Job Description

Rotational Occupational Therapist, Band 6



The vacancy is for an experienced Occupational Therapist to join a mixed rotation at Whittington Health. Previous experience of working in the acute setting is desirable and prior experience/a working knowledge of the UK healthcare system.



The successful candidate will have excellent communication, be organised and ready to face the challenge of working in a fast paced environment.

The rotations available are:

Acute General Medicine



Care of Older People/Neurology



Rapid assessment and Early Discharge



Orthopaedics



Hand Therapy



Community Rehabilitation



If you are an existing Band 5 looking to develop as a senior therapist then this is an excellent opportunity to develop in a well supported setting. We are a friendly and supportive team. We offer access to in house training opportunities, and external training to promote your learning and skill development.

The post holder will:

Undertake Occupational Therapy assessment of patients with often complex physical, psychological and social presentations. With advanced clinical reasoning skills provide a treatment plan and deliver appropriate interventions .



Be responsible for managing own caseload and in some cases work without direct supervision.



Supervise Band 5 rotational staff, students and support staff and provide therapy related information advice to other health care professionals in the specific clinical area.



Undertake activities which contribute to own continuing professional development which may include, audit, evidence based learning and quality improvement projects to further own and teams clinical practice.



On occasion, lead on the implementation of specific changes to practice or contribute to development of service protocols.



Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.



MAIN DUTIES



At all times to be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work.



Clinical



Work as an autonomous practitioner, to assess and treat own caseload of patients, including those with complex presentations. In each rotation treatment decisions will be underpinned by specialist knowledge gained from post graduate study of evidence based treatments and from previous experience.



To quickly and accurately screen, establish priority for patient referrals for Occupational Therapy intervention some of which maybe complex and require a multi-disciplinary approach.



To carry out an assessment of patients, including those with complex presentations. Draw on a wide range of information sources and use clinical reasoning skills to determine an accurate diagnosis. To identify an appropriate Occupational Therapy care plan from treatment options available.



To formulate and deliver occupational therapy treatment programmes in a variety of settings. Settings include: hospital, community, and patients' home, home visits, as part of a team and as a sole practitioner.



To work collaboratively to prevent inappropriate hospital admissions and to facilitate hospital discharge in order to minimize hospital stays.



To develop comprehensive discharge plans in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team members.



To make recommendations to support a patients discharge including care support and rehabilitation opportunities.



Undertake referrals to internal and external services when deemed appropriate/of benefit to the support or progression of the patient. e.g. community rehabilitation, social services, voluntary agencies



To have the ability, knowledge and skills required for moving and handling people in community environments.



To be physically able to install specialist occupational therapy equipment in client homes applying safe manual handling at all times, especially when doing so in restricted spaces



To work with patients and their carers when appropriate in such a way as to promote their self-management strategies.



To represent the service at multi-disciplinary team meetings. This will include discussion of patient care, progress and involvement in discharge planning and continued rehabilitation needs.



To keep accurate treatment records, which fulfill legal and statistical requirements and which are in accordance with HCPC/CSP/Trust/departmental standards.



To provide comprehensive progress and discharge reports to relevant personnel to inform on action taken or actions required



Demonstrate the ability to seek guidance and support when needed or when treatment required is not within scope of professional knowledge or skill.



To manage clinical risk within own patient caseload at all times.



To work flexibly in order to provide cover to other clinical areas when required.



2 Communication



To gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.



To be able to motivate and persuade others through effective communication skills, with the benefit of verbal and non-verbal skills, for example, patients with communication difficulties, hearing or sight impairments, memory loss, mental illness or those who may be unable to accept their diagnosis.



To be able to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff members when required accepting that there may be barriers to communication i.e. non-English speaking patients, use of interpreters, excess noise or lack of privacy.



To communicate effectively providing and receiving complex information in relation to patients care including but not limited to liaising with:



Other members of the Multi-disciplinary team (Consultants, General Practitioners, medical staff, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language therapists, Dietitians, Social Workers etc) to develop and agree management programmes for the patients in your care adopting and developing effective interpersonal skills to ensure comprehensive management.



Relatives or carers to gain the best possible understanding of each patient and give suitable guidance and support



And to arrange and participate in case conferences with patients who have complex physical, psychological and social presentations.



To produce written, electronic and verbal reports for the MDT other Health or Social care providers and be able to convey this to the patient in an accessible and meaningful manner using the correct terminology, often in the face of communication barriers.



To build a network of professional contacts across a range of professions in various settings such as community services, social services and other acute hospitals.



To attend Therapy staff meetings and other meetings when necessary.



3 Education and Training



Maintain and develop current knowledge of evidence-based practice, developing specialist knowledge of particular conditions and patient types.



To contribute to the education of multidisciplinary groups, patients, families and carers as appropriate.



To, be actively involved in induction and education of new staff, rotating staff and students.



To be responsible for and actively record own professional development and maintain a CPD portfolio which reflects the same.



To be pro-active in organizing, teaching and actively participating in the in-service and post-registration education programme within every clinical area. Attendance of other outside courses/lectures is encouraged.



To ensure yearly attendance/participation in Mandatory training requirements.



See Job description and Personal specification full details