Specialty Occupational Therapist - (Vascular and Emergency Surgery)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

1. To undertake the role adhering to regulatory, professional and organisational standards of practice.

2. To undertake assessment, therapeutic intervention and management of patients, including those with highly complex presentations, deploying sound clinical reasoning and skills within the scope of the role.

3. To work with patients, their carers, and members of the MDT to form appropriate care and treatment plans utilising specialist treatment skills, knowledge of evidence-base and a variety of treatment options.

4. To assimilate and analyse a range of information to form accurate therapy diagnoses, clinical problems and treatment plans in a wide range of highly complex conditions.

5. To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best course of intervention, developing and implementing comprehensive treatment and discharge plans.

6. To evaluate and reassess patients to progress their treatment and management plans effectively.

7. To assess a patient's capacity to understand and to gain valid, informed consent for treatment. To work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent or refuse treatment.

8. To advise and educate patient, carers, relatives, and other health professionals.

9. To demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff, where there may be barriers to communication e.g. non-English speaking patients; those with communication disorders, impaired speech, hearing, and ensure all members of the team do likewise.

10. To liaise with and advise other Occupational Therapists, physiotherapists, relevant medical and nursing staff, social workers and other health care professionals in clinical and operational matters.

11. To communicate effectively with all other disciplines involved in the patient's care both in the hospital and in the community thus ensuring a multidisciplinary approach and integrated service.

12. To identify, assess and manage clinical risk within the teams work and engage with the governance structure of the department to minimise risk of harm.

13. To participate in weekend duties as part of the Trusts seven day working programme if funding is released.

14. To demonstrate physical ability to carry out Occupational therapy assessment and interventions including manual therapy techniques and therapeutic handling.

Management

1. To effectively supervise, teach and appraise junior staff, assistants, and students to maximise their capabilities.

2. To be responsible for the daily operations of the VES team supporting the B7 Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist Team leads ensuring that the service is delivered against its specification and staff are supported in this endeavour.

3. To support the effective management of financial and physical resources in a way that is efficient and maximises utilisation of the Therapy department budget.

4. To be responsible for competent use and maintenance reporting of equipment used as part of the role and to ensure that all staff/students and assistants attain competency prior to use.

5. To effectively plan, organise and manage your own time, patient caseload, meetings, training in accordance with operational and workforce pressures.

6. To be able to respond to unpredictable demands on your time and frequent interruptions whilst maintaining professionalism.

7. To assist in the planning of juniors, students and assistants timetables and deputise for the senior staff in organisational duties.

8. To take an active role in assisting senior colleagues with service development.

9. To contribute to the recruitment of staff, including short-listing of applicants and being a member of the interview panel.

10. To resolve informal complaints and to be well versed with the Trusts formal complaints procedure. To ensure that the Clinical Lead Therapist is informed of complaints.

11. To support the Clinical Lead Therapist, when indicated, in the management of staff disciplinary matters.

Education

1. To complete all statutory, mandatory and other necessary training requirements within the required timescales.

2. To contribute to the education of the MDT, patients, families and carers to ensure optimal care, treatment, health promotion and disease prevention.

3. To maintain an accurate and contemporary record of personal and professional development.

4. To oversee the design and delivery of an effective and clinically relevant training programme to support staff development.

5. To attend and actively participate in departmental education and development activities.

6. To maintain and develop current knowledge of evidence-based practice particularly in emergency surgery and gastroenterology with an overview of developments within vascular care ensuring specialist within the team are equipped to develop services.

7. To provide expert teaching to undergraduate and post graduate students external to the Trust as required and agreed with the Clinical Lead Therapist.

8. To initiate and maintain contacts with local and national clinical interest groups, and to demonstrate the ability to share and disseminate knowledge with colleagues working in other care settings.

Research and governance:

1. To lead and supervise clinical audit and quality improvement work aiming to improve the quality of the teams practice.

2. To maintain clinically applied knowledge formed from contemporary science and evidence-based guidance and ensure this is integrated into the teams clinical delivery by way of policy and procedure.

3. To lead the teams governance arrangements ensuring that the team operates on the basis of openness and a just culture.

4. Represent the team at governance meetings held within the clinical group.

5. To engage with senior AHP, nursing and medical leads in order to actively participate in clinical governance at a unit and specialty level.

6. To develop local service standards based on good working knowledge of National Standards where they exist and on best evidence.

7. To ensure these standards are adhered to and monitored by all members of the team.

General:

1. To carry out Occupational therapy assessments and treatments on a daily basis, with moderate physical effort.

2. To comply with the Trusts manual handling policy and local therapeutic handling guidelines.

3. To work in an environment where the work patterns may be disrupted by frequent demands from patients, clinical staff, students and administrative support staff.

4. To support qualified staff when indicated in the management of challenging patients.

5. To sensitively deal with distressing or emotional circumstances regarding patient care e.g. imparting news of challenging outcomes such as a life limiting or palliative prognosis, lifestyle adjustments (TPN/PEG feeds, long term drains/stomas) or chronic pain management.

6. To deal with patients suffering from debilitating acute conditions (e.g., necrotising pancreatitis) that may lead to disengagement, anxiety or aggressive behaviour.

7. To comply with all Trust policies and procedures and Health and Safety at Work Act, including adherence to universal precautions and infection control measures, and ensure that staff within the team are aware of their responsibilities.

8. To participate in the Trust Appraisal Scheme as an appraiser and an appraisee.

9. To attend and be an active participant in departmental staff and peer group meetings.

This job involves frequent exposure to unpleasant working conditions on a regular / daily basis e.g. bodily fluids (including sputum, blood, vomit, urine, faeces), and occasional exposure to verbal and physical aggression.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• oDegree in Occupational Therapy
• oHealth and care professions council registration
• oEvidence of postgraduate continuing professional development in surgery

Experience

Essential

• oPrevious experience of effectively managing surgical patients with complex comorbidities and high acuity including cognitive impairments.
• oBroad range of junior experience across surgery, orthopaedics, gerontology and neurology specialties.
• oExperience of working as part of an Occupational Therapy and multidisciplinary team

Skills, knowledge & abilities

Essential

• oAdvanced clinical knowledge and reasoning skills in emergency surgery and gastroenterology, the management of patients post ICU.
• oAdvanced understanding of complex socioeconomic needs within the patient group, ability to assess risk and frailty.
• oInvolvement in leading teams, setting culture and bringing direction.
• oEffective people mentoring and development skills.
• oUnderstands and applies the principles of equality, inclusivity and diversity to all aspects of leadership and clinical practice.
• oExcellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• oProven organisational skills, including prioritisation and delegation
• oAbility to work within a stressful and unpredictable environment
• oCompetent digital IT skills
• oAwareness and an ability to enact the Trust values.
• oUnderstands and applies principles of good clinical governance to prevent harm.
• oAble to devise evidence-based pathways and quality improvement programmes.
• oAble to support research and development across the team.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• oUnderstands constituents of effective team performance
• oPositive and growth mindset
• oHigh reliability
• oGood communicator
• oEmpathetic
• oSupportive of others
• oAble to carry out moderate physical effort throughout the working day and carry out concurrent activities.
• oAbility to comprehend and work within the Trust's policies of data protection, equal opportunities and Health and Safety.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

John Radcliffe Hospital

Headley Way

Headington, Oxford

OX3 9DU

Employer's website

https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)