Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist (Band 7) - Occupational Therapist - Ashford and St. Pe[...]

Main area Occupational Therapist Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week (Bank holiday and weekend working may be required) Job ref 323-AHP0405-ED

Employer Ashford and St. Peter\’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site St Peters Hospital Town Chertsey Salary £50,008 – £56,908 per annum inc. HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 10/07/2025 08:00

Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist

Band 7

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced occupational therapist who has the passion and drive to lead occupational therapists within the surgical, cardiorespiratory and critical care teams in our acute hospital setting.

This is requiring a person who is motivated and willing to contribute to facilitate, design and lead service development. You will join a friendly and dynamic team, working alongside band 7 physiotherapists in supporting and developing the team\’s work across critical care, cardiorespiratory and surgical wards, including amputee patients. Ensuring a high-quality therapy service that is patient-centred and evidenced based practice is embedded in its provision. The successful applicant will provide advanced clinical support, advice and training to both the OT team and the wider therapy/multidisciplinary service. They will have their own clinical caseload and supervise band 6 and band 5 OTs plus support staff.

The post holder should have expertise in advanced clinical reasoning and assessment skills of complex cases and discharge planning working in a busy multi-disciplinary hospital environment, including general experience in surgical, respiratory, amputee and neurology. They should also have advanced interpersonal and communication skills.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will

· Take a leading role in the advanced assessment, clinical diagnosis, treatment and management of patients with critical illness, post-operative problems and long term respiratory conditions.

· Work autonomously as an expert clinician, liaising effectively with other health professionals to ensure evidence based delivery of service within professional scope of practice.

· Be responsible for the day-to-day operational delivery of Occupational Therapy services in critical care, cardiorespiratory and surgical wards.

· Provide leadership in specialist field and be a key contributor to quality improvement, research and audit.

· Work in partnership with the band 7 specialist physiotherapists within critical care, surgery and respiratory.

· Support staff development and training across professional and organisational boundaries.

· Be involved in developing the service in line with national and local strategic plans.

Ashford and St Peter’s offer a seven day service across some specialities and you will be expected to support this on a rota system.

Working for our organisation

Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of more than 410,000 people living in North-West Surrey, parts of Hounslow and beyond.

Over 3,700 highly trained doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, healthcare scientists and other support staff make up our workforce, providing a wide range of services across our two hospital sites, Ashford, Surrey and St Peter\’s, Chertsey, Surrey.

We also run many specialist clinics in the community and local community hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Our vision is to be one of the best healthcare Trusts in the country. There has never been a better time to join us in the NHS at ASPH. We are committed to providing continuous professional development and flexibility to shape our workforce around our patient care.

We are expanding our theatres at Ashford Hospital and moving towards this becoming our dedicated elective centre. We want to create a state-of-the-art centre for excellence for planned surgical procedures.

We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits/discounts and in addition:

• Excellent pension scheme and annual leave entitlement
• On-site Nurseries
• On-site staff cafes
• On-site parking
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including wage stream, lease cars, Cycle to Work schemes and home electronics

Adverts may close early, so applicants are encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to JD/PS for full list of responsibilities

Clinical or technical

· To assess patients with complex conditions using highly skilled assessments and making onward referrals to other disciplines and agencies as appropriate

· To support other less experienced staff with their clinical caseload

· To be responsible as an autonomous practitioner to undertake a significant specialist clinical caseload and use excellent clinical reasoning skills to utilise a wide range of treatment options and skills to formulate an individualised programme of care

· To achieve and maintain a high standard of clinical care using evidence based practice, keeping up to date with clinical developments, analysing current research, discussing and implementing changes in clinical practice and encouraging this throughout the team

· To be responsible for setting and monitoring of standards and policies of clinical practice in the team and evaluate outcomes

· To take responsibility for the writing, reviewing and updating evidence based clinical guidelines and protocols appropriate to the speciality

· To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of professional activities working within codes of practice and professional guidelines

· To use ongoing investigative and analytical skills, assessment techniques and diagnostic procedures to assess complex patients

· To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best course of intervention, developing comprehensive discharge plans

· To be aware of risks involved as part of delivering clinical care and manage this within own patient caseload

· To demonstrate physical ability to carry out assessments and interventions including manual and therapeutic handling techniques. This post involves frequent light to moderate physical effort

· To maintain accurate records in line with the Royal College of Occupational Therapy standards and Trust and service standards and policies

· To attend relevant board rounds and meetings to ensure appropriate management and effective and timely discharge of patients

Leadership or managerial

· Work in close conjunction with Clinical Lead for Cardiorespiratory services and other Band 7 Team Leads

· Act as a role model and resource, providing information and promoting high standards of patient care, whilst working closely with other professionals

· Supervise junior and senior staff where appropriate, and specifically B6 Occupational Therapists and Rehabilitation Assistants

· Effectively plan the daily management of a caseload of patients by prioritising clinical work, responding to urgent referrals and frequently unpredictable work patterns

· Maintain the high standards of the service by contributing to the individual team and service objectives

· Ensure team working within Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, assisting other members to effectively prioritise, plan and manage their caseloads

· Demonstrate ability to manage potentially stressful and upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner

· Demonstrate ability to prioritise clinical and managerial work and balance other patient related and professional activities as the department requires

· Participate in the appraisal scheme as an appraiser and to be appraised

· Contribute to the overall strategic view of the inpatient cardiorespiratory services at ASPH, by monitoring and evaluating activity

· Demonstrate a high level of understanding of clinical governance and clinical risk

· Initiate and lead projects to develop services in line with recent NHS initiatives and guidance and in response to local demand

Communication

· Demonstrate ability to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff including imparting unwelcome news relating to their rehabilitation potential and gaining consent for treatment

· Assess patients’ understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment

· Demonstrate ability to motivate patients to comply with extended periods of treatment

· Maintain accurate records in line with RCOT, Trust and service standards and policies

· Ensure that records of directly managed staff also comply with these standards

· Use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients in order to progress treatment programmes. This may include patients who may have difficulties in understanding or communicating

· Communicate any changes in care plan or treatment approach to other Occupational Therapists / MDT colleagues as necessary

· Attend staff meetings and actively participate ensuring understanding of information imparted

· Take responsibility for leading/supporting local team meetings to ensure accurate and timely information giving and receiving

· Initiate and maintain good contact with local service both internally and externally

· Provide advice to other disciplines both internally and externally to ensure a multidisciplinary approach to care

· Ensure timely and effective communication with the Therapy Manager and Clinical Leads on all operational or professional matters

· Communicate effectively with all disciplines involved in a patient’s care, both those from within the organisation and those outside, to ensure efficient multidisciplinary working

Education

· Supervise and lead on the professional development and training of Occupational Therapists and other members of the team in the specialist field

· Undertake regular supervision with individuals to support clinical reasoning and to undertake joint problem patient sessions as facilitator and participant

· Participate in any training sessions as a recipient and facilitator

· Disseminate any training received to other staff and healthcare professionals

· Be actively involved in special interest groups in order to share and disseminate knowledge to colleagues

Information and reporting

· Ensure all Trust IT systems are used effectively, particularly the use of “Evolve” is implemented and used to record patient notes and activity

· Collect & record data accurately in accordance with professional guidelines and ASPH Values

. Research and Development

· Demonstrate the use of relevant information and research findings to support and promote evidence-based practice within the clinical area

· Promote clinical excellence through initiating & participating in setting, maintaining and monitoring standards of care within a clinical governance framework

· Participate in both clinical and organisational audit to continually evaluate the effectiveness of the service

· Feedback to appropriate stakeholders on the results, trends of audits and research undertaken

Person specification

Qualifications and Experience

• HCPC registration in Occupational Therapy
• Experience as a senior OT in surgery/cardiorespiratory/neuro
• Manage and be accountable for own and team workload prioritisation
• Experience in supervising staff
• Leadership/management courses
• Special-interest group
• ICU experience as an Occupational Therapist

Knowledge

• Strong understanding in role of OT in ICU
• Evidence of involvement in audits/PDSA/service or quality improvement
• Awareness of relevant national and clinical guidelines
• Specialty-specific OT interventions (cardioresp, surgical, critical care)
• Awareness of Trust vision, values and strategic objectives

Skills

• Advanced clinical reasoning skills that guide interventions (i.e. rehab, risk assessments, discharge planning, management of complex cases)
• Good understanding of their communication, physical & emotional needs; can identify their individual needs and preferences, their changing needs and recognise and promote their independence.
• Teaching to staff, MDT, patients, carers
• Effective communication skills with MDT and service users
• Use of evidence-based practice

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

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