Occupational Therapist - HMP Woodhill

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others. There’s a place for you at CNWL. We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.

Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people. We’re always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we’re hoping to find our future leaders and we’ll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.

With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more – whatever stage of your career you’re at, there’s always a place for you at CNWL.

Job overview:

• To work as an independent OT practitioner with men in prison presenting with complex and challenging needs who attend the Mental Health Day Unit.
• To work within a multi-disciplinary team to provide a comprehensive service to men presenting with challenging behaviour and traits and/or diagnosis of Personality Disorder.
• To lead on the planning, delivery and implementation of Occupational Therapy provision for the Mental Health Day Unit.
• To lead on establishing sensory provision for prisoners, providing evidenced based sensory assessments and regulation interventions for service users.
• Liaising with ND managers and practitioners, providing recommendations for adaptations within the prison.
• To apply a high level of understanding of the impact of mental and physical health conditions; providing training and advice on lifestyle changes & adaptation.
• To work with the Professional Lead to continue to develop and deliver and design a comprehensive OT Service including assessment, intervention and evaluation which is underpinned by an evidence base and personal recovery principles.

Main duties of the job:

• To provide specialist, culturally appropriate, evidence based occupational therapy assessments for individuals within the prison setting in order to establish and meet their occupational needs.
• To apply evidenced based sensory assessments to determine sensory needs of service users.
• To facilitate sensory regulation interventions for service users and provide recommendations for prison staff to support.
• To provide sensory awareness training to clinical and operational staff to develop knowledge and understanding of sensory needs within HMP Woodhill.
• To embed an Occupational Therapy service within HMP Woodhill, increasing understanding of the purpose of OT provision for service users in prison.
• To select and use validated standardised assessment tools routinely and in practice, exhibiting clinical reasoning skills; to include the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) assessments.
• To apply clinical knowledge and skills to carry out evidence based occupational therapy interventions, both individual and in groups, which are underpinned by relevant theoretical approaches.
• To plan, implement and review individually tailored programmes of intervention using individual and group work approaches with prisoners within the Mental Health Day Unit.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions against clear aims, objectives and outcome measures in line with evidence based practice and in conjunction with service users, carers and other professionals.
• To work collaboratively with all professionals within the Mental Health Day unit in developing care plans and risk assessments for prisoners.
• To support individuals to develop skills and knowledge; and engage with community partner agencies, to facilitate successful transitions from the prison environment to the community.
• To proactively undertake and ensure rigorous risk assessment & risk management strategies are applied.
• To demonstrate excellent communication skills and form positive therapeutic relationships using warmth and empathy which enable service user empowerment.
• To establish and maintain effective communication networks with service users, with complex learning, emotional and behavioural needs, prison colleagues and external agencies in order to ensure a comprehensive and consistent approach to client care.
• To provide and receive highly complex, sensitive, condition related or distressing/unwelcome information to service users and professionals demonstrating empathy and reassurance.
• To demonstrate skills and resourcefulness in communication when barriers to understanding are present, including utilising interpreting resources.

Person specification:

• Education and Qualifications: HPCP Registered Practitioner Occupational Therapist, Evidence of professional development since registration, Post registration qualification that enhances clinical work: CBT, DBT, Dual Diagnosis, etc.
• Previous Experience: Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, Experience of working with complex clients, Experience of running a group program, Experience of leading and/or developing a service/component of a service, Experience of working in a Prison or forensic environment.
• Skills and knowledge: Expert in engaging with people with mental health problems, assessing their needs, designing and delivering appropriate interventions and evaluating the effectiveness of the process, Risk assessment and management skills, Excellent communication skills both verbal and written, Excellent IT skills, Ability to work effectively as part of a team and independently as appropriate, Proven ability to work with patients to increase their level of self-determination and resilience, Knowledge of the needs and rights of patients, Knowledge of CPA, Mental Health Act, MAPPA, legislation and policies relevant to prison mental health, Knowledge of safeguarding frameworks, Problem solving, stress management & conflict resolution skills, Ability to engage in evidence based practice, with an understanding of care quality (clinical governance), Knowledge of current challenges/developments in Prison health.