Highly Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it.Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’.Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS.We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
Are you a highly motivated Occupational Therapist with experience working with children and families? Are you looking for a new opportunity to develop your skills in a supportive and specialist environment?
We are seeking a Band 7 Paediatric Occupational Therapist to join our dynamic Neurodevelopmental Therapy and Rehabilitation Team. This is a 12-month, 0.8 WTE fixed-term post, with responsibilities across both the Royal Brompton Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
This is a unique opportunity to work as part of a cross-site team delivering high-quality, family-centred occupational therapy for babies, children, and young people with complex medical needs.
Main duties of the job
In this role, you will work within the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), High Dependency Unit (HDU) and ward environments. You will assess infant and child development and occupational performance, working collaboratively with families to set meaningful goals and deliver early, individualised interventions.You will also provide assessment and intervention to a paediatric neurorehabilitation caseload.
Key responsibilities include:
- Providing neurodevelopmental assessment and surveillance for high-risk infants and children.
- Providing assessment and intervention to a paediatric neurorehabilitation caseload.
- Supporting safe transition and referral to community services to ensure continuity of care.
- Working as an autonomous practitioner while closely integrated within the multidisciplinary inpatient teams.
- Travelling between the Royal Brompton and Evelina London sites as needed.
Cross-site working is a core part of this role, requiring flexibility and coordination to provide seamless care between the Royal Brompton and Evelina London sites. You’ll be working closely with clinical teams at both hospitals, sharing expertise, and contributing to joined-up care pathways.
You will be supported with regular supervision from a senior therapist based at Evelina London and further guidance from a Clinical Lead Paediatric OT and Head of Paediatric Occupational Therapy.
Working for our organisation
We are a friendly, welcoming and supportive team, offering a culture of ongoing professional development and learning. Alongside a focus on clinical excellence, ongoing improvement and innovation, our team wellbeing is also prioritised with regular opportunities to participate in social activities, team events and reflective practice.We offer opportunities to participate in departmental audits, service improvement projects or research projects. We have a monthly professional development programme for all staff.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description and person specification documents for details regarding main responsibilities.
Person specification
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential criteria- Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy
- HCPC Registration
- Masters level or equivalent training in specialist area or evidence of significant practical experience, research or publication in specialist area.
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience commensurate with a highly specialist paediatric occupational therapist role.
- Evidence of continuing professional development and post registration education and training.
- Ability to supervise junior staff and students.
- High standard of performance in general paediatric skills.
- Experience of Audit or quality improvement
- Experience of research
- Experience of working with children with complex neurological conditions
- Experience of working with children with disorders of posture and movement
- Experience of working HDU or PICU settings
Skills
Essential criteria- Specialist knowledge, understanding and application to OT process relating to client centred practice in paediatrics
- Specialist knowledge, application and analysis of standardised and non-standardise assessment
- Ability to work autonomously, acting decisively on behalf of self and others
- Experience of working within multi-disciplinary team
- Ability to promote clinical excellence in self and others
- Ability to demonstrate clinical leadership
- Proven experience in training, teaching and supervision of others
- Knowledge of common paediatric neurological and cardiac conditions
- Knowledge of developmental care approach and interventions
- Experience of upper limb assessment and management
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria- Ability to work flexibly and adapt approaches in response to clinical needs and priorities
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to manage conflict positively
Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service.We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
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