Senior Occupational Therapist in Wigan

We have an opportunity for a keen and motivated Occupational Therapist to join our friendly Adults of Working Age Specialist Community Mental Health Team in Wigan. We are looking for someone who has existing experience as a Band 5 working in mental health and is looking to develop their knowledge, skills and experience in a supportive environment. We also welcome applicants who are already practicing at Band 6 level but are looking for something new and exciting.

You will join the established multi-disciplinary Specialist Community Mental Health Team (SCMHT), based at Claire House in Ince and covering the Wigan and Leigh area. You will work with a small team of Occupational Therapists and support staff, but be part of the wider team. We welcome applicants with diverse, innovative and creative ideas, which would support the continued development of this service. We are keen to support your commitment to professional development, through 1-1 support, peer support, local, divisional and Trust wide CPD and training.

Main duties of the job:

• The post holder will case manage a caseload of service users whose needs are around Occupational identity, performance and participation.
• They will provide assessment and intervention aimed at improving these areas in order for the service users to live the lives they want and need.
• The role may involve care co-ordination / case management and may involve duty work as the service needs dictate.

It is an exciting time to join the team as the Trust is developing its Occupational Therapy pathways in line with forward thinking Community Transformation plans, which support our professionals to practice in a way which closely aligns to their professional training and backgrounds. You will provide active support to learners, including student and apprentice placements and support. You will be provided with a full range of mandatory training and CPD opportunities with a particular emphasis on developing skills within the Model of Human Occupation.

Working for our organisation:

Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 6,400 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 160 locations. We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.

Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years.

Person specification:

Experience:

• Demonstrable experience of working as a qualified Occupational Therapist.
• Providing Occupational Therapy in a mental health setting.
• Using a variety of Occupational vocational assessments.
• Identifying barriers to goal achievement.
• Planning and carrying out evidence based interventions.
• Experience of working in a range of mental health settings.
• Personal experience of mental health issues.
• Experience of working in a community setting.
• Experience of supervising support staff.

Education:

• Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy.
• Registration with HCPC.
• AMPS Training.
• Model of Human Occupation training.
• Care Programme Approach Training.
• Equality Diversity Awareness Training.

Knowledge:

• Social inclusion and recovery models.
• Evidence based Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions relevant to mental health.
• Mental health legislation.
• Reflective practice.
• Knowledge of the CPA process.
• Risk assessment and safeguarding.

Skills:

• To apply models of human occupation.
• To use a variety of Occupational assessments.
• To develop case formulation from assessment.
• To plan and implement evidence based interventions aimed at achieving user goals.
• To use effective evidence based communication skills.

Important Information about working for GMMH:

All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks. The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer. The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities.

If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.