Specialist Occupational Therapist - Neurology

Job overview

Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is looking for an enthusiastic Occupational Therapist to work as a Band 6 within our Therapies Neurology Team. The post offers the opportunity to be part of a friendly and dynamic team of integrated therapists with a strong focus on patient experience and continual improvement.

We are looking for a dedicated and motivated Occupational Therapist with experience, knowledge and skills in neurology in the acute setting.

The role would require close links with both the local Major Trauma Centre and our community neuro teams.

If you would like to know more about the role, please contact Jenny Wilson, Senior Occupational Therapist on [email protected]

• To provide clinical assessments, treatment and discharge planning to neurological and neuro trauma inpatients at the RUH. Some cover may be required to patients who are awaiting transfer from outlying wards in the hospital.
• The post holder requires experience and depth of clinical knowledge relevant to this clinical group, linking closely with associated services, liaison with relevant ICB’s and NHS England as required.
• The therapist will have clinical autonomy within a small ward based multidisciplinary team consisting of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapist, Therapy assistant and speech and language therapist. They will need to provide accurate clinical records and statistics, contributing to UKROC database. Will need to regularly contribute to the weekly patient categorisation meeting.
• The therapist will need to support and supervise junior Occupational Therapy staff within the wider adult therapies department and students.
• They will be required to share their clinical knowledge and expertise with other staff both on a formal and informal teaching basis. As part of the wider neurology MDT the therapist will be working alongside the clinical lead whose role is to promote team working and develop clinical practice and improve clinical outcomes in line with NHS guidelines.

Working for our organisation

At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.

We are proud to be in the top 20 best hospitals to work for in the country.

We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks – celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.

A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.

We value staff well-being, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial well-being. We’ve even got a pool!

We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please find attached detailed person specification and job description for further information about the role.

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

• Diploma/degree in occupational therapy
• HCPC Registered
• Appropriate Post Grad training
• Membership with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT)

• Membership of Neurology special interest group

Knowledge and Experience

• Must be able to demonstrate broad experience/ knowledge of clinical conditions relevant to area of work.
• Strong understanding of Complex Neuro Trauma and Trauma Pathway.
• Experience of student and junior staff supervision.
• Experienced in working in a multidisciplinary team.
• Demonstrate experience of working in acute neuro/trauma

• Experience and knowledge of working in a community stroke/ neurology
• Experience of being involved in service development activities
• Experience in a Specialist rehabilitation service
• At least 2 years post qualified experience, to include acute experience
• Experience in audit or measuring clinical effectiveness.

Values

• Values and respects others, treats everyone as an individual, is non-judgemental
• Motivated to be genuinely kind and caring
• Helps and co-operates with colleagues
• Pro-active and takes responsibility
• Willing to learn, open to change
• Motivated to make a difference in whatever way they can
• Takes pride in themselves, their appearance, their role and where they work.

Specific Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrate specialist knowledge and competencies working with neurological and neuro trauma patients in acute setting.
• Demonstrates effective leadership skills
• Understanding of clinical governance and its implications for service delivery
• Flexibility in response to service demand
• Effective time management and organisational skills and ability to work under pressure

• Effective teaching skills

Physical Skills & Emotional Effort

• Regularly undertakes moderate physical effort for multiple periods on a daily basis, whilst carrying out concurrent activities
• Work often includes intense physical effort for several periods in the day assessing patients with varying levels of dependency for sustained periods during assessment and treatment.
• Ability to manage conflict
• Ability to maintain high levels of concentration when under pressure by pain, cognitive impairment or limited functional ability
• To deal sensitively with patients who have high levels of anxiety and distress caused
• To be able to frequently care for critically/ terminally/ chronically ill patients and deal with distressing and difficult circumstances

Requirements due to Working Environment

• Likely to be required to deal with sputum, blood, faeces, urine as part of the therapeutic intervention with patient.