Occupational Therapist - Rotational in Chorley

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations. Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated and dynamic individual to join our team as a Band 5 Occupational Therapist. We offer unique rotations through the North West Spinal Injury Unit, Stroke Therapy, Trauma and Elective Orthopaedics including post‑operative rehabilitation, Medicine & Surgery, A&E and opportunity to experience our Discharge to Assess bed base. You will have opportunity to work across both Southport and Ormskirk Hospital sites. We are passionate about service development and quality improvement, therefore we ensure to provide learning opportunities through a comprehensive preceptorship pathway, in‑service training, regular supervision, peer support and networking opportunities. We work closely within our multi‑disciplinary teams to strive for excellent patient centred care. We are looking for a candidate who is enthusiastic and wishes to join a friendly, and supportive therapy service. If you believe you have the skills that we are looking for and are ready for a positive challenge, then we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

• Providing an Occupational Therapy service to in patients and out patients at Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals.
• Managing your own clinical caseload under the supervision of highly skilled senior therapists.
• Developing your leadership skills through the delegation of duties and support to colleagues and students.
• Developing your assessment, treatment and evaluation skills in line with evidence based practice with a range of patients within specialty areas.
• Participating in audit, research and service development.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services

• Acute Care – Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
• Primary Care – Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
• Community Services – Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire.
• Specialist Regional Services – We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached Job Description for full details.

We can offer you:

• Excellent opportunities for personal and professional development supported by our preceptorship and supervision programmes bespoke to your needs.
• Peer support through our Band 5 networking meetings.
• Robust induction and training programmes to develop unique specialty skills and knowledge.
• Opportunities to engage in service development including the Moving with Dignity movement and promoting the Home First pathways.
• Training packages to enhance knowledge in special interest areas.
• Experience working through specialised services that will develop both core and transferable skills.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Degree in occupational therapy or equivalent
• HCPC registered

Other

• The post includes a combination of complex physical activities with duties being carried out in a variety of settings across the clinical sites.
• The post holder will be required to work across sites including hospital/community settings.
• To be able to carry out moving and handling with patients using equipment e.g. hoists, or use of specialist medical devices related to specialism.
• The post holder will be required to use frequent concentration in assessing patients and devising care plans during the day.
• Conveying complex information in a comprehensible and practical way to clients, families and carers where there may be significant barriers to understanding.
• Prioritising clinical work responding to unpredictable demands on time e.g. responding to bleeps for urgent referrals.
• The post holder will often have to overcome barriers to communication such as illiteracy, learning difficulties, hearing and sight impairment, language and may have to work with interpreters.
• Communication with and have direct contact with a wide variety of people, including health, social care and education professionals, patients, carers, the public.
• Daily involvement with chronically and terminally ill patients and their carers.
• The post holder will be exposed to sensitive, emotional and distressing circumstances, including terminally ill patients and abusive patients/carers.
• The post holder will be exposed to the working conditions associated clinical environment.
• Routinely encounters unpleasant smells and sights, with possible exposure to bodily fluids including blood and sputum.
• Ability to fulfill the travel requirements of the post.

Skills

• Ability to manage own time and work autonomously within clinical and non‑clinical activity and to guide others using problem solving and decision making skills.
• Ability to maintain records, statistical and activity data according to service standards.
• Ability to encourage and motivate others by providing sound practical and realistic advice.
• Ability to demonstrate clinical reasoning and a holistic problem solving approach appropriate to experience within clinical area.
• Ability to manage own stress and awareness of stress in others.
• To demonstrate tact/diplomacy and empathy within clinical settings.
• Good interpersonal skills with effective written and verbal communication.
• Effective teaching and presentation skills.
• Ability to demonstrate assertiveness within clinical settings.
• Ability to positively represent the Therapy Team within the organisation.
• Ability to demonstrate reflective practice.

Knowledge

• Previous demonstrable experience of working in a health, social or personal care setting as an Occupational therapist.
• Working knowledge of confidentiality and data protection procedures in relation to the recording of patient information.
• Awareness of current NHS issues, National Policies and relevant frameworks/quality indicators.
• Knowledge of evidence based practice and importance within clinical area.
• Experience of taking an active role within Multidisciplinary Team.
• Demonstrate an awareness of clinical governance, and its application within Therapy.
• Demonstrate commitment to your and others ongoing Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and maintenance of professional portfolio.
• Awareness of health and safety issues and reporting mechanisms.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward‑thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification.

If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk.

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts.

Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services. The Trust is a non‑smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action.

You will be expected to undertake the Trust's commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

AI Policy

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust's Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE.

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.