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 Urgent Community Response Team in Newham in East London. You will be supported in this by part-time B7 OT and Clinical Lead to become part of the team at ELFT. Staffing in the OT team includes a B6 and 2 rehab support workers who are trusted assessors.

The Urgent Community Response (UCR) service (which includes Fast Falls) is an unplanned services that provides rapid initial assessment and immediate treatment for Newham patients meeting the inclusion criteria. This is within their own home (including care homes) and is with a view to preventing a hospital admission when clinically appropriate to do so.

The aims of these services are to focus on rehabilitation and health promotion, prevent hospital admission and facilitate early discharge. Likewise is to reduce unplanned hospital admissions by supporting clients in their own homes and to facilitate rehabilitation following discharge from hospital.

Clinical input is provided by a multidisciplinary team, which includes Advanced Care Practitioners (ACPs), rapid response nurses, occupational therapists (OTs), physiotherapists and therapy assistants.

The occupational therapist works as part of the multi-disciplinary team, providing specialist client- centered occupational therapy interventions, to enable clients to maximise their independence in daily activities in their own homes.

• To provide specialised client-centered occupational therapy interventions to clients (aged 18 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, client- centered, 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- centered 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 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.

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.

1. To be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of own professional activities. To adhere to and apply The College of Occupational Therapists’ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (College of Occupational Therapists 2015)
2. 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.
3. To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.
4. To be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of own professional activities. To adhere to and apply The College of Occupational Therapists’ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (College of Occupational Therapists 2015)
5. 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.
6. To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.
7. 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.
8. To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.
9. 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).
10. To be responsible for the day to day management and provision of occupational therapy assessments and interventions in the NW locality by reviewing the appropriateness of referrals, prioritising referrals and managing junior staff on a day to day basis.
11. 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.
12. 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
13. 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
14. 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.
15. To participate in staff and service development through attendance at meetings and in-service training sessions, including taking a lead responsibility for designated sessions.
16. 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 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 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

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!

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