Band 6 - Senior Occupational Therapist - Whittington

Whittington Health NHS Trust are searching for an experienced and passionate Band 6 Senior Occupational Therapist to join their highly skilled team. Whittington Health NHS Trust provides a wide range of health and care services, supporting patients, families and local communities in community health centres, GP clinics, dental practices across North Central London and beyond, at our hospital in Archway, and in patients’ own homes.

The Role:

• Rotational Areas: Acute General Medicine, Care of Older People, Acute Medical Units - Rapid assessment and Early Discharge, Orthopaedics, Hand Therapy, Community Rehabilitation.
• Perform advanced Occupational Therapy assessment of patients with diverse presentations and complex physical and psychological conditions.
• Use advanced clinical reasoning skills to provide a diagnosis and to develop and deliver an individualised treatment programme.
• Responsible for managing own caseload and a defined area of the service, working without direct supervision.
• Supervise, educate, and assess Occupational Therapy students, assistants, and band 5 grade Occupational Therapists and provide specialised advice to other health care professionals in the specific clinical area.
• Undertake activities which contribute to own continuing professional development which may include audit, evidence-based learning, and research projects to further own and team’s clinical practice.
• Make recommendations to clinical lead/manager of service for changes to practice by the team.
• May lead on the implementation of specific changes to practice or contribute to development of service protocols.

Main Duties:

• Work as an autonomous practitioner, to assess and treat own caseload of patients, including those with complex presentations.
• Quickly and accurately screen, establish priority for patient referrals for Occupational Therapy intervention.
• Carry out an assessment of patients, including those with complex presentations.
• Draw on a wide range of information sources and use clinical reasoning skills to determine an accurate diagnosis.
• Identify an appropriate Occupational Therapy care plan from treatment options available.
• Formulate and deliver occupational therapy treatment programmes in a variety of settings including hospital, community, and patients’ home.
• Work collaboratively to prevent inappropriate hospital admissions and to facilitate hospital discharge to minimise hospital stays.
• Develop comprehensive discharge plans in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team members.
• Make recommendations to support a patient’s discharge including care support and rehabilitation opportunities.
• Undertake referrals to internal and external services when deemed appropriate/of benefit to the support or progression of the patient.
• Have the ability, knowledge and skills required for moving and handling people in community environments.
• Be physically able to install specialist occupational therapy equipment in client homes while applying safe manual handling.
• Work with patients and their caregivers to promote their self-management strategies.
• Represent the service at multi-disciplinary team meetings.
• Keep accurate treatment records, fulfilling legal and statistical requirements, in accordance with HCPC/Trust/departmental standards.
• Provide comprehensive progress and discharge reports to relevant personnel.
• Demonstrate the ability to seek guidance and support when needed.
• Manage clinical risk within own patient caseload.

Requirements:

• Hold a recognised degree or diploma in Occupational Therapy.
• Current HCPC registration.
• Recent post graduate training relevant to the post applied for.
• IELTS Level 7.0 or above (overseas candidates only).
• Minimum of 2 years post qualifying work experience in an NHS or Social Care setting.
• Work experience in an in-patient acute physical work setting, community setting or social care setting.
• Experience gained through a minimum of 3 rotations at band 5 level in settings relevant to the rotation.
• Experience of working in an Occupational Therapy Team or a Joint therapy team within a wider MDT.
• Knowledge of a range of assessments and interventions for patients presenting with both physical and cognitive impairments.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and clinical guidelines relating to the role of an OT in acute care and rehabilitation.
• Working knowledge of the role of other professions in health and social care and inter-agency working.
• Ability to organise, prioritise and delegate work appropriately to manage a busy and varied caseload.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Benefits:

• Flexible working hours.
• Weekly salary.
• Staffing Bank workers can contribute to their NHS pension.
• Priority of shifts over all agency workers.
• Competitive pay.

Apply now for this fantastic opportunity by uploading your CV, and a member of our recruitment team will be in touch.