Occupational Therapist - Clinical Specialist - High Wycombe
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.
We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
We actively support anti-racism, equality, diversity, and inclusion so, if you’re excited about this job opportunity and you meet our Trust values, but feel unsure about applying, then please get in touch and we will be happy to have a conversation with you.
We are also committed to increasing diversity in the workforce, that is why we actively encourage applications from those groups of people who are currently under-represented, which include amongst others: people with disabilities; men from all socio-economic backgrounds; people from diverse ethnic backgrounds; and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Good luck and we hope to hear from you.
Job overview
Are you looking for opportunities to develop your skills and knowledge in Occupational Therapy leadership and management?
Based in the older adults’ team at Saffron House, the Occupational Therapist will join our passionate Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) in High Wycombe. This is an opportunity to be part of a dedicated and innovative team making a real difference in the lives of older adults.
Saffron House is renowned for its exceptional care and support for older adults facing mental health challenges. Our team is committed to providing compassionate, person-centred care that enhances the quality of life for our clients and their families.We pride ourselves on creating a warm, welcoming environment where older adults feel valued and supported.
As a Band 7 Occupational Therapist, you will mentor and manage junior staff, fostering their professional growth and ensuring high standards of care. You will lead by example, sharing your expertise and guiding the team in delivering best practices in mental health care.
The team offers excellent flexible working options and well-developed learning and development provisions within the trust to enhance your skills and widen your knowledge base.
Main duties of the job- To develop and lead the Occupational Therapy provision into the older adult CMHT services in Buckinghamshire.
- To undertake occupational therapy assessment of clients with a range of mental health needs with a particular focus on supporting patients and families with dementia.
- Select, undertake and interpret the outcome of occupational therapy assessments for people whose mental health and cognitive problems impact on their occupational performance and functioning.
- To provide Occupational Therapy leadership and clinical supervision to Occupational Therapists working within the older adult CMHT’s
- Take a leading role in the development of Occupational Therapy services or specialist programmes for older adult
Please refer to the job description attached for a comprehensive list of duties.
The ability to travel independently between sites within the Trust is essential for this role.
Working for our organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible
Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
- Excellent opportunities for career progression
- Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
- 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
- NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
- Competitive pension scheme
- Lease car scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists may apply)
- Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion tea
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We hope that the advert has given you a clear understanding of the skills we are seeking and the opportunity at hand. You will need to use the “supporting statement” element of your application form to demonstrate your suitability for this role and you should refer to the job description, person specification and the guidance notes attached to this role to help you tailor your application.The essential and desirable criteria will be used to shortlist for interview and you should ensure that you refer to these within your application to increase your chances of being selected for interview.
Person specification
Knoweledge Requirements
Essential criteria- Highly developed specialist knowledge, underpinned by theory and experience of mental health disorders in older adults
- A good understanding of mental health needs of older adults with dementia and the Occupational Therapy model of human occupation
- Strong knowledge and skills in assessing risk and developing safety/management plans
Qualifications – Academic/Skills/Professional
Essential criteria- Occupational Therapist with Dip RCOT qualification or BSc in Occupational Therapy
- Current and up to date registration with relevant professional body- HCPC.
- Practice Educator Training
- Qualification in management and leadership
Experience
Essential criteria- Substantial experience as an Occupational Therapist working in a mental health, learning disability service or relevant field of practice.
- Experience of caseload management of complex conditions & cases.
- Substantial risk assessment and management skills of self-harm/risk/crisis management/safeguarding
- Experience of providing high quality assessments and interventions for older people with mental health needs and or dementia
- Experience in supervising and providing clinical leadership for junior team members
- Experience and evidence of promoting the role of Occupational Therapy
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria- Able to communicate complex condition related information to patients, families/carers and colleagues.
- Ability to recognise and manage challenging situations in a calm and professional manner.
- Highly developed communication and team working skills and ability to work with a range of other professionals and agencies.
- All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
- Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
- We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.
- Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
- We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.
- We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.
- We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
- Oxford is a world-renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing