Community Occupational Therapist
We love what we do and we think you will, too!
At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.
We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you’.
We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and we are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality teams in all areas of the Trust.
Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.
It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .
Job overview
This is an ideal opportunity for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist wanting to work in a community team with adults with a range of health conditions and be at the forefront of development across the urban and rural communities of Gloucestershire.
As a senior Occupational Therapist you would be a key part of our community team providing assessment, goal planning and reviews, working alongside Physiotherapists, Nurses, and support staff to enable our patients to gain their maximum level of independence in their own home.
You will need to be a car driver – independent means of travel are essential for this role.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an experienced, flexible and enthusiastic Occupational Therapist with a good understanding of the Disabilities Facilities Grant process, be able to assess for complex moving and handling and have a passion for community work.Candidates should have a good variety of clinical experience and be committed to providing the highest standard of assessment and treatment.
The successful applicant will have excellent communication skills, will enjoy working in a team and be able to support junior staff and support staff. They will be experienced in working with adults with physical health conditions in a variety of health and social care settings.
This is a very exciting time to join our team, as we build on our existing services in order to support more people to live independently at home. If you have a passion for community work, and delivering personalised care, then we would love to hear from you.
The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.
Working for our organisation
We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust.
The annual NHS Staff Survey gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust. For the 2023 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%). It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:
- 89.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users;
- 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work;
- 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;
- 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative
Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To work as a Senior Occupational Therapist in the Integrated Community Team (ICT). To work with adults with physical disabilities, cognitive impairment, mental health issues and complex social and community needs, experiencing occupational performance difficulties within and around their home environment.
- To monitor, evaluate and modify goals/treatment using appropriate outcome measures
- To be competent in environmental risk assessments and managing risk autonomously
retention of patient independence and well-being.
- To manage clinical risk within own patient caseload. This may involve complex decisionmaking regarding patients being safe to remain in their place of residence or requiring
- To assess patients’ capacity, gain valid informed consent to treatment and where such
appropriately.
- To provide spontaneous and planned advice and instruction to relatives, carers, other
for each individual patient, and to ensure continuation of the individualised goal plan that
has been set in collaboration with the patient/family/carer. This will include moving and
handling advice and falls prevention.
- To attend and initiate multidisciplinary / multi agency team meetings and case
progress, setting of short and long-term goals, and discharge planning.
- To ensure all personal and team written and electronic documentation is kept up to date and accurate and handle records and all other information in accordance with professional
- To work to Trust and Royal College of Occupational Therapy clinical guidelines and have a good working knowledge of relevant national standards to which quality of practice should be monitored.
- To identify and employ suitable verbal and non-verbal communication skills with patients, relatives and carers who may have difficulties in understanding or communicating for example, hearing loss, altered perception, expressive and receptive
- To engage the patient, and relatives/carers where appropriate, in the planning and agreement of goals to maximise rehabilitation potential.
- To assist the senior staff with the prioritisation and management of a designated departmental caseload, as well as with urgent referrals.
- To supervise, train, advise, support and manage occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, students and community care workers’ performance who report to the post-holder.
- To take responsibility for the appropriate selection, issue and education regarding the safe use of equipment to patients (following specialist assessment)
- To undertake specific tasks as designated by more senior staff and to delegate specific tasks or workload to unregistered staff.
- To participate in the trust’s individual review process as an appraisee and appraiser, with
- To maintain state registration with the Health Professions Council (HPC) and to provide evidence of that registration bi-annually upon request.
- To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through continuing professional development activities including reflective practice, review of relevant literature, participation in local in-service training programmes and peer review,
maintenance of a personal portfolio and the attendance of relevant training courses as identified within a personal development plan.
Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Degree/diploma in Occupational Therapy
- HCPC Registration
- Further qualifications relevant to community practice
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience of working in the NHS in the UK in the clinical specialty
- Experience of supervising, appraising and providing education/training to others
When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:
- Free car parking at many of our sites
- 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
- A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
- A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
- Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
- Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
- Recognition and long service awards
- Fast Track physiotherapy
- Our Wellbeing line
- Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application.
For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.