Primary Care Occupational Therapist

Job responsibilities

Experience

Experience of assessing and providing occupational therapy interventions in a community/similar setting and managing risks in this environment.

Experience of outcome-based service delivery to ensure quality of life and value for money. Ability to assess interventions and plan future interventions by understanding the needs of the population (in particular the social determinants of health) and prioritising them.

This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post-holder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post-holder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

Job Purpose

• To be responsible for the day-to-day co-ordination and management of own occupational therapy caseload within SAPA5 Primary Care Network (PCN). The post-holder will undertake a complex, multi-functional role, combining managerial, clinical and professional duties and responsibilities.
• To undertake identified clinical duties and hold a role for a wide-ranging patient group within general practice. This will include people with multiple conditions and complex social needs.
• To work in a specialised autonomous capacity, to develop the scope of the role, with the aim of improving outcomes for individuals and reducing demand on General Practice. This will include identifying appropriate patient cohorts for intervention, carrying out the intervention and evaluating the outcomes for patients and the practices.
• Accountable for the delivery of high-quality therapy care across a primary care network.
• Develop and contribute to clinical leadership to develop staff from a variety of non-professional backgrounds within the remit.
• Contribute to evaluation and development of clinical practice within the primary care ensuring compliance with national and local guidelines and frameworks.
• Contribute to developing the evidence base for practice through audit, clinical effectiveness and research activity and evaluation of OT service.
• Assist and support clinical staff across the 6 GP practices.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Clinical Practice as a Specialist / Highly Specialist (dependent on experience and banding) Autonomous Professional

• Carry a clinical caseload including complex cases requiring advanced clinical reasoning and (highly) specialist therapy, planning and prioritising own work.
• Delegate clinical duties to clinical and support staff and ensure they have appropriate knowledge, understanding and competence. Provide training and supervision for the task if required.
• Gather, analyse and evaluate information to identify problems in partnership with the patient, carer and colleagues.
• Select and use appropriate assessment techniques. Make clinical diagnosis and apply clinical reasoning.
• Negotiate, agree expectations and set appropriate, realistic and individualised therapy goals in partnership with the patient, carer and colleagues.
• Plan, implement, and evaluate occupational therapy intervention plans, which address why patients, groups and communities are not able to engage in occupations that have health benefits, and which aim to increase patients’ occupational performance and engagement
• Empower patients, families, and groups to self-manage through shared decision making, health coaching or motivational interviewing, solving complex problems in innovative ways using occupation and outcomes-focused goals.
• Enable and advise patients, and their families or carers, about how to engage in occupations that promote physical, psychological, and emotional health including organisations and/or equipment that can help with reduced functional ability for daily activities
• Apply learning from post-registration courses to provide highly specialised therapy interventions.
• Refer to other agencies.
• Assist ill or dependant patients during therapy by responding to medical emergencies, use appropriate equipment for manual handling and personal care.
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Communicate complex, sensitive, distressing and contentious information effectively with patients, carers, and staff in the multi-disciplinary team and other agencies.
• Participate in, organize and lead multidisciplinary case review meetings to discuss progress and to plan treatment and safe discharge.
• Complete assessment forms; write comprehensive patient treatment records on System One or EMIS.

Staff Management and Education

• Contribute to the day-to-day co-ordination and organisation of Occupational Therapy within the PCN.
• Ensure compliance with local and national guidelines and frameworks within service.
• Supervise, teach, develop and assess undergraduate or post graduate students on placement.
• Develop and educate staff within limits of competence.
• Produce personalised educational materials for patients and carers incorporating their views and opinions into the design.
• Provide (highly) specialist professional advice to therapy colleagues, to other professions and to other organisations on request.

Communication

• Communicate with the clinical team and partnership organisations in a sensitive professional manner using a positive approach to problem solve complex issues / challenges.
• Develop collaborative interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and cross organisational working relationships.
• Liaise with a professional network about potential changes to clinical practice.
• Develop relationships with professional colleagues locally, regionally and nationally if required to develop clinical pathways relevant to clinical speciality.
• Communicate effectively and accurately in written and electronic media to convey information in a clear and concise manner.
• Promote an understanding of the profession and contribute to the sharing of learning across professional and organisational boundaries.

Evaluation and Development of Clinical Practice

• Contribute to a clinical network, co-ordinating, integrating and improving care pathways and processes across teams, professions and/or sites.
• Facilitate clinical audit, service evaluation and/or research.
• Facilitate a culture of continuous innovation and improvement within the network.
• Identify, implement and evaluate clinical outcomes that measure efficiency and effectiveness.
• Collect user feedback to drive changes in care.
• Reflect on own practice and compare with peers in other primary care roles and participate in national professional networks to develop best practice.
• Participate in and put into practice evidence based learning.

Governance

• Complete risk assessments of therapy practice, contribute to writing clinical protocols and adhere to the principles of safe systems of work.
• Complete incident reflection form of untoward incidents and near misses, informing line manager and ensuring the appropriate action is implemented and learning is shared in a timely manner.
• Provide evidence for governance inspections.
• Advise line manager of any concerns about clinical practice within SAPA5.

Operational Management

• Support the GP practices in operational roles and functions.
• Provide competent cover for absent colleagues where clinically appropriate.
• Record statistics and provide information as requested.
• Assist in the planning and provision of induction, mentoring and essential training is provided for new staff and students.
• Set relevant team and service objectives with line manager.
• Complete work within agreed timescales.
• Contribute to staff meetings, team meetings and professional groups to remain informed and to influence policy.
• Comply with PCN standards, policies, protocols and procedures.

Personal Development

• Maintain up-to-date (highly) specialist knowledge, understanding and competency in therapy practice.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the best available evidence for practice for the speciality.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge and understanding of health service practice.
• Continue personal and professional development as agreed with the lead therapist during appraisal and supervision.
• Work towards Health Education England First Contact Practitioner Competency

Working Relationships

Maintain good working relationships with PCN GPs and other members of the extended primary healthcare team in particular the personalised care team.

Develop and maintain good working relationships with community services, the voluntary sector, mental health and secondary care where appropriate.

Personal Characteristics

Essential

• Capacity to embrace change and be proactive in the context of a new service that you will be key in developing.
• Calm and confident with people who are in distress.
• Reflective and considered approach to problem solving.
• Ability to demonstrate an understanding of and display positive behaviours in relation to, equality and inclusion. Shows evidence of being a good role model to other team members
• Ability to deal with challenge and complaints in an open diplomatic and sensitive manner Demonstrates excellent leadership skills (assertiveness, ability to challenge constructively, persistent, persuasive and honest and reliable and shows good judgement).
• Ability to find way round the PCN area efficiently. Car owner/driver or suitable alternative transport to enable you to undertake the job. Reasonable adjustments can be considered in accordance to the Equality Act.
• Ability to risk assess and deal with health and safety matters for own and others work area and caseloads.

Qualifications

Essential

• BSc or Pre reg MSc in Occupational Therapy
• Masters level module in relevant subject for band 7
• Post registration training relevant to the role
• Registered with HCPC

Experience

Essential

• Experience of assessing and providing Occupational Therapy interventions in a community/similar setting and managing risks in this environment.
• Experience of outcome-based service delivery to ensure quality of life and value for money. Ability to assess interventions and plan future interventions by understanding the needs of the population (in particular the social determinants of health) and prioritising them.
• Experience of working autonomously with people with chronic mental health difficulties; providing person centred, recovery focused, trauma informed care; collaborative care planning/goal setting; assessing risk associated with mental ill health.
• Experience of working with people who have multi-morbidity, chronic pain, learning disability or dementia.

Competencies

Essential

• Expert assessment and problems solving skills
• High level skills to consult, liaise and negotiate with service users, carers/family members, other professionals and the wider community.
• Ability to develop a leadership role in the clinical and organisational work of the multi-disciplinary personalised care team. This team will continue to expand and develop over the next few years. It currently comprises OT, social prescribing link workers, care coordinator and health coaches.
• Ability to engage and deliver change through negotiation and team working
• A commitment to the delivery of services that is responsive to service users culture, gender, age and their families and/or carers.
• Ability to participate in innovation, service improvement and research activities
• Ability to impart a commitment to the delivery of service user responsive services throughout the clinical team.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly skilled in prioritising team and own work, especially whilst working with competing priorities.
• Working across six practices, and with a remit that will expand over time into new areas, the ability to evaluate current work and prioritise and plan areas of future work in collaboration with supervisor by assessing the needs of the population is vital.
• Ability to act decisively in unplanned, unexpected or unpredictable clinical situations involving complex clinical needs and/or risk.
• Demonstrate ability to act on own initiative.
• Is proficient in the use of IT and organisational IT systems

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of a range of supervision models and techniques
• High level knowledge of clinical assessment tools and techniques.
• Evidence-based practice and its application within mental health occupational therapy practice
• Understanding of the social determinants of health
• Expert level and up to date knowledge of risk factors.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).