Senior Occupational Therapist
Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen to play a leading role in a dynamic OT team in Newham in East London. You will be supported in this by another B7 OT and a B8a Clinical Lead and become part of a well established AHP community at ELFT. Staffing in the OT team includes B6 OT's x 4, B5 OT's x 2, an OT apprentice, trusted assessor technicians and trusted assessors.You will be responsible for supporting and developing more junior staff, for assessing complex patients and for ensuring patients are allocated promptly and to the most appropriate member of the team. You will attend the bi-monthly senior OT meeting, where improvements to the team functioning are discussed and agreed.
Other regular meetings include complex patients meetings, senior therapy meetings and management meetings. Your personal and professional development are important to us and you will be supported to work towards your potential.
Main duties of the job- To provide specialised client-centered occupational therapy interventions to clients (aged 16 or over) who are resident in the community and are referred primarily due to a physical disability. This includes clients who may present with complex physical, cognitive, psycho-social and housing needs as a result of a wide range of medical conditions.
- To be an influential member of the multi-disciplinary team, providing expert, integrated, clien- centred, goal- orientated rehabilitation for clients.
- To work as an autonomous practitioner in managing a defined caseload of complex cases, in a community setting. To evidence high levels of problem solving and clinical reasoning skills in line with evidence based/client- centred principles. To formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan designed to reduce the impact of disability from a comprehensive assessment of the client’s needs.
- To take a lead role in the supervision, teaching and appraisal of junior occupational therapists, rehabilitation support workers, students and other members of the multi-disciplinary team.
- To work collaboratively with members of the multi-disciplinary team in the planning, development and evaluation of the Extended Primary Care Team, taking a lead for designated projects. To continually engage with and develop the provision of occupational therapy within community services.
Working for our organisation
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To independently manage a caseload of complex cases, providing specialist occupational therapy assessment and interventions to clients with complex physical, cognitive and psycho-social needs arising from their medical conditions. To provide this service in the most appropriate setting to the client, e.g. clients’ homes, workplace and other community settings, working closely with the client, his/her family/carer and other professionals in doing this.
To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.
To establish excellent therapeutic relationships with clients/family/carers to gain their participation in the therapeutic process by employing advanced interpersonal skills (e.g. communication, reasoning, negotiation skills, motivational tactics) and overcoming any barriers to communication (e.g. different languages, lack of understanding of the spoken word, visual or hearing impairments, fear, anxiety).
To be responsible for the day to day management and provision of occupational therapy assessments and intervnetions in the NW locality by reviewing the appropriateness of referrals, prioritising referrals and managing junior staff on a day to day basis.
To work with the General Manager and Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist, using specialist knowledge and skills, to develop and evaluate the Extended Primary Care Team, e.g. through the use of audit and outcome measures, taking a lead responsibility for designated tasks.
To use specialist knowledge and skills to actively influence policies, procedures and service developments within the Extended Primary Care Team by working with the General Manager and Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist to ensure that the service meets the needs of the clients and also meets national and local priorities, e.g. by identifying unmet need and service pressures, by identifying and applying evidence based practice
To maintain and develop own professional knowledge and skills in relation to occupational therapy in the field of physical disability and community rehabilitation. To be conversant with professional developments and current evidence base in this field, evidencing critical appraisal skills and a sound understanding of clinical governance
To develop and maintain an agreed area of specialist knowledge and skills in relation to occupational therapy in the field of physical disability, e.g. seating/posture and positioning and/or splinting, and to act as an expert resource to other occupational therapists and members of the multi-disciplinary team for this subject area.
To participate in staff and service development through attendance at meetings and in-service training sessions, including taking a lead responsibility for designated sessions.
To undertake management and leadership training as required to meet the needs of the post, e.g. appraisal, supervision skills, time management, audit.
Please refer to JD/PS for full details of this role.
Person specification
Qualifications and Experience
Essential criteria- Occupational Therapy Degree
- Registered with HCPC
- Maintenance of CPD portfolio
- At least 3 years' post registration clinical experience in OT role, including community working with older adults with a physical health need
- Experience in supervising, managing and training junior staff
- Experience in service development
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria- Ability to communicate with wide range of professionals
- Ability to establish a therapeutic relationship with patients and their families/carers
- Ability to undertake all aspects of the OT process
- Evidence of advanced clinical reasoning skills
- Ability to apply safe manual handling techniques with patients with complex needs and teach others
- Ability to manage individual and team workload independently
- Ability to support junior team members in all aspects of their role and ensure team functions at highest level
- Experience of working in a community setting
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Knowledge of theory and practice of OT with patients with physical, cognitive and psychosocial needs
- Knowledge of legislation affecting the work of OTs
- Knowledge of the roles of other disciplines and agencies involved in patient care
- Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and their application
- Knowledge of standardised assessments appropriate to this patient group
Making Things Better
Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.
We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.
Our Community
We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London.We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.
Aiming High
We were rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated ‘Outstanding’ again in 2018 and continue to be rate 'Outstanding' in 2021.. We were named in the HSJ’s Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.
Staff and Service Users United
We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services.We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.
We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.
Diversity
ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve.Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.
Other reasons to apply
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s job share, part time or another flexible pattern.
As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.
What Next?
If you like the sound of ELFT, don’t waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!
As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS.We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..
If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made.Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.
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