Specialist Occupational Therapist East London NHS Foundation Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated Occupational Therapist to join our expanding Admission Avoidance and Discharge Service (AADS) at ELFT. This role will provide a successful applicant with the opportunity to work in various clinical areas across the wider pathways of the service including Rapid Response, Intermediate Care, Falls Pick-Up Service, and the Admission Avoidance Team (based in ED, Royal London Hospital).

The specialist role is based in the community in the borough of Tower Hamlets, consisting of a multidisciplinary team that works across the community and hospital to facilitate early discharge and prevent unnecessary hospital admission. The service uses the discharge to assess model and has an integrated care model with Reablement and Adult Social Care.

We are looking for a highly motivated, innovative, and adaptable Occupational Therapist to join our team in working with patients across a variety of clinical areas. Applicants must have strong clinical skills as well as the ability to manage complex cases independently, providing a comprehensive therapy assessment and intervention, evidencing problem-solving and clinical reasoning skills in line with evidence-based practice.

You will need to be a versatile, adaptable team player who is prepared to work across a 7-day rota. The post holder will be required to work with partners across the health and social care interface to ensure a joined-up and integrated approach to the provision of services. All staff are expected to work across traditional boundaries of both community and acute services, to deliver truly holistic care.

To identify those patients who are at risk of repeated admission through relapses in their condition or related injury and put measures in place to minimise the risk of further deterioration and need for secondary care. At ELFT, we are committed to improving lives and reducing health inequalities through innovative and integrated care. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve and providing a supportive and inclusive workplace culture. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

The Admission Avoidance & Discharge Service currently includes an Admission Avoidance Team based in the Emergency Department, In-reach nurses, Rapid Response and an Intermediate Care Team that uses a “discharge to assess model”. The main aim of the team is to reduce hospital stay and admissions by supporting clients in their own homes.

The post holder will work as a part of the multi-disciplinary team and will rotate across the service. In the Admission Avoidance Team, the role is to identify, assess, and coordinate admission avoidance and discharge for patients in the Emergency Department (ED) and Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) at The Royal London Hospital. In the Rapid Response and Intermediate Care Teams, the role involves providing follow-up in the community. The post holder will provide specialist expertise in clinical management in order to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital.

The post holder is an autonomous practitioner, skilled in conducting assessments and treatment techniques within the specialty. The post holder will provide specialist assessment and treatment for patients with a wide range of complex physical, sensory, perceptual and cognitive problems within the ED or patient’s home in order to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital. A response is made to patients referred to the service within 24 hours.

Part of the post would be working within the Rapid Response Team which aims to reduce unplanned hospital admissions by responding to referrals from community practitioners, for example GPs, and supporting clients in their own homes. The post holder would work as part of the multidisciplinary team, providing specialist client-centered intervention, to enable clients to maximise their independence and return to their own home safely and in a timely way.

The post-holder will provide skilled and specialised advice, supervision, as well as deliver clinical education and training to students, and other professions within and outside the multidisciplinary teams and across organisational boundaries. The post holder will support the team lead in ensuring that the service delivers a case management approach; integrating, coordinating and proactively assessing patients’ health and social care needs, so that the individual receives the best possible care in the most appropriate place.

The role involves developing care plans to facilitate safe, timely and effective discharge, optimising patient outcomes and ensuring patients, carers and professionals have the skills and knowledge to implement those plans. The post holder will act as a resource for professionals of all disciplines and patients and carers, to problem solve, advise appropriate outcomes, and will be supported by the team lead in challenging the decision-making process regarding whether patients are safe to be discharged from the ED to the community.

The post holder will be an active participant in the late shift of 12-8pm and weekend rota, including bank holidays. The post holder will support and deputise for the Team Lead in Admission Avoidance and Discharge service in the ongoing development of an effective admission avoidance service, and to help oversee the management of services. The post holder will be part of the community rotation within the Admission Avoidance and Discharge Service.

Please see attached JD and PS for full details.