Senior Occupational Therapist | East London NHS Foundation Trust

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 amultidisciplinary team, which includes Advanced Care Practitioners (ACPs), rapid response nurses, occupational therapists (OTs), physiotherapists and therapy assistants.

• 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.

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.

This advert closes on Sunday 16 Feb 2025