Children's Occupational Therapist

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust

Information:

This job is now closed

Job summary

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, motivated children's Occupational Therapist with leadership qualities who is also an excellent communicator.

Your role will require the ability to balance clinical priorities alongside supporting the Team Leader with the running of the team. In addition you will actively play a part in the development of the service. You will have a mixed caseload at advanced practitioner level. This will involve working at your clinic base, local special schools, a child's home, mainstream schools and local pre-school settings. Children seen will have a range of disabilities and developmental delays aged between 0-19 years old. You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Our service is a fully integrated OT service combining health and social care roles.

As the occupational therapist for the child and their family, there may be times when you will work alongside our own specialist housing team. Our housing team will take forward any major adaptation work to ensure the family receives this specialist input. Meantime you will continue working with the child and family on agreed goals, as clinically indicated. This enables a seamless service to the children and families we are supporting.

There may be occasions when your specialist knowledge is required to contribute to SEN Tribunals.

You will have the opportunity to supervise and line-manage junior members of the team.

Main duties of the job

To provide an integrated Occupational Therapy service to children and young people and their families, this will involve crossing traditional health and social care boundaries and promoting close, effective working relationships with Cambridgeshire County Council, the local authority and schools. You will be responsible for your own caseload and in a supervisory capacity for that of junior staff /students working within your team.

You will be part of an effective, innovative and successful team, recognised for outstanding care

There is a strong commitment from Cambridgeshire Community Services for continued professional development for all members of staff.

About us

Rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.

There's one reason why our services are outstanding - and that's our amazing staff - who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.

If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.

Date posted

15 June 2022

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£40,057 to £45,839 a year per annum, pro-rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

448-CCYP-4289231

Job locations

Peacock Centre

351 Mill Road

Cambridge

CB1 3DF


Job description

Job responsibilities

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Children and Young Peoples Services: provided in partnership by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Job Purpose:

  1. To provide an integrated Occupational Therapy service to children and young people and their families, this will involve crossing traditional health and social care boundaries and promoting close, effective working relationships with Cambridgeshire County Council, the local authority and schools. You will be responsible for your own caseload and in a supervisory capacity for that of junior staff/students working within your team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Nature of work

  1. To act as a whole service specialist advisor and resource in an area of expertise and how this relates to function and participation.
  2. To provide highly specialised paediatric occupational therapy assessment and treatment for children.
  3. To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner, holding responsibility for their own caseload and working without direct supervision.
  4. To assess and prescribe specialist equipment for home and school to support function and participation (e.g. positioning, beds, toilet and bathing, hoists and slings, safety) and link with the housing specialists within the service to ensure a fully integrated service.
  5. To formulate and deliver an individual occupational therapy programme based on a sound knowledge of evidence based practice and treatment approaches using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment modalities available, e.g. CO-OP approach, COPM, neurodevelopmental therapy, sensory integration therapy (in line with strongest evidence) and other alternatives.
  6. To complete assessments to inform the SEN tribunal process.
  7. Where appropriate, to act as a key worker for children on their caseload, ensuring that there is effective communication between all members of the team and that a coordinated approach is in pla
  8. To appropriately delegate work/tasks to therapy assistants, maintaining oversight of their input with children and young people.
  9. To deliver training/lecturing programmes with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to teachers and learning support assistants in schools and parents/carers.
  10. The nature of childrens practice will require the post holder to bend, stretch, lift childrens limbs, crawl, kneel, work in confined spaces and at times work from the floor employing light physical effort on a day to day basis.

Planning

  1. To plan their own diary and prioritise their caseload.
  2. To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of the children and young peoples Occupational Therapy service.

Specific projects

  1. To hold responsibility for defined, delegated projects.
  2. To liaise with Team Leaders to ensure that all children referred into the occupational therapy service receive an equitable service.

Communication

  1. To provide excellent communication with Children and Young People, Parents, carers, schools, local education authority, social services, acute hospitals, paediatricians, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, pre-school teachers, psychologists (clinical and educational) and child and family nurses.
  2. To communicate effectively with all these agencies appropriately, often information handled will be sensitive and highly complex.
  3. Occasionally children are seen with extremely sensitive rare and complex medical conditions this requires communication at a high level with specialist doctors and national centres of excellence.
  4. To provide clear, concise written reports for other agencies for statutory processes to meet legal requirements, e.g. Education, Health and Care Plan, Tribunal cases.
  5. To investigate and manage concerns, incidents and complaints recognising limitations and referring to Team Leaders/Clinical Lead, where appropriate..
  6. Contribute to CCS internal communication strategies ensuring effective two-way communication and engagement within the organisation
  7. Contribute to CCS external communication strategies working with the Head of Communications to raise awareness and promote the reputation of CCS services

Human Resources

  1. To line manage and supervise junior Occupational Therapists (alongside the team leader Occupational Therapist) this includes clinical supervision, professional leadership, annual appraisal and completion of personal development plans.
  2. To support junior staff with caseload management
  3. To support the Clinical Lead in the recruitment of Occupational Therapists.
  4. To train educational assistants to support the childs goals in the educational setting.

Research & Development Activity

  1. To maintain own professional development and requirement to take part in appraisal and KSF process
  2. To undertake evidence based audit and research projects to further own and teams clinical practice. Make recommendations to the clinical lead of the service for changes to practise by the team. May lead the implementation of specific changes to practise or contribute to service protocols.
  3. To undertake the measurement and evaluation of her work and current practices through the use of evidence based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with lead practitioner. To work with the clinical lead to change the service protocol in line with results.

Clinical and Practice Governance

  1. Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
  2. Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, faxed or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
  3. The post holder must adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes
  4. The post holder must adhere to infection control policies and procedures
  5. It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with HCPC and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration.
  6. Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.
  7. The post holder must participate in clinical and other audits as required
  8. Provide patients and their families /carers with information on standards they should expect from the team
  9. Participate in clinical supervision on a regular basis
  10. The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness process for their team.

General

The post holder must at all times carry out his/her duties with regard to Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust Equal Opportunities Policy.

To be aware of the responsibilities of all employees to maintain a safe and healthy environment for patients, visitors and staff.

All post holders must adhere to the code of conduct on confidentiality and be aware of and adhere to all Trust policies and procedures.

This job description is intended only as a guide to the range of duties involved. The post holder will need to be flexible and adaptable in order to respond to other duties that may be required from time to time and the changes and developments within the Trust.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Children and Young Peoples Services: provided in partnership by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Job Purpose:

  1. To provide an integrated Occupational Therapy service to children and young people and their families, this will involve crossing traditional health and social care boundaries and promoting close, effective working relationships with Cambridgeshire County Council, the local authority and schools. You will be responsible for your own caseload and in a supervisory capacity for that of junior staff/students working within your team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Nature of work

  1. To act as a whole service specialist advisor and resource in an area of expertise and how this relates to function and participation.
  2. To provide highly specialised paediatric occupational therapy assessment and treatment for children.
  3. To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner, holding responsibility for their own caseload and working without direct supervision.
  4. To assess and prescribe specialist equipment for home and school to support function and participation (e.g. positioning, beds, toilet and bathing, hoists and slings, safety) and link with the housing specialists within the service to ensure a fully integrated service.
  5. To formulate and deliver an individual occupational therapy programme based on a sound knowledge of evidence based practice and treatment approaches using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment modalities available, e.g. CO-OP approach, COPM, neurodevelopmental therapy, sensory integration therapy (in line with strongest evidence) and other alternatives.
  6. To complete assessments to inform the SEN tribunal process.
  7. Where appropriate, to act as a key worker for children on their caseload, ensuring that there is effective communication between all members of the team and that a coordinated approach is in pla
  8. To appropriately delegate work/tasks to therapy assistants, maintaining oversight of their input with children and young people.
  9. To deliver training/lecturing programmes with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to teachers and learning support assistants in schools and parents/carers.
  10. The nature of childrens practice will require the post holder to bend, stretch, lift childrens limbs, crawl, kneel, work in confined spaces and at times work from the floor employing light physical effort on a day to day basis.

Planning

  1. To plan their own diary and prioritise their caseload.
  2. To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of the children and young peoples Occupational Therapy service.

Specific projects

  1. To hold responsibility for defined, delegated projects.
  2. To liaise with Team Leaders to ensure that all children referred into the occupational therapy service receive an equitable service.

Communication

  1. To provide excellent communication with Children and Young People, Parents, carers, schools, local education authority, social services, acute hospitals, paediatricians, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, pre-school teachers, psychologists (clinical and educational) and child and family nurses.
  2. To communicate effectively with all these agencies appropriately, often information handled will be sensitive and highly complex.
  3. Occasionally children are seen with extremely sensitive rare and complex medical conditions this requires communication at a high level with specialist doctors and national centres of excellence.
  4. To provide clear, concise written reports for other agencies for statutory processes to meet legal requirements, e.g. Education, Health and Care Plan, Tribunal cases.
  5. To investigate and manage concerns, incidents and complaints recognising limitations and referring to Team Leaders/Clinical Lead, where appropriate..
  6. Contribute to CCS internal communication strategies ensuring effective two-way communication and engagement within the organisation
  7. Contribute to CCS external communication strategies working with the Head of Communications to raise awareness and promote the reputation of CCS services

Human Resources

  1. To line manage and supervise junior Occupational Therapists (alongside the team leader Occupational Therapist) this includes clinical supervision, professional leadership, annual appraisal and completion of personal development plans.
  2. To support junior staff with caseload management
  3. To support the Clinical Lead in the recruitment of Occupational Therapists.
  4. To train educational assistants to support the childs goals in the educational setting.

Research & Development Activity

  1. To maintain own professional development and requirement to take part in appraisal and KSF process
  2. To undertake evidence based audit and research projects to further own and teams clinical practice. Make recommendations to the clinical lead of the service for changes to practise by the team. May lead the implementation of specific changes to practise or contribute to service protocols.
  3. To undertake the measurement and evaluation of her work and current practices through the use of evidence based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with lead practitioner. To work with the clinical lead to change the service protocol in line with results.

Clinical and Practice Governance

  1. Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
  2. Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, faxed or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
  3. The post holder must adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes
  4. The post holder must adhere to infection control policies and procedures
  5. It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with HCPC and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration.
  6. Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.
  7. The post holder must participate in clinical and other audits as required
  8. Provide patients and their families /carers with information on standards they should expect from the team
  9. Participate in clinical supervision on a regular basis
  10. The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness process for their team.

General

The post holder must at all times carry out his/her duties with regard to Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust Equal Opportunities Policy.

To be aware of the responsibilities of all employees to maintain a safe and healthy environment for patients, visitors and staff.

All post holders must adhere to the code of conduct on confidentiality and be aware of and adhere to all Trust policies and procedures.

This job description is intended only as a guide to the range of duties involved. The post holder will need to be flexible and adaptable in order to respond to other duties that may be required from time to time and the changes and developments within the Trust.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential

  • Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy
  • Registration with HCPC
  • Post graduate training relevant to children's occupational therapy

Desirable

  • Sensory Integration training
  • Neuro disability training
  • Leadership courses

Experience

Essential

  • Experience working with families who are adjusting to disability issues
  • Experience of working in the community
  • Experience working in multi-disciplinary or multi agency teams
  • Experience working as band 6, children's OT
  • Experience managing junior staff/students

Desirable

  • Experience of working on highly complex cases in a multi-agency setting
  • Experience leading/participating in workshops/lecturing
  • Experience of service development/audit
  • Experience working in a special school
  • Experience of working within the SEN Tribunal processes.

Skills

Essential

  • Awareness of moving and handling legislation
  • Good communication skills, written and verbal
  • Ability to work as a team and independently
  • Good time management skills
  • Seeks and uses professional support appropriately
Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential

  • Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy
  • Registration with HCPC
  • Post graduate training relevant to children's occupational therapy

Desirable

  • Sensory Integration training
  • Neuro disability training
  • Leadership courses

Experience

Essential

  • Experience working with families who are adjusting to disability issues
  • Experience of working in the community
  • Experience working in multi-disciplinary or multi agency teams
  • Experience working as band 6, children's OT
  • Experience managing junior staff/students

Desirable

  • Experience of working on highly complex cases in a multi-agency setting
  • Experience leading/participating in workshops/lecturing
  • Experience of service development/audit
  • Experience working in a special school
  • Experience of working within the SEN Tribunal processes.

Skills

Essential

  • Awareness of moving and handling legislation
  • Good communication skills, written and verbal
  • Ability to work as a team and independently
  • Good time management skills
  • Seeks and uses professional support appropriately

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).

Additional information

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

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust

Address

Peacock Centre

351 Mill Road

Cambridge

CB1 3DF


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust

Address

Peacock Centre

351 Mill Road

Cambridge

CB1 3DF


Employer's website

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


For questions about the job, contact:

South Team Leader (Peacock Centre)

Liz Thrower

ethrower@nhs.net

07966250231

Date posted

15 June 2022

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£40,057 to £45,839 a year per annum, pro-rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

448-CCYP-4289231

Job locations

Peacock Centre

351 Mill Road

Cambridge

CB1 3DF


Supporting documents

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