Occupational Therapist - Band 6 - Virtual Ward

Job responsibilities

Please see the full job description for more detail in supporting information

Job summary:

To provide a high standard of occupational therapy provision to patients on the virtual ward including working across acute and community services

To work as an autonomous practitioner and participate in reflective practice, maintaining and furthering own professional development

To provide and participate in professional supervision and training for other occupational therapists, students and therapy assistants

To plan, coordinate, deliver and evaluate the service provided to patients, on a day-to-day basis, providing additional support to wider teams as required

To actively contribute to service improvements to ensure practice is of the highest quality, evidence based and meets the needs of the local population.

Job responsibilities:

1. Clinical and Professional

1.1 To undertake all professional duties as a senior occupational therapist maintaining high professional standards, complying at all times with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and the College of Occupational Therapists, Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

1.2 To manage a caseload of patients which require a variety of complex assessments and interventions under the following pathways - heart failure, acute kidney injury, intravenous antibiotics, respiratory, with the expansion of pathways in the future. To be involved in the development of future pathways

1.3 To participate in 7 day working if required, extended weekday working hours and weekend working rotas depending upon the need of the service

1.4 To assess and treat patients with disabilities and complex needs who would benefit from a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary assessment, rehabilitation, and onward referrals

1.5 To undertake appropriate assessment programmes to determine patient needs and prioritise patients treated according to need.

1.6 To consider all the elements and select the appropriate course of action, to achieve the best possible outcome by processing a range of information with each individual patient, who may have complex physical, cognitive and mental health needs.

1.7 To provide treatment to facilitate maximum independence by processing and interpreting a range of information and using the techniques that are appropriate to occupational therapy.

1.8 To establish a rapport with the patient and use the skills of empathy and persuasion to ensure compliance with the treatment programme.

1.9 To use clinical reasoning to plan and undertake appropriate evidence based treatment programmes, undertaken in conjunction with the patient and their relatives/carers if possible.

1.10 To regularly review and adapt the treatment programmes to ensure they continuously meet the patient needs.

1.11 To comply with the manual handling policies and procedures whilst undertaking moving and handling procedures, this includes transferring patients with hoists or stand- aids and carrying equipment.

1.12 To organise and facilitate health promotion activities. These will involve discussions and explanation of various strategies and resources available.

1.13 To plan and undertake assessments depending on individual need. This may include virtual assessments and face to face assessments in patients own homes. To ensure relevant organisation and team policies and procedures are followed

1.14 To ensure the effective use of appropriate assessment and treatment resources, both virtually and in person. This will involve the use of physical, cognitive, and mental health standardised and non- standardised assessments.

1.15 To ensure timely and appropriate referrals are undertaken to aid recovery and rehabilitation.

1.16 To initiate, undertake and participate in regular formal and informal clinical supervision in order to reflect on professional practice, identify training needs and develop professional practice. To be a supervisor for qualified staff and occupational therapy students including those undertaking the occupational therapy apprenticeship programme.

1.17 To participate and provide appraisals in a timely manner and ensure own mandatory training is up to date at all times.

1.18 To continuously improve own professional development to ensure development of specialist clinical skills in line with best practice. This will include:

Attendance at courses/study days relating to the speciality or area of interest

In service training

Maintaining CPD file and participating in the professional development programme

1.19 To assess and issue/order the essential and most appropriate equipment required to meet the patients needs, transporting and fitting equipment yourself as required. Ensuring order is completed and equipment is safe for use, liaising with the relevant equipment store to address any problems as relevant

1.20 To assess, order, supply, use and adapt equipment for patients, to enhance independence/mobility. This may include manual and electric wheelchairs, hoists, standing aids and feeding aids. At all times ensuring that any equipment used and /or adjusted is handled in a safe manner for staff and patients.

1.21 As appropriate, to refer or undertake the assessment, fabrication and fitting of splints for hands and upper limbs following surgery or injury.

1.22 To educate other professionals about the role of Occupational Therapy, and be the voice for the profession within the virtual ward team

1.23 To ensure all policies and procedures are followed in relation to the organisation e.g. COSHH, Health and Safety.

1.24 To be prepared to work flexible hours when requested, in response to the needs of service.

2. Communication and team working

2.1 To communicate with patients and family/carers as appropriate, the physical/mental/cognitive health problems ensuring a sensitive approach to assist engagement with treatment programmes. This will involve motivating patients and negotiating treatment goals.

2.2 To ensure excellent communication ie with verbal and written handovers, ward rounds, MDT meetings and case conferences to ensure effective communication in regards to patient progress and treatment plans. At all times, occupational therapists need to respect confidentiality whilst giving and receiving complex clinical and personal information.

2.3 To maintain all necessary communication using the relevant patient/customer documentation IT system. To ensure other accessible IT systems are also accessed as essential in order to inform decision making and safe practice. At all times following the organisations policies regarding the confidentiality of data collection.

2.4 To ensure regular communication with the patient, family and carers in order to maintain patient involvement and manage expectations regarding the patients condition, diagnosis and prognosis.

2.5 To closely liaise with other agencies, internal or external to ensure excellent communication of needs. To continuously foster good working relationships with internal and external agencies and the wider MDT to enable the best results for patients and staff.

3. Training and Teaching

3.1 To undertake regular informal and formal supervision of occupational therapists, students and therapy practitioners/assistants as needed.

3.2 To supervise students as needed on a regular basis after completing a practice placement educators course.

3.3 To regularly teach in training sessions to occupational therapy staff, students and other professionals as required.

3.4 To be prepared to promote occupational therapy in the virtual ward, and with the acute and community services

4. Planning and Organisation

4.1 To be responsible for arranging appointments, managing your diary, and balancing clinical and non-clinical time following all department and virtual ward guidelines

4.2 To provide cover within the team, or across other teams, including acute or community as appropriate to ensure the occupational therapy service is maintained.

4.3 To be responsible for planning and prioritising own caseload and assist other more junior staff with prioritising as required. To balance clinical and non-clinical tasks on a daily basis.

4.4 To be responsible for cleaning/infection control on all equipment /cars / work areas etc. In addition to be responsible for dealing with bodily fluids in the department and unpleasant conditions in some patients homes.

5. Managing People and resources

5.1 To use resources efficiently to ensure the patient receives appropriate intervention, at the right time.

5.2 To actively identify and engage with training where the skills are needed within own role.

5.3 To assist in the promotion of the department and Occupational Therapy to work experience students and visitors from other professions.

6. Service development and research

6.1 To assist with the development of the virtual ward and the OT service provision.

6.2 To actively identify, lead, and be involved with audits, service developments and relevant projects

related to the delivery of occupational therapy.

6.3 To continuously engage with learning new practices in line with the current evidence and changing trends in occupational therapy. To initiate new ideas for service provision, closely liaising with the professional lead for support in order to align initiatives with the needs of the service, direction of the alliance and the local population.

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree in Occupational Therapy (BSc/MSc) or equivalent
• HCPC registration, or have started the process of applying for HCPC if residing outside of the United Kingdom

Desirable

• Membership of the Royal College of Occupational therapists (RCOT)

Experience

Essential

• Extensive occupational therapy experience as a qualified therapist within a range of settings.
• Documented evidence of Clinical Professional Development (CPD), demonstrating transferrable skills

Desirable

• Practice Educators Course
• Experience of supervising students or staff
• Experience of working in the community and lone working

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Knowledge and use of coping skills to deal with working under pressure
• Able to demonstrate advanced initiative and responsibility
• Ability to travel to all rural locations to carry out post

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Advanced knowledge of application of Occupational Therapy
• Assessment and interventions relevant to the client group
• I.T. skills
• Proven team player
• Demonstrable interpersonal skills
• Evidence of excellent written and verbal skills
• Ability to undertake Manual Handling tasks
• Organisational skills
• and flexible approach to working hours/duties
• Ability to prioritise in a fast-paced setting

Desirable

• Evidence of audits conducted and service development initiatives
• Evidence of formal education and teaching
• Evidence of the promotion of Occupational therapy
• Leadership training

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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