Job Description

Senior Occupational Therapist- Trauma & Orthopaedics (Maternity leave cover, 1 year)



An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and experienced Occupational Therapist to join the Orthopaedic therapy team at St Peter's Hospital.



The team treat a wide variety of orthopaedic trauma conditions such as, fractured neck of femurs, spinal fractures, upper limb trauma, complex elective surgery and Ilizarov frame surgery. There is excellent multi-disciplinary team working on the orthopaedic ward.



This post would suit a band 5 looking to develop their skills into a band 6 role or someone wishing to enhance their orthopaedic skills. They will work closely with the multi-disciplinary team and community partners to provide high quality care and improved outcomes for patients.



The post holder should demonstrate competent clinical reasoning and patient management skills. They will be expected to progress leadership skills, contribute to service development and monitor standards of practice. The post holder will be supported to develop their clinical and leadership skills through formal supervision and appraisal.



Please contact Carley Allen, Clinical Lead Orthopaedic Therapies on 07890 384272 carley.allen@nhs.net or Shelby-Summer Hughes Clinical Specialist OT on 01932 723234 if you require any further information.



To undertake advanced assessment, and treatment of patients with acute and sub-acute conditions on the orthopaedic wards. These patients often have complex and / or chronic presentations.



To ensure clear goals and discharge plans are made in a timely fashion and documented in accordance to clinical guidelines.



To work as an autonomous practitioner to undertake a clinical caseload, working without direct supervision.



To take a role in supervision and teaching of occupational therapists, therapy assistants and students within clinical speciality and participate in multi-disciplinary team teaching.



To demonstrate leadership skills and contribute to service development and monitoring of standards of practice and developing multidisciplinary management of patients.



Develop effective working relationships with patients and their carers, MDT members, therapy colleagues, social care staff, rehabilitation teams, equipment and voluntary services, admin and clerical staff.



Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of more than 410,000 people living in North-West Surrey, parts of Hounslow and beyond.



Over 3,700 highly trained doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, healthcare scientists and other support staff make up our workforce, providing a wide range of services across our two hospital sites, Ashford, Surrey and St Peter's, Chertsey, Surrey.



We also run many specialist clinics in the community and local community hospitals and other healthcare facilities.



Our vision is to be one of the best healthcare Trusts in the country. There has never been a better time to join us in the NHS at ASPH. We are committed to providing continuous professional development and flexibility to shape our workforce around our patient care.



We are expanding our theatres at Ashford Hospital and moving towards this becoming our dedicated elective centre. We want to create a state-of-the-art centre for excellence for planned surgical procedures.



We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits/discounts and in addition:



Excellent pension scheme and annual leave entitlement



On-site Nurseries



On-site staff cafes



On-site parking



Support in career development



Salary Sacrifice schemes including wage stream, lease cars, Cycle to Work schemes and home electronics



Adverts may close early, so applicants are encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible.

For more information about a career at ASPH please visit:

www.asph-careers.org



Clinical or technical



To undertake comprehensive assessments of patients including those with diverse or complex presentations/ multipathologies.



To use investigative and analytical skills to assess complex patients and support other more junior therapists with their patients as required.



To devise individualised occupational therapy management and / or treatment plans, using clinical reasoning skills.



To use ongoing investigative and analytical skills, manual assessment techniques and diagnostic procedures to assess complex patients and formulate a clinical diagnosis.



To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best course of intervention.



To evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes if required.



To keep up to date with developments, analysing current research and discussing and implementing changes to your clinical practice.



Leadership or managerial



To attend all relevant training in order to maintain competency and confidence.



To be responsible for and actively record your own personal development. This may include active participation in journal clubs, clinical reasoning and problem patient sessions as participant and facilitator.



To participate in the appraisal as appraisee and appraiser.



To disseminate any training received to other staff and health care professionals



To be responsible for the supervision of Band 5 Occupational therapists on rotation, Students and Assistants as required.



To support with the appraisals any Band 5 Occupational therapists on rotation and Assistants



To assist in organising the rota for the weekend working



To support the Occupational Therapy staff with organising their annual leave within the team.



Information and reporting



To regularly participate in and lead on appropriate work related research/evaluation projects and to be aware of current research relevant to the speciality.



To participate in and initiate clinical audit and the evaluation of clinical effectiveness in line with Trust Policies.



To evaluate your own clinical effectiveness.



To ensure relevant topics are included in annual clinical governance and service plan.



To undertake and present relevant evidence based projects .



To contribute to the Trust's, Division's and team's clinical governance arrangements and quality agenda



Service improvement



To make recommendations when appropriate to changes in practice leading to improvement in the service.



To be involved with implementing policy and service development changes.



To be aware of risks involved as part of delivering clinical care and manage this within own patient case load.



To demonstrate physical ability to carry out assessments and interventions, including moving and handling techniques. This involves frequent light to moderate physical effort.



Communications and Engagement



To be able to communicate highly complex information sensitively to patients in order to gain their cooperation for treatment and valid consent.



To communicate effectively with all disciplines involved in a patient's care, both those from within the organisation and those outside to ensure efficient multidisciplinary working



To use persuading and influencing skills to encourage patients to self manage their conditions.



To communicate any changes in care plan or treatment approach to other therapists as necessary.



To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patient in order to progress treatment programmes. This may include patients who will have difficulties in understanding or communicating, e.g. patients who maybe deaf, blind, or be unable to accept the diagnosis, or for whom English is not their first language.



To be able to manage frequently highly stressful, upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner.



To maintain accurate records in line with professional body (College of Occupational Therapy), Trust and service standards and policies. To ensure that records of directly managed staff also comply with these standards



To attend staff meetings and actively participate ensuring understanding of information imparted



To ensure timely and effective communication with the Clinical/Therapy Leads on all professional matters.