Band 4 falls assistant practitioner

We currently have an exciting opportunity to work with the community falls service as a Band 4 falls assistant practitioner working with the St Helens Community Falls Team. The post holder will be responsible for carrying out holistic falls assessments in people's own homes within the St Helens area, to reduce the risk of falls.
Nationally approximately 30% of people over 65 years will suffer a fall each year. The effects of these falls can be catastrophic for an individual. These can include major fractures, and head injuries. Even for less serious injuries the results can be serious with loss of confidence and independence being a common problem. The effects of a fall can also affect families and carers.
To help reduce these fall the St Helens Community Falls Service working closely with other Health and Social Care Professionals assess patients in their own homes and where needed arranging appropriate interventions.
Interview Date - To Be Confirmed, + To work alongside the Falls Prevention Team and collectively with a wide range of other health and social care professionals within Contact Cares to undertake assessment and intervention to people deemed at risk of falling.
+ To work across professional boundaries and within legislation, policies and procedures and core values.
+ To work in a variety of settings including clients own homes/nursing home to assess and provide intervention to improve client mobility and reduce falls risk.
+ Actively participate in the services training strategy, including in-service training and multi-agency training The St Helens Community Falls Team will aim to reduce the number of people falling or where a fall does occur reduce the severity, likelihood of injury and better enable individuals to get up after a fall.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change., + Assess falls, risk, health education and advise / educate individuals, families and carers on:
Safe movement and posture
Footwear and walking aids
Bone health, nutrition and hydration
What to do after a fall
+ Monitor and review progress.
+ Record outcomes, observe changes in condition and report concerns or improvements to senior clinicians.
+ Work within a multidisciplinary team.
+ Liaise with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, GPs and social care professionals.
+ Support clinical documentation.
+ Maintain accurate records, contribute to care plans and follow data protection and governance requirements.
Environmental Safety
+ Assess home environments for hazards (e.g. loose rugs, poor lighting, trip risks).
+ Recommend practical changes and equipment to improve safety.
+ Liaise with occupational therapy, housing, or equipment services when appropriate.
Health Promotion and Education
+ Educate individuals, families, and carers on falls prevention strategies.
+ Promote physical activity and hydration.
+ Carry out falls risk assessments in people's homes or community settings.
+ Home and environmental safety checks.
+ Assess home environments for hazards (e.g. loose rugs, poor lighting, trip risks).
+ Recommend practical changes and equipment to improve safety.
+ Liaise with occupational therapy, housing, or equipment services when appropriate.
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.
Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]
We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.
The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
Certificate of Sponsorship
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)
Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.
eVisa Update
For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.
Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.
Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:
+ Create a UKVI account
+ Link their current passport
+ Access their eVisa straightaway to check all details. Incorrect information should be reported as soon as possible using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/report-error-evisa
+ Understand how to generate an eVisa share code
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.
Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.
If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
Flexible Working
We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:
+ All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
+ There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
+ Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.
At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.
Working for Team MWL
Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.
You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.
Additional Information
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.
An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.
Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
+ Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
+ Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
+ National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.