Senior Occupational Therapist

Job description

Job responsibilities

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.

5. To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.

6. 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.

7. To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.

8. 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).

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. To participate in staff and service development through attendance at meetings and in-service training sessions, including taking a lead responsibility for designated sessions.

15. 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.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Occupational Therapy Degree
• Registered with HCPC
• Maintenance of CPD portfolio
• At least 3 years' post registration clinical experience in OT role, including community working with older adults with a physical health need
• Experience in supervising, managing and training junior staff

Desirable

• Experience in service development

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Ability to communicate with wide range of professionals
• Ability to establish a therapeutic relationship with patients and their families/carers
• Ability to undertake all aspects of the OT process
• Evidence of advanced clinical reasoning skills
• Ability to apply safe manual handling techniques with patients with complex needs and teach others
• Ability to manage individual and team workload independently
• Ability to support junior team members in all aspects of their role and ensure team functions at highest level

Desirable

• Experience of working in a community setting

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of theory and practice of OT with patients with physical, cognitive and psychosocial needs
• Knowledge of legislation affecting the work of OTs
• Knowledge of the roles of other disciplines and agencies involved in patient care
• Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and their application

Desirable

• Knowledge of standardised assessments appropriate to this patient group

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).

Employer details

Employer name

East London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

East Ham Care Centre

Shrewsbury Road

London

E7 8QP

Employer's website

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