Occupational Therapist

Job responsibilities

Principal duties to include:

1. To undertake advanced OT and generic assessments of individuals with respiratory problems that affect their functioning, also including environmental factors. These patients will have a complex and/or chronic presentation.
2. To provide assessment and intervention of psychological issues and breathlessness on daily functioning; to improve management of daily life and chronic respiratory condition.
3. To participate in the provision of Occupational Therapy assessment and education sessions within Pulmonary Rehabilitation programmes across the North Surrey locality.
4. To devise patient centred-treatment plans through selective techniques and graded activities to ensure that the individuals full potential is developed or maintained.
5. To communicate effectively to the multi-disciplinary team to promote patient safety and the management of risk
6. To provide an effective high quality service to a patient, helping to develop the service according to patient need and available resources
7. To take a role/contribute in the supervision and teaching of the Therapy Technician in the Respiratory Care Team.
8. To demonstrate leadership skills and contribute to service development and monitoring standards of practice.
9. To undertake evidence based projects, including recommendations for change in practice and to lead where appropriate in departmental evaluation/research.
10. To take a role/contribute in teaching/supervising acute and community OT staff and to influence across organisations the implementation of best practice in respiratory care
11. To promote the role of OT with Respiratory patients to other professions.

Communication / Relationship Skills

1. To communicate any changes in care plan or treatment approach to lead Occupational Therapists as needed and members of the MDT.
2. To communicate effectively within the multi-disciplinary team to ensure that the safety of individual patients is considered as part of a holistic approach to care.
3. To take responsibility for additional communication with outside agencies i.e. writing specific specialist reports for case conferences, police for the vulnerable and child protection process
4. To be able to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff including imparting unwelcome news relating to their rehabilitation potential, communicating with bereaved relatives, and gaining consent for treatment.
5. To ensure timely and effective communication with senior staff on all professional matters.
6. To attend staff meetings and actively participate ensuring understanding of information imparted.
7. Assess patients understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
8. To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients in order to progress rehabilitation and treatment programmes. This may include patients who will have difficulties in understanding or communicating, e.g. patients who may be deaf, blind, or be unable to accept diagnosis or presenting condition.
9. To be able to manage potentially stressful, upsetting, or emotional situations in an empathetic manner.

Analytical / Judgmental Skills

1. To use investigative and analytical skills to assess complex patients and support junior/other staff with their patients as required.
2. To make diagnosis of perceptual/cognitive and functional difficulties from generic or specialist OT assessment without medical backup.

Responsibilities for human resources including personal and people development

1. Under the supervision of Lead Occupational Therapist, to assist in day-to-day operational management of the Occupational Therapy service in Respiratory Care.
2. To supervise junior staff, therapy assistants and students.
3. To participate in the appraisal scheme as an appraisee and appraiser.
4. To be responsible for the supervision of students on placement having attended a fieldwork supervisors course.
5. To provide professional supervision for junior /therapy technicians as appropriate to ensure that services meet standards as laid down by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.
6. To be responsible for and actively record your own personal development.
7. To keep abreast of new developments.
8. To undertake clinical reasoning sessions and reflective practice sessions as participant and facilitator
9. To participate in any training sessions as a recipient and facilitator.
10. To disseminate any training received to other staff and health care professionals.
11. To provide objectives and personal development plans for staff.
12. To participate in induction of new staff into the MDT.
13. To be responsible for the training of members of the MDT, junior staff, students, or assistants/technicians working in the Respiratory Care Team, including being available in an advisory capacity.

Health, safety and security

Post holders have a responsibility for promoting the health, safety and security of patients and clients, the public, colleagues and themselves e.g. Responsibility level is either: Assist in maintaining own or others, Monitor and maintain, Promote or develop, etc. This is in addition to general categories listed below

1. To comply with fire, health and safety and other trust and departmental policies.
2. To take reasonable care of own health and safety and follow all relevant health and safety policies and procedures.
3. To ensure that all equipment defects, accidents, incidents, near misses and complaints are reported to your line manager and the lead Occupational Therapist immediately.
4. To ensure confidentiality at all times, only releasing confidential information obtained during the course of employment to those acting in an official capacity. To comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
5. To comply with the Trusts policies on equal opportunities, the consumption of alcohol and non-smoking.
6. To ensure that all staff and site users working within immediate area of responsibility receive all necessary health and safety information.
7. To be responsible for the safe use of equipment used in carrying out Occupational Therapy duties adhering to Trust and department policies and procedures. This includes competence and accuracy to use equipment by yourself and other healthcare professional, carers and patients.
8. To carry out advanced risk assessment for sole working in patients homes, and in other community settings to ensure safety of self, patient and members of the public.
9. To carry patients and/or equipment in your car ensuring you have adequate insurance, following negotiation with management and adhering to relevant Trust policies and departmental guidelines.
10. When working in the community, work as a lone practitioner with telephone support if required.

Responsibility for Policy and Service Improvement/ Development

1. Contribute to the overall development of the organisations therapy and rehabilitation services and policies.
2. To be responsible alongside the Lead Occupational Therapist for the setting and monitoring of standards and policies of clinical practice for the service and evaluate outcomes.

Responsibility for Audit/Research & Development

1. To participate in appropriate work related evaluation projects and to be aware of current research relevant to the specialty.
2. To participate in any relevant clinical governance projects and audits
3. To evaluate your own clinical effectiveness
4. To evaluate the outcomes of your interventions.

Quality

Post holder has a responsibility for maintaining quality of own work, encourage others, contribute to improving quality or developing a culture to improve. This is in addition to the general category listed below.

1. To maintain accurate and timely statistical information as required by senior staff and managers.
2. To keep accurate statistical records in line with the departmental procedures.
3. To produce appropriate information for the use of service users.
4. To ensure that patient documentation adheres to RCOT and CSH standards.
5. To work as part of the MDT to provide an efficient and effective service.
6. To achieve and maintain a high standard of clinical care using evidence based practice and encourages this throughout your team.
7. To be responsible for ensuring best practice is used and to identify areas where evidence based practice might be developed
8. To demonstrate a high level of understanding of clinical governance and clinical risk and to keep up to date with clinical developments, analysing current research and implementing in own area.

Freedom to Act

Level of accountability for own actions and extent of access to supervision, guidance by policies and standard procedures e.g. Works autonomously / lead specialist/ carries own case load or directly responsible to Trust board for actions, etc.

1. To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your professional activities working within the codes of practice and professional guidelines.
2. To use a range of treatment/ management options in formulating programmes of care.
3. To be responsible as an autonomous practitioner and to undertake a significant specialist clinical workload.

For full details of the job description, please refer to the Job Description file.

Others

Essential

• Ability to travel between sites and to external meetings
• Car driver with a valid license to drive in the UK with access to transport to be used for business purposes

Skills

Essential

• Professional code of ethics, boundaries and variables to this
• Use personal interaction as a therapeutic media
• Ability to establish rapport with colleagues, clients and carers
• Manage own time and prioritise caseload effectively
• Use supervision to identify professional development needs
• Ability to present self in professional and appropriate manner
• Good listening skills
• Adaptable, imaginative and enthusiastic
• Understands and responds to needs of the team

Desirable

• Willingness to work in different locations
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in response to demands of the post

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 3 years post grad experience in Occupational Therapy
• Previous Occupational Therapy experience in relevant speciality
• Demonstrable evidence of prioritising and problem solving
• Ability to select, analyse and interpret standardised and non- standardised assessments
• Evidence of CPD Portfolio
• Evidence of use of Evidence -Based Practice in professional practice
• In depth specialist knowledge of relevant conditions within the speciality, their symptoms and effect on function

Desirable

• Ability to understand, interpret and apply legislation and government policies and guidance
• Advanced clinical reasoning skills
• Understand the impact of your own action
• Respiratory skills / knowledge
• Experience of supervising others
• Experience of risk assessment and swift decision making
• Implementation of Clinical Governance within own speciality
• Ability to communicate complex written and verbal information effectively
• Experience in carrying out audit
• Understanding of research techniques

Qualifications

Essential

• BSc Hons or diploma equivalent in OT
• Registration with Health Professions Council

Desirable

• Respiratory Course
• CBT course

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).