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Job summary

Main area
Occupational Therapist
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Secondment: 6 months (End date: 10th May 2025)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
220-WHT-2804
Employer
Whittington Health NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Lordship Lane Primary Care Centre
Town
Wood Green
Salary
£42,939 - £50,697 per annum inclusive of HCAS
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
05/01/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Whittington Health NHS Trust logo

Band 6 Occupational Therapist

Band 6

Covid-19 Vaccination

Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support staff to get COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible.

Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.

For our current apprenticeship vacancies, please go to and use Keyword ‘Whittington’

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.


Job overview

We are a multi-disciplinary team providing community rehabilitation to people with neurological conditions in Islington. We are a dynamic team that enjoy working together to establish a highly responsive and effective service.

You will have a strong clinical grounding in a variety of occupational therapy settings as a post graduate, including experience working with clients that have neurological impairment. You will be a team player with proven clinical and interpersonal skills as well as strong organisational ability and a commitment to service and staff development. You will also demonstrate a strong commitment to a person centred approach.

In return we will offer you:

· Excellent management support and clinical supervision

· Strong multi-disciplinary team support

· Professional development

· Development of service improvement skills

Main duties of the job

Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role. If you are unable to access the PDF, the details of the job description can also be found in the 'Detailed Job Description and Main responsibilities' section.

Working for our organisation

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 Trustbelieves 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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES

CLINICAL

  • To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients allocated. To work within the standards and guidelines of the Trust, BAOT, HPC and COT code of ethics.

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

  • To carry out structured assessment of patients as an autonomous practitioner, including those with complex presentations, using clinical reasoning skills, and produce a plan of intervention utilising a wide range of skills to determine further assessments and treatment interventions required and demonstrating ability to seek guidance and support when necessary.

  • To deliver an individual Occupational Therapy treatment programme based on sound clinical reasoning and utilising research and evidence-based practice. This may include functional retraining, group work, therapeutic handling, patient and carer education, management of physical, cognitive and behavioural impairments.

  • To formulate client centered goals/objectives with patients/carers/relatives and other health professionals and continually reassess patients to evaluate progress, and alter treatment programmes if required.

  • To develop comprehensive discharge plans in conjunction with the multi disciplinary team members. Make recommendations to support a patient discharge including care support and rehabilitation opportunities. Refer to internal and external services where appropriate.

  • Undertake a co-coordinating role and where applicable a key worker role to ensure that the necessary transfer documentation is completed if referral to another unit or service is required.

  • To ensure that any equipment and services deemed essential for client use are in place for and keep MDT colleagues informed of progress/events.

  • To use own knowledge of other professionals’ roles and external agencies to ensure effective referral management to achieve seamless/best patient care

  • To prescribe, delegate and monitor work of students, junior staff and Technical Instructors/rehabilitation assistants and counter-sign documentation, as required.

  • To represent the Occupational Therapy service in multi-disciplinary team meetings and positively promote the role within the work setting. This will include discussion of patient’s care, feedback of functional progress and involvement/progress in discharge planning.

  • To be responsible for maintenance of accurate written records, in line with COT and Trust standards and monitoring the record keeping of junior staff and students.

  • To provide other professional disciplines with accurate, timely, comprehensive reports of patient’s physical, cognitive, social functions and details of their environmental circumstances when required.

COMMUNICATION

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

· To, have the ability to motivate others and to find their intrinsic motivation.

  • To be able to motivate others through effective communications skills, utilising verbal and non-verbal skills, for example, patients with communication difficulties, hearing &/or visual impairments, memory loss, mental illness or those that may be unable to accept diagnosis or who have difficulties coming to terms with their functional status post illness/injury.

  • 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.

  • Maintain effective and respectful working relationships with all members of the multi disciplinary team. Demonstrate good interpersonal skills, understanding and awareness of each member’s role within the team.

  • To establish good communication systems with outside agencies e.g. Primary care, voluntary agencies, equipment stores, social services, and rehabilitation units to facilitate seamless care provision.

  • To competently be able to communicate details relating to patient’s physical, psychological and social functions utilising professional and appropriate terminology.

MANAGEMENT

  • To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment and ensure that junior staff and Technical instructors/rehabilitation assistants attain competency prior to use.

  • To be competent using equipment in the course of work e.g. walking frames, hospital beds. Identifying limitations to scope of knowledge of equipment use and seeking appropriate training.

  • Utilise adaptive Occupational Therapy equipment when appropriate to facilitate patient independence and safety and follow procedure to issue for home use ensuring clients and or carers have received appropriate instruction relating to its use.

  • When required undertake risk assessments relating to use of equipment to ensure patient safety at all times and personal accountability.

  • To familiarise self with local borough procedure for provision of equipment and their criterion for issue.

  • To be involved in the induction of new staff

  • To be responsible for the supervision of junior therapy staff, Technicians and Therapy assistants when allocated. To provide formal and informal support to other team members and other professions when required.

  • To take responsibility for knowing and acting under department, Trust and College of Occupational Therapy, policies, standards and protocols, and ensuring all supervised staff do so too.

  • To be responsible for the clinical education of OT students allocated. This will include undertaking any training to facilitate role as a clinical educator and developing own skills in assessment of the student in practice based on the requirements of the individual training establishment.

  • Maintain and develop current knowledge of evidence-based practice in each rotation. Developing specialist knowledge of specific conditions and the impact these conditions have on a patient’s physical, psychological and social function in both the short and long term.

  • To be responsible for the operational management of the team in the absence of the team leader or as required.

  • To be involved in service developments and implement and monitor changes to practice, as required.

  • To be an active participant in appraisal, both as an appraisee and an appraiser. Utilise the Knowledge and Skills Framework to plan objectives for self and others and take responsibility for ensuring core and specific dimensions are achieved for self and others.

  • To be responsible for own personal development plans, meeting competencies and achieving individual objectives.

ORGANISATIONAL

  • To flexibly plan, organise and prioritise own time, patient’s caseloads and meetings adjusting plans according to staffing levels and level of support junior staff and students require.

  • To carry a mobile phone as required by policy and be able to respond to unpredictable work and frequent interruptions.

  • Assist Therapy Assistants and junior members of the therapy staff and students to meet service priorities. To support them in prioritisation of their own case loads, on a regular basis and to support continuity of service when team numbers are reduced due to annual leave and sick leave.

  • To take responsibility for allocated departmental duties and project work as required.

EDUCATION

  • To ensure yearly attendance at Mandatory training.

  • To regularly educate medical staff, multidisciplinary team members and visitors to the Department, about the role of the occupational therapist in the work setting and by doing so actively and accurately promote the profession.

  • Educate patients, families and carers when required, for example educating them in safe manual handling techniques and/or safe use of adaptive equipment.

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

  • To be actively involved in professional clinical groups, such as peer review groups, Trust based working parties and other professional development activities in order to keep abreast of new developments applicable to Occupational Therapy.

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

  • To be pro-active in organising, teaching and actively participating in the in-service and post-registration education programme within every clinical speciality. To attend outside courses/lectures when appropriate for rotation (linked to KSF) and to encourage junior staff to attend.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

  • To undertake research and audit, with support from senior staff to ensure the OT Service within your team is of quality, measurable, and appropriately monitored.

  • To ensure a good working knowledge of national and local standards.

Any other duties within scope of practice as requested by the Therapy Management leads

Clinical Governance

All staff members with clinical responsibilities are expected to work within the clinical governance arrangements agreed by the Trust. This is through an established framework through which clinical staff members are continuously accountable for improving the quality of services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellent care will flourish. All clinical staff members are expected to continually improve their standards of clinical care through:

· Client and user involvement

· Risk and complaints management

· Continuous Professional Development

· Clinical research in accordance with DoH Governance requirements

Person specification

Qualifications/Education

Essential criteria
  • BHSc (OT) or equivalent
  • State registration with HPC
Desirable criteria
  • Post-Graduate degree
  • Post graduate courses to include: Care of Older People
  • Post graduate courses to include: Postural management
  • Post graduate courses to include: Falls

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Junior general experience to include the following: Medical and Surgical
  • Junior general experience to include the following: Rehabilitation, Neurology
  • Junior general experience to include the following: care of Older People
  • Junior general experience to include the following: Orthopaedics
Desirable criteria
  • Junior general experience to include the following: Community
  • Junior general experience to include the following: Rheumatology

Skills and Abilities

Desirable criteria
  • Membership and/or involvement in National special interest group and/or BAOT/COT

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria
  • Problem solving skills
  • Involvement with Multi-Disciplinary Teamwork
  • Evidence of CPD
  • Teaching of junior staff
  • Teaching of Carers
  • Involvement in appraisal scheme.
  • Participation in audit/service improvement project/research
  • Demonstrates an insight into the problems of disability and its effects.
  • Strong concept of the OT role
  • Awareness of developments in NHS and service delivery
Desirable criteria
  • Supervision of Students
  • Supervision of Assistants
  • Supervision of Students
  • Supervision of other disciplines
  • Management experience of departmental duties

Qualifications/Education

Essential criteria
  • Fluent in written and spoken English

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience of a varied caseload
  • Knowledge and use of safe manual handling practice
Desirable criteria
  • Ability and experience in applying physical skills and effort in the treatment of clients with complex disabilities in their own homes/community setting

Motivation/Disposition

Essential criteria
  • Personally/professionally responsible
  • Demonstrates good communication skills
  • Able to self motivate
  • Flexible approach to changing circumstances and departmental needs
  • Able to prioritise
  • Good time management skills
  • Able to work autonomously as a lone worker
  • Awareness of own stress levels, the ability to seek emotional support (due to pressures of working with people with complex needs, challenging behaviour, poor social conditions or complicated family dynamics)

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Anand Varigeti
Job title
Lead Physiotherapist General Rehab
Email address
[email protected]