handling assessments to people with a wide range of complex medical conditions, in accordance with all relevant legislation and eligibility criteria.

To produce and implement appropriate and safe moving and handling care plans, to achieve outcomes based on the single care approach. This includes making decisions to reduce care packages where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

To facilitate safe and appropriate interventions which enable people to optimise their independence; this will include caseload management, updating and maintaining accurate electronic records, issue of specialist equipment, minor adaptations and specialist advice. Reviews of these interventions may be required.

Provide coaching on safe moving and handling techniques and use of the single care approach to ensure people’s needs are being met and that the service is delivered within required standards. This will require the ability to communicate effectively with people, relatives, carers, legal guardians or any other relevant professionals.

Provide advice, support and guidance to service areas and partners to identify learning and development interventions to meet service needs and legislative requirements. This will be under the guidance of the Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist.

Identify and report poor practice as appropriate, raising concerns to the Quality Team at North Northamptonshire Council, under the guidance of the Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist. This will involve working with providers to address poor practice, provide support and ensure risks are managed.

Support with the delivery of training sessions on proportionate care to colleagues, service providers and outside agencies to enable them to practice using a single care approach safely to deliver a high standard of care. Continually evaluate training sessions to ensure they are fit for purpose and learning and development for all staff is monitored and reviewed to enable the service to meet changing needs/standards.

To support colleagues with complex moving and handling and use of a single care approach; this could be advice on manoeuvres, problem solving, issue of equipment, assistance to manage conflicting situations with people, family and care providers and advising when it may be appropriate to escalate.

To maintain an accurate record of any package of care reductions, cost avoidance, or maintenance of care, which include financial and/or care hour savings. Collect accurate and timely data and information to contribute to department service standards and procedures.

To ensure all communication is delivered in a timely and appropriate way using all the available media such as e-mail, telephone, written and face to face contact.

Demonstrate awareness and understanding of equal opportunities and other people’s behavioural, physical, social and welfare needs.

Ensure that reasonable care is taken at all times for the health, safety and welfare of yourself and other people, and to comply with the policies and procedures relating to health and safety within North Northamptonshire Council.

Carry out any other duties which fall within the broad spirit, scope and purpose of this job description and which are commensurate with the grade of the post.

About you

Are you passionate about Occupational Therapy? Do you have a specialist interest in safer people moving and handling or embedding a single-handed care approach within North Northamptonshire? Do you like helping people? Would you like to support people in our community?

We are looking to recruit a Specialist Moving and Handling Assessor to join our vibrant, driven and hardworking Specialist Moving and Handling Team. The aim of the team is to promote best practice in moving and handling across North Northamptonshire whilst endorsing the benefits of using a proportionate care approach.

As part of the team, you will be completing highly skilled and specialist moving and handling assessments, using a strengths-based approach to assess the quality of care provision for customers with complex needs, to ensure that the care being delivered is proportionate, of a high standard and effective in promoting choice and independence. In a number of cases, you may be able to introduce new equipment or techniques which can enable the care provision to be reduced to a single carer, whilst maintaining function, dignity and well-being.

Experience of people moving and handling and a knowledge of specialist equipment will be essential for this post.

We reserve the right to close this application early should we receive sufficient applications

Our benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

a competitive salary
a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

We aim to be a carbon neutral Council by 2030.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)

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