Occupational Therapist (Respiratory/Critical Care)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical:

Be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of professional practice.

To take overall responsibility for the Occupational Therapy caseload, being able to independently manage service capacity and demand, ensuring service delivery is based on priorities

The patient group may include the following conditions: Post ICU syndrome, Orthopaedic conditions, Dementia and cognitive concerns, Frailty and related conditions.

To determine the patients and families/carers understanding of the occupational therapy intervention in order to gain valid informed consent and to be able to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment

To use in depth clinical reasoning, comprehensive knowledge and understanding of conditions, and wide-ranging knowledge of treatment options to plan and implement individual occupational therapy programs, and treatment protocols, using highly developed occupational therapy treatment techniques and therapeutic handling skills.

To monitor and evaluate occupational therapy treatment to ensure effectiveness of the intervention and to identify quickly when treatment requires modifying

Provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, promoting understanding of the aims of occupational treatment plans ensuring a consistent approach to patient care.

Demonstrate safe and efficient moving and handling skills and therapeutic handling on the basis of a sound risk assessment. Provide moving and handling advice to other team members as required.

Develop comprehensive discharge plans in collaboration with the other members of the multidisciplinary team and have good knowledge of community services and pathways

Within remit of specialist expertise ensure timely referral to other health professionals/services as appropriate.

Ensure that all documentation around patient care is recorded to Trust and COT Standards of Practice and Health Care Professionals Code of Conduct.

To take an active role in, and on occasions to organise, multi-disciplinary team meetings such as case conferences, ward rounds and discharge planning meetings to communicate information about individual patient progress and prognosis, including potential discharge dates.

To be responsible for the appropriate provision and the safe and competent use of a wide range of therapy aids and equipment to patients in line with department standards and ensure that all staff in your team do likewise.

To be responsible for undertaking and organising individual environmental assessments with patients through pre-operative home assessments, access visits, home visits and follow-up visits.

To work as a lone practitioner while on community visits including access visits and those as part of the Discharge to Assess pathway

To support more junior staff in the development of their assessment, treatment and clinical reasoning skills to ensure a high standard of care to Respiratory Medicine.

To develop the service of Occupational therapy within the intensive care unit in order to meet the relevant guidelines/recommendation.

Provide occupational therapy at weekends as required by the service this will include participation on the Emergency Department weekend rota

Organisational:

To have an active role in the planning, development, coordination, delivery and evaluation of the Respiratory Medicine occupational therapy service.

To provide support to the clinical lead therapist in the daily operational management for the occupational therapy team including strategic developments

To provide leadership and peer support to occupational therapists and support workers within the Respiratory Medicine team.

Assist in planning and provision of the induction and education of new staff, occupational therapy students and work experience students.

To act as a mentor for occupational therapy colleagues, providing clinical and professional support on a regular basis.

To delegate to, supervise and inspire occupational therapists, students and support workers

To manage priorities for the Respiratory Medicine occupational therapy team, balancing patient related and professional/managerial demands within available resources; ensuring that these remain service led

To deputise for the clinical lead therapist as required

To collect data and statistics for reporting purposes.

To carry out designated departmental/service responsibilities.

To have an active role in the recruitment of new therapy staff.

Education & research:

To assist with organising the Respiratory Medicine therapy training programme and demonstrate good presentation skills in the delivery of teaching sessions and tutorials.

To facilitate your teams development of therapy evidence based practice and specialist knowledge related to Cardio-respiratory and ICU

To train, supervise and performance manage other occupational therapists, assistants and students (this will include the use of formal PDR documentation).

To provide educational opportunities to occupational therapy students

To initiate and carry out audit and evidence based practice projects, make recommendations and implement changes in conjunction with the inpatient therapy lead, in order to improve the Respiratory Medicine therapy service.

Professional:

To abide by the Standards of Practice as outlined by the Health Profession Council requirements for occupational therapy registration.

Review and reflect on practice and identify areas of self-development through participation in annual individual performance review/appraisal.

To participate in all mandatory training to ensuring annual compliance

To maintain own continuous professional development (CPD) and incorporate new trends and developments into practice. To attend and contribute as appropriate at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions, courses, other CPD activities and to undertake reflective practice.

To maintain a dynamic personal development plan and portfolio, with evidence of ongoing commitment to CPD and self-directed learning.

To maintain comprehensive and accurate assessment and treatment records in line with legal, professional, Trust and departmental policies and guidelines.

Communication:

To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients and carers.

To use skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, and empathy to encourage patients to undertake their treatment programme and optimise rehabilitation potential and/or quality of life. Barriers to effective communication may regularly be evident, e.g.: altered perception, age, dysphasia, pain, psychological/emotional status.

To use specific skills to communicate with patients who, for example, depend on sign languages, communication boards etc.

To communicate patient related information effectively, to facilitate co-ordinated services and ensure seamless collaborative working with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and multi-agencies. This may include case conferences, handovers, ward rounds, discharge planning, documentation in health records and medical reports. Patient related information might be complex, highly sensitive and contentious.

To contribute to and compile additional written reports which form the basis of legal documents for other agencies

To use Information Technology for the purposes of:

• Communication within and outside the Trust
• Accessing clinical and professional information

Ensure all communication is presented appropriately to the different recipients, according to levels of understanding, type of communication being imparted and possible barriers such as language, culture, understanding or physical or mental health condition

Person Specification

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Msc, BSc or Diploma in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC registration
• Evidence of CPD and relevant post graduate courses

Desirable

• BOAT/RCOT membership
• Relevant post graduate qualifications
• Leadership and/or management training

EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Evidence of experience working as an autonomous practitioner at Band 6 level in an acute physical hospital setting managing patients with orthopaedics, general medical, neurology, rehabilitation and/or general surgery conditions in the UK or equivalent system
• Evidence of active participation in and delivery in-service training programmes
• Evidence of appraisal, clinical and professional supervision and teaching of qualified therapy staff, therapy assistants, students and other members of the MDT
• Experience of working in the NHS in a specialist Older Adults service

Desirable

• Experience of taking on leadership responsibilities within a healthcare setting

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE - SPECIAL

Essential

• Advanced clinical reasoning in the management of patient care
• An evidence based approach to the therapeutic management of patients with medical conditions / frailty
• Ability to work autonomously and monitor workload of team

Desirable

• Evidence of participation in research or audit

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

West Middlesex University Hospital

Twickenham Road

Isleworth

TW7 6AF

Employer's website

https://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)