Job Description

For a full list of key duties, please refer to the attached job description. Key Duties: To act as a source of expertise, identifying, analysing, evaluating, and problem-solving to support the development and delivery of individualised intervention and treatment programmes across a variety of settings. To provide a consultative role for relatives and staff, offering advice, recommendations, support, training, and instruction as required. To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner, managing and prioritising your own caseload and time.



Maintain accurate records and ensure timely data entry. To provide daily leadership and management to the therapy team within your specialist area, including supervision, appraisal, and staff development. Participate in the recruitment process for these roles. To supervise, educate, and assess the performance of students as required, and liaise with universities to ensure that practice and teaching standards meet the expectations of degree-level qualifications.



To contribute to the education of students from other disciplines. To deliver training to multidisciplinary team members, ensuring competence in performing duties within their agreed scope of practice. To undertake evidence-based audit and research projects to further your own and the teams clinical practice, making recommendations for change. Lead the implementation of specific changes to practice and contribute to service protocols within your specialist area.



To take a lead role within the Trauma & Orthopaedics team, providing highly specialist Occupational Therapy assessment and treatment of patients with diverse presentations and complex physical and psychological conditions, in both acute and community settings. To use specialist skills to effectively manage caseloads and work priorities, including service delivery and professional demands. Clinical and Professional: To be invloved in the planning and leadership of the Trauma & Orthopaedics Therapy service countywide, prioritising clinical needs to provide an effective, efficient service. To ensure the efficient and safe management of care for Trauma & Orthopaedics patients as part of the multidisciplinary team, including risk assessments.



To be responsible for the development, implementation, and delivery of Occupational Therapy interventions, including assessment, treatment planning, and the treatment of your own patient caseload. To monitor and advise on the clinical input of others, ensuring patients receive the highest level of care. To develop and implement treatment programmes and initiate discharge planning. You must be skilled in assessing and interpreting a range of complex factors, including diagnosis and prognosis.



Highly specialist skills in the assessment and provision of Occupational Therapy for patients who have undergone orthopaedic surgery are essential. To take responsibility for your own professional actions, demonstrating the knowledge and skills to manage a caseload including complex and specialist cases. This includes high-level problem-solving, clinical reasoning, and independent judgement. To apply a deep understanding of the impact of disability and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the clients social and physical environment, both in hospital and in the community.



Consideration should be given to how these changes affect family and carers. To provide highly specialist Occupational Therapy that includes physical, cognitive, perceptual, and visual assessments and treatments, particularly for patients recovering in critical care. To demonstrate highly developed clinical reasoning skills to undertake risk assessments for patients, carers, and therapists in both hospital and community settings. This includes assessment of the home environment (with or without the patient present), identifying and recommending preparations needed for discharge and continuing care.



To establish and maintain a high standard of clinical expertise and care for patients under your management and support junior staff to do the same. To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent, and work within the legal framework for patients who lack capacity to consent. To undertake highly specialist clinical programmes and treatments, aligned with evidence-based practice and national guidelines, assessing the functional ability of patients, including those with complex needs. This may involve using standardised or non-standardised assessment tools.



To formulate accurate evaluations and clinical deductions based on the interpretation of clinical and non-clinical data, recommending appropriate interventions. To evaluate treatments to measure progress, ensure clinical effectiveness, and adapt interventions as necessary. Set up reviews as appropriate and use recognised outcome measures. To educate and train patients, carers, and support workers in the safe use of specialist equipment, e.g.



hoists. This involves handling and manoeuvring patients and equipment, often in confined spaces. To use highly developed specialist knowledge to respond to urgent requests from staff, patients, and relatives to expedite rapid assessment and discharge in the acute setting. To work across a variety of clinical areas, including wards and home environments, where there may be exposure to highly unpleasant conditions such as odours, body fluids, faeces, infestations, and verbal aggression.



To work on the Trauma & Orthopaedics ward and Critical Care Unit, delivering and demonstrating interventions that align with evidence-based practice and national guidelines. These patients are often acutely unwell and require specialist care. To manage and support other team members who may lack experience in working within the Critical Care Unit. Communication: To communicate effectively with all patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential and build therapeutic relationships.



Involve patients in decision-making throughout their care. To communicate clearly and confidently at a variety of procedural and operational meetings, using negotiation and persuasion skills, and representing your speciality, team, or the wider Therapy department. To produce clear and effective written reports for all patients on your caseload and support junior staff in doing the same. To communicate with internal and external agencies (e.g.



CCGs, community therapy teams) to support discharge planning. To handle complex and challenging situations with clear verbal communication across various organisational and clinical meetings. To adapt communication appropriately for patients, families, and carers with a range of communication, cognitive, or behavioural impairments. To cascade operational information to therapy and MDT team members, with sensitivity and awareness of their prior knowledge and experience.



To motivate and persuade others through effective, respectful communication. To liaise with local networks and groups, sharing knowledge and supporting the implementation of evidence-based practice. To contribute to the future development of Occupational Therapy services, particularly in Trauma & Orthopaedics countywide, in close collaboration with the Occupational Therapy Manager and the Strategic Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist for Trauma & Orthopaedics. To evaluate and integrate evidence-based practice, ensuring alignment with national standards and frameworks.



To regularly evaluate your own and your teams work through audits, quality and performance reviews, and evidence-based projects. Share outcomes and recommendations with the Strategic Clinical Lead, specialist colleagues, and the Occupational Therapy Manager, to ensure continuous service improvement and high-quality clinical care. To work closely with the Therapy service leads and the Therapy service Managers to advise on recommendations for service development and improvements.