Working with us, advice for students and observational days

Therapies are held in high regard in our trust, and we are proud of the profile we have. Don’t take our word for it though; here are some quotes about us from some of the people who have spent time with us.

"A great opportunity to observe all the different areas of physio and getting a good insight into all the varied areas you can specialise in"

"The experience was an opportunity to observe physiotherapists in a variety of areas: respiratory, neurology, musculoskeletal and orthopaedics."

"It was useful to learn the role of the physiotherapist in different departments, walking through and understanding how the wards work and operate."

Continued professional development is high on our agenda and we are committed to enabling all our staff to develop their skills, and progress their careers. Every member of staff receives regular supervision, linked with reviews and learning objectives.

In-service training and teaching are tailored to the needs of both professional and therapy teams to ensure appropriate delivery of knowledge and skills in relation to current clinical areas. Our four integrated therapy teams provide specialist clinical assessment and interventions to inpatients all the way through the hospital from our new Acute Medical Unit to our specialist neuro-rehabilitation units.

Rotations

We offer varied rotations at both hospitals to provide a wide range of experiences for Band 5s.  Rotations include:

Hillingdon Hospital

  • Musculoskeletal outpatients: - spinal/ upper-limb, lower-limb /gym
  • Orthopaedics
  • Medicine and Surgery including ITU and Paediatric inpatients
  • Older Adults: Acute and Rehabilitation         
  • Early Supported Discharge
  • Neuro-rehabilitation: Specialist Rehab and Stroke

Mount Vernon Hospital

  • Musculoskeletal outpatients: - spinal/ upper-limb, lower-limb /gym
  • Orthopaedics
  • Hand Therapy

These rotations give you an excellent basis from which to build a career in Physiotherapy. Opportunities to be involved in student education, promotion of Physiotherapy as a career, and service wide projects are available on a regular basis.  We offer 6 month rotations, and our long running preceptorship programme supports your transition from student to practitioner with mentoring and regular input from one of our senior therapists.

Development

A peer support group for occupational therapists and physiotherapists is run and arranged by our current band 5s, giving you a chance to get to know colleagues in other teams, share experiences and learn together.

It is highly important that we have excellent Therapy services as we do to ensure optimum care for our patients. The dedicated team we have is highly skilled and has a good reputation within the hospital.  They have advanced skills and knowledge of their work together with a professional and friendly approach which are all essentials for providing great care to our patients.  Andrew Caunce, Chief Pharmacist.

Our Band 6 Physiotherapists are able to continue in their development as a senior member of our team through our specialist rotations which will further develop skills and widen their experiences.  These roles also give you the time to progress your clinical, supervision and service development skills in a range of clinical environments. All our rotations provide physiotherapists like you with excellent opportunities to develop your assessment and treatment skills in friendly, dynamic and supportive teams.

Specialist Physiotherapy roles at Band 7 level are in each clinical team, providing day to day clinical leadership for each speciality, and supporting new developments and innovative service delivery. These roles are integral to our success, and offer excellent opportunities for our clinical leaders to provide specialist clinical input to patients, and to develop our greatest assets: our teams.

Our Therapy Leadership is strong and well established, with over 20 years combined experience of leading our teams here at the trust. Our stability is our strength, and our interest in developing therapists to reach their potential is a key part of our priorities. We are heavily involved in designing and delivering new ways of working in and outside the trust, and represent Therapies at a number of trust wide groups. We use our influence to guide decision makers at a local and regional level, and have close links with regional managers groups, educational and academic institutions.

More information

If you're interested in working with us or want to find out more, please send us your name and contact details to thh-tr.recruitment@nhs.net and we'll be in touch!

All vacancies are posted on our website at: jobs.thh.nhs.uk and the NHS jobs website at: www.jobs.nhs.uk

Physio & Occupational Therapy student placements

Our Trust works with universities to offer Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy student placements. Students are placed in various physiotherapy teams for their placement (see left menu).

Uniform policy for Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy students

  • White tunic or polo shirt (not branded) and blue trousers
  • Black shoes or trainers
  • No jewellery to be worn, only stud earrings
  • Hair to be tied back if longer than shoulder length

Hours of work

  • Vary depending on department
  • Requests for time off should be discussed with your clinical educator
  • To telephone in sick, call as early as possible so you can speak to your clinical educator. If they are unavailable speak to a senior member of staff.

Health and safety

Please ensure you are up to date with your CPR training and know where facemasks and crash trolleys are on relevant wards. This will also be covered in your induction. Also ensure you are familiar with the hospital fire procedure by talking to your clinical educator during induction and note the locations of fire extinguishers as you walk round the hospital.

In the event of a cardiac arrest, fire or other emergency, telephone: 2222

Please ensure you are familiar with the hospital policy on needle-stick injuries, this may be found both in the department and on the wards.

Aggression and violence at work

We operate a zero tolerance policy on violence, threats or verbal abuse against our members of staff. If you are concerned about this in any way please speak to your clinical educator.

Incident forms

Please ensure that all incidents (or potential incidents) are reported to a senior member of staff, usually your clinical educator, and that an incident report is filled in after discussing with your senior/clinical educator. If you are not sure whether an incident has occurred always err on the side of caution and discuss with your educator.

Confidentiality policy

As a health care professional, you must respect patients’ confidentiality at all times. Do not discuss patients on your journey into and from work. Any work that you use for presentations or work should have the patients name removed.

Interprofessional learning

We hope to give students opportunities to both formally and informally learn from other health care colleagues whilst on placement here. If you have a specific interest or learning outcome you'd like to cover, discuss this with your supervisor ie. clinical educator (physiotherapy) or fieldwork educators (occupational therapy).

Individual requirements

Should you have any special or individual requirements in relation to a physical disability, learning difficulty or preferred style, or any religious or cultural need, please either contact your clinical educator (physiotherapy) or fieldwork educator (occupational therapy) in advance, or discuss when you arrive on your placement.

Occupational therapy: we welcome a pre-placement visit on request. Please contact the fieldwork co-ordinator on 01895 238282, bleep 492, or Kemi.Aino@nhs.net Attendance at weekly student support is encouraged.

Accommodation

Some accommodation is available locally at Hillingdon in en-suite rooms with a shared kitchen and lounge, no parking. Contact Suzi Swan for Hillingdon or Dee Fisher for Mount Vernon. Please email thh.accommodation@nhs.net for any requests two weeks prior to placement either personally or through the university placement co-ordinator. Although it is sometimes difficult to contact us, we are flexible and will try to help you the best we can.

Hillingdon

  • £33 per night
  • £525 per month
  • En-suite rooms
  • No wi-fi facility.
  • Parking can be arranged (charged)

Mount Vernon

  • £30 per night
  • £475 per month
  • No wi-fi facility
  • Non en-suite rooms
  • Free parking on site (with accommodation)

Student internet access

To have library and internet access during your placement, please download the forms below, complete, and send to your clinical or supervisor, who will countersign and forward to our IT Department. You will then have access in the Education Centre library. This form must be sent two weeks prior to your student placement commencing.

Observational days

If you are considering a career in physiotherapy then we offer an observational day where you are able to shadow many of the physiotherapy departments.

If you are interested please email us with your CV and covering letter.

For physio

Demi Acutt thh.ptobservationday@nhs.net  

For Occuptional Therapy

Husni Shah thh.otobservationday@nhs.net

Useful links: