1. To carry and prioritise own patient caseload and other ongoing tasks, allocating appropriate work to technical instructors and students.
2. To perform specialist therapy assessment of patients with diverse and complex presentations, using advanced clinical reasoning skills to analyse, interpret and make judgements on complex facts or situations, to provide specialised packages of care, treatment and advice to patients, based on sound knowledge of evidence based practice and the range of treatment options and/or adaptive techniques and/or equipment provision, and/or care services.
3. To attend consultant outpatients clinics and to assess and treat patients as necessary.
4. To incorporate the appropriate standard assessment tools with patients, and apply additional relevant skills in specialised splint making.
5. To communicate sensitively and reassuringly complex condition and functional risk/limitation related information to patients/carers, to gain consent to and co-operation in assessment and treatment, and in giving specialist advice to patients/carers regarding their options for ongoing care needs. Being aware at all times of the sensitive nature of some recommendations, and the potential for patients/carers to have special communication needs resulting in barriers to understanding.
6. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings as the hand therapist representative for individual patients, to inform complex discussions, gain a full range of information prior to planning patient centred goals, analyse options for meeting goals and participate in the clinical decision making process and development of comprehensive MDT plans for discharge.
To evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes as required
