Job Description

An opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join our Medical Therapies team based at St Peter's hospital. This is a new, static post that has been created from recent remodelling.



The Medical Therapy Team covers the Senior Adult Medical wards, the medical short stay wards and specialist Liver and Gastro ward. The post requires clinical knowledge and experience in the management of unwell patients with acute and chronic problems. The caseload is varied and complex and will give you the opportunity to broaden your rehabilitation skills, reduce hospital acquired deconditioning and enhance discharge planning.



The successful candidate would work closely with other Occupational therapists, physiotherapists and therapy technicians within the team. The role offers the opportunity to work with varied MDT professionals allowing you to refine your clinical skills and development of self and focus on developing others and your specialist skills. There is an established formal supervision and appraisal process as well as robust in-house training. The therapies department embraces development of our own staff to progress their career within the department.



Applications are welcome from experienced Band 5's as well as current Band 6's.



The trust is moving towards 7 day working and this post will be expected to participate in providing the Occupational therapy service across 7 days, including extended hours and weekend working.



Please note interviews will be in person.



Working as a static Occupational Therapist at Band 6 level in a range of clinical areas within General and Specialist Medicine Services

To undertake advanced assessments, clinical diagnosis, treatment and safe discharge planning of patients with acute and sub-acute conditions; these may include complex and or chronic presentations. Trans-disciplinary working will be required in some areas.



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



To take a role in supervision and teaching of, occupational therapists, therapy support staff 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



The trust is moving towards 7 day working and this post will be expected to participate in providing the Occupational therapy service across 7 days, including extended hours and weekend working



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



Please read the attached job description and person specification for full description of the role.



Clinical and technical



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



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



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



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 be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of professional activities working within codes of practice and professional guidelines.



To be responsible as an autonomous practitioner, and to undertake a significant, specialist caseload



To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients to progress rehabilitation and 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 keep up to date with developments, analysing current research and discussing and implementing changes to your clinical practice.



To undertake clinical reasoning and problem patient sessions as facilitator and participant.



Leadership and Managerial



To be responsible for and actively record your own personal development. This may include active participation in journal clubs, quality governance meetings and internal / external training.



To participate in the appraisal as appraisee and appraiser.



To participate in the professional development and training of occupational therapists and other members of the team as a recipient and facilitator.



To be responsible for the supervision of Band 5 Occupational therapists on rotation, Students and support staff.



To support the band 7 team leaders with the appraisals of the Band 5 Occupational therapists on rotation and support staff.



To take a leadership role for the therapists in the team in the absence of a B7 in order to prioritise the work.



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 undertake and present relevant evidence-based projects.



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 actively involved in special interest groups to share and disseminate knowledge to colleagues.



Communications and engagement



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



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



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 a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patient 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 (Royal College of Occupational Therapy), Trust and service standards and policies. To ensure that records of directly managed staff also comply with these standards.