Senior Specialist Occupational Therapist in London

We are seeking a skilled and compassionate individual to join the NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Service (London) in the role of Senior Specialist Occupational Therapist. The post holder will provide a highly specialist assessment, diagnostic and intervention Occupational Therapy Service to a specialist caseload of children who are gender questioning. This may include children or adolescents with a complex neurodevelopmental presentation. The post holder will be responsible to the Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist, and receive supervision and professional oversight from them and the head of paediatric Occupational Therapy.

The post offers opportunities to develop leadership skills by enabling you to take a key role in a number of exciting service development and research initiatives. Unlock your potential and elevate your career by joining the NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Service (London). You will work in a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team with strong leadership. We are dedicated to fostering a supportive work environment and professional growth. This role will be based in central London (Zone 1) close to transport links. The service is committed to supporting wellbeing through hybrid working, but there is an expectation to work onsite for a minimum of 60% of the working week.

Main duties of the job

• To manage a complex caseload within the Southern Hub (London) Gender Service using advanced clinical reasoning, critical thinking, reflection and analysis to support assessments using a client centred approach and current evidence base to assess, treat, implement, evaluate and document Occupational Therapy interventions.
• To support and advise colleagues within the hospital and community in the management of complex cases requiring advanced clinical reasoning.
• To support with clinical Occupational Therapy developments, audit and research within the service.
• To be responsible for the maintenance and development of own CPD identifying and contributing to the evidence base of Occupational Therapy and the Gender Service.
• To educate Occupational Therapy Students on practice placements.

Working for our organisation

We are committed to recruiting the best person for the job through a fair, open and consistent process that is free from bias and discrimination. We are working towards becoming an anti-racist organisation. This means creating a workplace where every colleague feels seen, heard and valued, and where racism in any form has no place. Our anti-racism commitment is backed by action through our Anti-Racism Statement and action plan, developed in collaboration with our REACH staff network. We actively challenge discrimination, dismantle barriers and embed equity across all aspects of our workforce, including recruitment, progression and development. All applicants will receive equal consideration regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, health condition or employment history. We particularly welcome applications from ethnically diverse communities, people with disabilities or long-term health conditions, and LGBTQ+ community members. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a member of the Business Disability Forum, and a Stonewall Diversity Champion. Our staff networks, including REACH, PRIDE, ENABLED and Women’s Networks, are active and executive supported. These employee-led networks play a vital role in shaping an inclusive culture at GOSH and are open to all colleagues. Together, we are building a culture where inclusion is not optional - it is essential.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required.

Essential criteria

• Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC Registration
• Masters level or equivalent training in specialist area or evidence of significant practical experience, research or publication in specialist area.

Experience/Knowledge

• Significant clinical experience in paediatrics at Senior level.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and post registration education and training.
• Knowledge of specialist paediatric approaches in neurodevelopment.
• Experience with children or adolescents with complex neurodevelopmental presentation and preferably with experience of children who are gender questioning.
• Experience of audit.
• Ability to supervise junior staff and students.
• High standard of performance in a range of neuro developmental and general paediatric skills.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of research

Skills/Abilities

• Specialist knowledge, understanding and application of Occupational Therapy process relating to client centred practice.
• Specialist knowledge, application and analysis of standardised assessment tools.
• To carry out standardised and non-standardised assessments and advise on intervention and management to facilitate and promote functional independence.
• Ability to work autonomously, acting decisively on behalf of self and others, setting own priorities.
• Experience of working within multi-disciplinary diagnostic and intervention services.
• Ability to manage individual and team performance.
• Ability to promote clinical excellence in self and others.
• Demonstrate clinical leadership skills and excellent team building skills.
• Proven organisational and management skills.
• Demonstrates ethical reasoning and critical reflection.
• Committed to improve the experience of children, families and carers, appreciating complexity of context, culture of diversity.
• Proven experience in the training, teaching and supervision of others.
• Proven experience in developing and providing education and teaching programmes to other professionals and students.
• Ability to apply Clinical Governance principles to practice.
• Implementation of national initiatives and legislation relating to Health and Social Care in relation to Occupational Therapy.
• Ability to work to deadlines and under pressure.
• Ability to manage and recognise differences of opinion in both patient related and inter professional settings, coping positively with inter-professional tensions/ barriers.
• Able to positively manage exposure to patients and environments which may be highly distressing, antagonistic, open to aggression and unpleasant.
• Demonstrate ability to motivate and manage teams through change positively.
• Computer literacy.