Occupational Therapist

Job responsibilities

Job Title: Occupational Therapist

Location: To be based across sites

Salary: £29,761 £37,689 per annum (DOE)

Hours: 37.5 hours Mon-Fri

Job Type: Permanent

Job Summary

To contribute to the maintenance and development of the Occupational Therapy department for service users in a complex care rehabilitation setting. To provide assessment and treatment of occupational needs, under the supervision of a more senior Occupational Therapist whilst working as an integrated member of the multi-disciplinary team. To promote enabling service users to achieve their aspirations through understanding and implementing the mission, vision and values of the organisation.

Principle Responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible for the following:

Professional Practice:

Complete the occupational therapy process with indirect supervision but to seek direct support where required.

To hold a caseload and maintain occupation at the centre of practice through using effective clinical decision-making and clinical skills in order to assess, treat and evaluate care that meets the service users needs in a timely manner.

Complete full and holistic assessments of service users occupational performance including areas of self-care, productivity and leisure.

Facilitate a range of group and individual interventions to meet the needs and therapeutic goals of service users within the unit and local community. These interventions may also be delivered across other aspects of the service.

Implement practices that promote participation, inclusivity and the rights of people who access occupational therapy services, their families and their carers, in line with their choices.

Exercise professional judgement to manage risk, including positive risk-taking.

Ensure service users, carers and colleagues as appropriate receive education, advice and support, within the professional remit of Occupational Therapy.

Complete all necessary clinical documentation in accordance with relevant organisational policy and professional standards, thus contributing to effective communication i.e. clinical notes, care plans, care plan evaluations, MDT summaries, CPA reports.

Facilitation of Learning:

Reflect on own practice and be proactive with continuous professional development.

To record relevant continuing professional development to identify the impact and benefit of your learning for yourself and those accessing your services.

Consolidate own knowledge, skills and attitudes and identify learning needs of self and others, through proactive participation in regular professional supervision/annual appraisal and reflective practice.

To work towards/support/offer practice education placements for Occupational Therapy students.

To contribute to the development and evaluation of educational resources for students, service users, staff etc.

Contribute and participate in professional networks to promote development, exchange of knowledge, skills and resources.

Promote the role and value of Occupational Therapy within Options for Care in order to support and inspire people to teach and learn about the value of occupations for health and wellbeing.

Encourage learning by appropriately challenging complacency, actions and ways of thinking that may not be in the best interests of service users.

Leadership:

Be responsible and support with the supervision of the Occupational Therapy Assistant and/or Activity Worker, ensuring compliance with company policies and procedures, and reporting any relevant issues to the Clinical Lead OT, including sickness and time management.

To support in the induction process of new staff within the occupational therapy department.

To ensure safety, compliance and quality is maintained through adherence to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and the HCPC standards of proficiency.

Work in accordance with legislation and organisational guidelines regarding the Mental Health Act (1983), Mental Capacity Act (2005) and Care Programme Approach.

Manage a designated workload autonomously under the supervision of a more experienced Occupational Therapist; identify priorities, and manage time and resources effectively, within changing and complex environments.

Contribute to reviewing and developing services as part of a team, and evaluate the effect and outcomes of change, recognising and influencing a change in culture where needed.

Use a range of communication styles and, where necessary, adapt professional language to influence, advocate for and promote occupational therapy to different audiences within and beyond the profession.

Evidence, Research and Development:

To deliver an evidence based and occupational focussed service with recognised measurable outcomes in order to demonstrate the value and impact of occupational therapy.

Acknowledge and respond where appropriate to service users feedback regarding the service in order to develop practice. To co-design and co-produce aspects of service development with service users and the support of more experienced colleagues.

Take part in pre-designed audit, quality improvement and service evaluation projects.

Contribute to the collection of data for audit purposes as required.

Develop and maintain professional links within the area specialism of complex care rehabilitation in order to develop and implement best practice, e.g. peer reviews, conferences, RCOT specialist section.

Keep records of statistical information regarding service user contacts and ensure this is provided to the Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist.

Additional responsibilities:

To maintain registration with the Health Care Professions Council as an Occupational Therapist.

Promote, develop and maintain collaborative working relationships with Options for Care colleagues and outside agencies.

Contribute to the care of equipment and maintenance of stock.

Ensure resources are available to deliver planned therapeutic activities.

Partake in daily departmental and service routine procedures such as therapeutic kitchen management etc. and any other duties deemed appropriate to the role.

Participate in relevant clinical, team, professional and service meetings, to contribute to quality care for service users. Work as a member of the MDT and to utilise skills of other MDT members.

Ensure effective communication with other members of the clinical team and external agencies. This will include discharge planning.

Attend statutory and mandatory training as necessary as specified by Options for Care Ltd.

To support in providing occupational therapy cover across the Options for Care sites as and when deemed necessary, as a means to sustain service provision for the benefit of service users within our care.

Approach and Values

Essential

• Respect and understand the need for confidentiality
• Self motivated, adaptable and flexible with a conscientious approach to work
• A level of empathy for people with mental health problems and appreciation of their right
• Flexible across hours of work when required
• Able to identify individuals potential
• Must be able to work innovatively

Skills

Essential

• Communication/Relationship skills:
• Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate with tact and diplomacy to all relevant professionals, patients, relatives and carers.
• Excellent team working skills
• Willing to participate in the education of others i.e. nurse and OT students
• Planning & Organisational skills:
• The ability to prioritise work to meet legal and local deadlines.
• Ability to work alone and a committed team member and prioritise own workload.
• Ability to work alongside junior and new members of staff, allocating tasks as appropriate and playing a supportive role in their knowledge, skills and development IT skills:
• Use of computer based systems and programmes Microsoft Word, email. Physical skills:
• Accurate data entry and high quality typing and report writing skills.
• Commitment to accuracy must have an eye for detail
• Mental Effort:
• Ability to be able to concentrate on specific activities
• Ability to be able to deal with conflicting demands
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Emotional Effort:
• Ability to deal with distressing or emotional circumstances.

Qualifications

Essential

• BSc hons in Occupational Therapy or a Diploma in Occupational Therapy
• Registration with HCPC

Desirable

• Food Safety Level 2
• Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapists

Experience

Essential

• Sound theoretical knowledge of OT
• Awareness of the importance of group work and a range of interventions
• Awareness of current issues and legislation relevant to Mental Health
• Ability to use assessment and OT process
• Able to demonstrate use of OT interventions relevant to inpatient rehabilitation group and individual work
• Ability to use reflective practice
• Awareness of risk assessment and risk management

Desirable

• 6 months experience working in mental health
• Experience working in inpatient rehabilitation and recovery settings

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).