Occupational Therapy Advanced Practitioner in Bridgnorth

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Occupational Therapy Advanced Practitioner to join the newly established Hospital at Home team that will cover the Black Country footprint of Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton localities. We are proud and excited to be establishing this new service, dedicated to supporting Older Adults in a community mental health setting. By providing alternatives to hospital admissions, and supporting early hospital discharges, this role will be fundamental in enabling Older Adults in mental health crisis to regain independence and recovery in the least restrictive environments.

This is a unique opportunity to join a team that is being newly formed, and we are seeking an Occupational Therapy Advanced Practitioner to join us at the start of this transformational journey. If you want the opportunity to lead, develop and establish the role of Occupational Therapy within Older Adult Hospital at Home crisis service, then this is an ideal time post for you.

The primary function of the Hospital at Home team is to support Older Adults experiencing mental health crisis, providing care and treatment within a community setting. The team will work closely with existing community and inpatient services to provide alternatives to hospital admissions and to facilitate and support early hospital discharges as required.

Main duties of the job:

• The post holder will be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own clinical work, managing an autonomous and complex caseload of Hospital at Home older adults.
• Conduct advanced Occupational Therapy mental health assessments for patients with acute mental illness, frailty, cognitive impairment, complex, multi-morbidity and diverse psychosocial needs, applying higher level clinical reasoning to formulate accurate occupational profiles and intervention plans.
• Possess comprehensive clinical mental health risk assessment skills, including 5Ps formulation and longitudinal risk formulation, participating in shared multidisciplinary decision making to manage risk, whilst demonstrating the ability to manage patient risk and act appropriately to ensure the safety of others and self when working as a lone practitioner.
• Conduct advanced Occupational Therapy assessments to address occupational performance issues related to complex physical health needs, environmental and manual handling risk assessment, falls prevention, frailty, seating and postural assessment.
• Provide clinical decision support and clinical supervision to Senior Occupational Therapist (Band 6), acting as the senior therapy point of escalation for clinical concerns, undertaking joint visits for complex cases, and ensuring all team members are supported to deliver safe, evidence-based care.

About us:

The Hospital at Home treatment team is a newly developed and first of its kind service within our organisation. We are proud to be establishing this team that will offer support specifically to older adults presenting in an acute mental health crisis. The role of Occupational Therapy within the Older Adult Division is well respected and valued, and you will receive support from the Divisional and wider Allied Health Professional teams, that are strongly established across our community and inpatient pathways.

We will support your career development and aspirations, and believe in empowering ourselves and others to make positive change through quality improvement. We have robust supervision, appraisal and CPD structures in place that focus on continual learning, as we support you to be your best.

Job responsibilities:

The Hospital at Home service is an adjunct pathway to inpatient older adult care pathways within the Older Adult Division, delivering hospital avoidance and clinical intervention to acutely unwell older adults in their own homes, who may be experiencing mental health crisis. The hospital at home service aims to provide alternatives to hospital admission by assertively supporting older adults in a community setting, easing pressure on wider acute services, signposting effectively to other agencies and supporting early hospital discharge as indicated.

The Advanced Practitioner Occupational Therapist Band 7 is a senior clinical role within the Hospital at Home MDT, and as the most senior Occupational Therapy clinician is a primary OT lead for the service, providing expert Occupational Therapy assessments, interventions, clinical reasoning, and discharge planning for complex and mentally unwell patients in their own homes. The role encompasses autonomous clinical practice, caseload management and prioritisation, and senior clinical oversight of Occupational Therapy delivery with the team.

The post holder will work in close partnership with the Hospital at Home team manager and clinical lead to contribute to daily MDT referral triage and prioritisation, and be accountable for supporting the clinical governance, audit, and quality improvements of the service. The post holder will plan, develop and evaluate Occupational Therapy Hospital at Home service, holding responsibility for defined projects and working closely with Occupational Therapists within Older Adult planned and urgent care pathways. The post holder will contribute and participate in the wider AHP Older Adult Divisional Team.

The post holder will work 37.5 hours per week, within core operating hours 9-5 Monday to Friday, and must be able to work flexibly and be responsive to patient need across the Black Country locality areas that include Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Walsall, frequently working as a lone practitioner in these community settings.

Person Specification:

Education / Qualification:

• Essential: Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy; Current Registration with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC); Evidence of substantial postgraduate CPD maintained in a portfolio, relevant to mental health OT, Older Adult mental health; Postgraduate training and knowledge relevant to clinical area of Older Adult Mental Health (Master's degree or experiential or specific courses equivalent to Master's level); Postgraduate training relevant to clinical area of Older Adult Mental Health and/or Hospital at Home service.
• Desirable: Management / Leadership Qualification and experience; Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapists and/or specialist interest group; Accredited Practice Educator or practice educator qualification.

Experience:

• Essential: Documented evidence of continuing professional development relevant to clinical area; Relevant postgraduate training and experiential learning to demonstrate the required experience to manage a high-risk and complex caseload; Significant postgraduate experience within the clinical area of Older Adult Mental Health and/or Hospital at Home services; Extensive postgraduate OT experience across mental health settings demonstrating increasing seniority, including band 6 experience; Significant experience of working with older people in a community setting experiencing severe and enduring mental health, cognitive impairment, chronic conditions and complex co-morbidities; Significant experience of working as an integral member of a multi-disciplinary team; Experience of working in a community setting, conducting home visits as a lone practitioner; Experience of supervision and mentoring junior OTs and students; Experience of clinical audit, service evaluation and quality improvement.

Knowledge:

• Essential: Knowledge of a wide range of standardised and non-standardised OT assessments and specialist equipment prescription, and environmental risk assessment, demonstrated by advanced clinical reasoning; Ability to use an evidence-based approach, including validated outcome measures, to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of occupational therapy mental health interventions; Ability to work as an autonomous lone practitioner in patients' homes, making sound clinical judgements and decisions and being professionally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own practice; Ability to manage a complex and high-risk changeable caseload, demonstrating excellent prioritisation, time management and organisational skills; Knowledge and application of the Mental Capacity Act, DoLs, Care Act, Mental Health Act, safeguarding adults and children frameworks, and their application for hospital at home practice; Ability to carry out a range of risk assessments in community and home settings, including dynamic lone-working risk assessment and environmental risk.

Skills / Personal Qualities:

• Essential: Advanced communication skills, including ability to impart complex and sensitive information to patients experiencing acute mental health and/or cognitive impairment, carers, and MDT members; Competent IT skills, being proficient in using a number of digital platforms; Ability to present complex clinical information orally and written in a clear and logical manner; Ability to build effective professional relationships and work as an integral member of the MDT; Showing a commitment to person-centred and recovery-focused practice; Ability to cope with working in a stressful, emotionally demanding and unpredictable community environment, managing competing clinical priorities and demands.

Values:

• Essential: Evidence of Trust values; Work with others; Be inclusive by understanding and valuing others to achieve the best results for everyone and everything we do; Act with transparency and honesty; respect and value others to do the right thing at the right time for everyone.