Falls Team Lead / Specialist Community Occupational Therapist

Job responsibilities

GENERAL

To provide specialised client-centered occupational therapy falls interventions to clients/patients (aged 18 or over) who are resident in the Haringey community and are referred due to a physical and mental health disability/illness/condition. 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 falls 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 clients needs.

To take a lead role in the supervision, teaching and appraisal of junior occupational therapists, rehabilitation support workers, students and other members of the multi-disciplinary team.

To work collaboratively with members of the multi-disciplinary team in the planning, development and evaluation of the Locality Therapy Falls Service, taking a lead for designated projects. To continually engage with and develop the provision of occupational therapy within community services.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

CLINICAL

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 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).

5. To assess for and diagnose any functional, physical, cognitive, perceptual, psychological and sensory deficits using functional assessments together with specialised standardised and non-standardised assessment batteries.

6. Based on the analysis of the assessment and a risk analysis, to determine occupational therapy aims and treatment goals as part of the overall care plan, and then to formulate intervention options which reduce the impact of disability.

please see the Job description and Persons Specifications for further details about the job role

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or Diploma in Occupational therapy
• Registration with the Health Care Professions Council
• Attendance on courses related to Falls

Desirable

• Higher degree/MSc. relevant to the area of practice.
• Member of the College of Occupational Therapists and relevant Clinical Interest Group

Experience

Essential

• At least 5 years post-registration experience, including extensive rotational experience and evidence of dedicated clinical practice and post-graduate professional development in relevant areas of Occupational therapy.
• At least 2 years experience working with falls at a Band 6 or above.
• Experience of working in the NHS.
• Experience of working within a community setting

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Essential IT skills, including Word and PowerPoint.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of running groups
• Experience of taking Occupational therapy students on clinical practice placements.
• Experience of organising, writing and delivering in-service training programmes.
• Experience of supervising junior and non-qualified staff, including participation in personal development reviews.
• Experience of involvement in clinical governance/service improvement initiatives

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of current NHS priorities and policy
• Understanding of clinical governance activity and its application to Occupational therapy Services and practice.
• Knowledge of other medical conditions which you may encounter including, but not exclusively, mental health, cognitive deficits and conditions of old age.
• Advanced knowledge of the audit cycle and its uses.

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Able to communicate highly complex and sensitive information in written, verbal and presentational form to patients, carers and staff within the Trust and across other organisations.
• Able to lead, motivate and influence a team, and to describe strategies to support effective team working.
• Able to apply problem-solving skills to highly complex situations, which may include clinical or organisational issues.
• Highly skilled ability and competency in using a range of therapeutic skills including but not exclusively, various assessment techniques, handling skills, manual handling techniques, exercise therapy, and splinting.

Other Qualities

Essential

• Commitment to holistic patient management and the promotion and progression of Occupational therapy in the community.

Knowledge

Essential

• Up to date and advanced knowledge of a variety of Occupational therapy concepts and approaches, and of current best practice.
• Knowledge of falls management
• Knowledge of outcome measure tools relevant to community Occupational therapy, and ability to select and justify their use.
• Demonstrate an understanding of responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act and of assessing risk within clinical work.

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Highly developed clinical reasoning skills with an ability to develop client centred, realistic and achievable goals.
• Understanding of issues involved in offering a service to a diverse community, and of practical ways to ensure that the service is culturally appropriate and accessible.
• Able to identify and recognise when to seek advice and support concerning clinical, managerial, professional or organisational issues.
• Able to identify your own and staff's training and development needs.
• Well-developed and effective communication, motivational and persuasive skills.
• Well developed counselling and advocacy skills to support staff, patients and carers.
• high level of organisation and planning skills and ability to prioritise caseloads and identify areas of unmet need

Other Qualities

Essential

• Ability to work in the community in patient's homes and to travel around the borough.
• Willingness to work on any site as service requirements dictate, and as appropriate.

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).