Autonomous Community OT: Reablement & Discharge Specialist

We are looking for a passionate and motivated Occupational Therapist to join our Integrated Reablement Team, incorporating the Urgent Community Response Service, across Nottingham City. This is a rewarding opportunity to use your occupational therapy skills to help people remain independent, avoid unnecessary hospital admission and support safe, timely discharge back to their own home. You will be part of a supportive multidisciplinary team including Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Physiotherapists, Nurses, Assistant Practitioners, Rehabilitation Support Workers and administrative colleagues.

As an Occupational Therapist, you will play a key role in delivering holistic assessment, goal-focused rehabilitation and reablement, ensuring people receive the right support at the right time in the place they call home. Our service is dynamic, developing and highly valued, with strong links across health, social care, care homes and the independent sector. You will have the chance to work autonomously, build excellent partnership relationships and make a visible difference every day through person-centred, strengths-based practice.

If you bring strong assessment, intervention and discharge planning skills, enjoy working collaboratively and want to shape high-quality community rehabilitation, we would love to hear from you. This role offers variety, professional challenge and the opportunity to improve outcomes for people with complex needs at a point when your input matters most.

Main duties of the job

In this role, you will deliver high-quality occupational therapy assessment and intervention for adults with complex physical and mental health needs, helping them maximise independence and achieve safe, effective recovery in their own home. You will manage a varied caseload, complete holistic assessments, develop goal-focused rehabilitation and reablement plans, and use your clinical reasoning to support admission avoidance and timely discharge from hospital. You will also contribute to triage, work closely with wards, discharge teams and community colleagues, and help coordinate safe onward care. The role requires confident risk assessment, clear documentation, effective communication and the ability to adapt to changing priorities in a fast-paced service. You will provide advice on equipment and functional support, work collaboratively within the multidisciplinary team, and contribute to high standards of person-centred care. You will also support service development, supervision, student learning and continuous improvement, making this an excellent opportunity for an Occupational Therapist who enjoys autonomy, teamwork and making a meaningful difference across the whole discharge and recovery pathway.

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

• To work as required within the Urgent Community Response and Integrated reablement team, responding to health and social care referrals with the aim of preventing admission to hospital, supporting the Discharge to Assess pathways, and promoting independence.
• Working as an autonomous practitioner you will undertake comprehensive assessments to identify the appropriate service for the clients referred.
• Completing profession specific, and holistic assessments and evaluation as required.
• As part of the multi-disciplinary team, planning and developing goal-focused reablement programmes for adults with a wide variety of complex physical and mental health needs, either in a community bed or in their own homes.
• Taking responsibility for continuing the ongoing development of high standards of clinical practice with an evidence-based focus.
• Working as an autonomous practitioner, supporting clinical triage to facilitate hospital discharges to a community bed or home.

Dimensions

• This post has no budgetary responsibility however the post holder is responsible for demonstrating cost consciousness.
• You may be required to work across different bases and community settings within Nottingham City.
• You will be responsible for managing the triage caseload.
• You must have excellent interpersonal, organisational and communication skills, and be able to respond pragmatically to rapidly changing demands and circumstances.
• You will be required to participate actively in CityCares training requirements.
• You will supervise, educate and assess the competency of junior staff, support staff and students.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical

• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your work, including the management of clients in your care.
• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the clients.
• To gain valid informed consent and to identify through assessment clients who lack capacity.
• To work within a legal framework with clients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.
• To undertake advanced comprehensive assessment and evaluation of adults presenting with a wide variety of complex physical and mental health needs, utilising a high level of investigative and analytical skills.
• To be responsible for carrying a client caseload and to provide highly specialist clinical reasoning in assessing, devising and evaluating individualised rehabilitation programmes with clients.
• To be responsible for coordinating the safe and timely discharge process from a variety of community settings, including community beds.
• To risk assess, advise and where appropriate provide equipment including teaching clients / carers in its use.
• To provide highly specialist advice, education and mentorship to the other staff and colleagues within the Reablement team and other multi-professional teams around current best practice and evidence based practice regarding the clinical management of clients.
• To drive quality, clinical service improvement and clinical excellence.
• To be responsible for own continuing professional development keeping abreast of new trends and developments.
• Attend relevant conferences and training courses, supporting junior staff to do the same.
• Incorporate new developments into clinical practice.
• To participate in the supervision framework as a supervisee and a supervisor, including the appraisal process.
• To be able to set own objectives and evaluate own learning and that of more junior staff.
• To be a clinical educator for undergraduate students on University placements, supervising, educating and measuring their performance against the standards set by the degree level qualification.
• To undertake CityCares Holistic Worker Framework competencies.

Professional

• To work to your Code of Professional Conduct.
• To maintain a high standard of care to clients and carers including accurate and detailed documentation.
• To be responsible for your own Continuing Professional Development maintaining an up to date portfolio.
• To facilitate and carry out 1:1 and group education and training to colleagues and junior staff to improve knowledge and practice.
• To contribute to Clinical Governance agenda and apply Risk Management strategies.
• To contribute to implementation of service development and change as appropriate.

Organisational

• To support the Team Manager in implementing and evaluating targets and objectives to assist in the ongoing development of the whole service.
• To advise the Team Manager in relation to clinical needs of the client group.
• To take delegated responsibility for management duties as required.
• To ensure the health & safety of self and others at all times in accordance with Health & Safety legislation and City Care policy and procedures.
• To use information technology on a daily basis and participate in identified data collection and statistics and to maintain clear, concise and timely records in line with the service policy.
• To demonstrate flexibility, prioritise effectively and time manage self, supporting others to do the same.
• Be able to delegate appropriately.
• To participate in the Lone Worker Tracking procedure as applies to the team.
• To act as duty clinician for the process of referrals.
• To undertake any other duties which may be reasonably required.

Person Specification

Knowledge and skills

• Do you have knowledge and experience of managing adults with complex long-term conditions, including carrying out comprehensive assessments and developing and evaluating treatment plans?
• Can you demonstrate the communication and relationship-building skills needed to work effectively with patients, colleagues and external partners, while also working independently and recognising your own limits?
• Do you have experience of supervising junior staff or students, assessing and managing risk, and demonstrating effective prioritisation, time management and leadership skills?
• Please demonstrate your experience and capability in leadership and change management, including evidence of audit or organisational projects undertaken, and your use of advanced clinical reasoning skills.

Qualifications

• HCPC registered.
• Please provide evidence of your continued professional development, including any leadership qualifications, experience as a student mentor, and any recognised teaching qualifications you hold.

Experience

• Do you have a minimum of one-year post-registration experience working at Band 5 level?
• Describe your experience of working in adult rehabilitation and in a community-based setting.
• Describe your experience of working within a multidisciplinary team and supervising junior staff, support staff or students.
• Please describe your experience working within intermediate care services, including your work with clients who have mental health needs.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£39,959 to £48,117 a year Pro Rata for Part Time.

CityCare values the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage applications from candidates who identify as disabled, LGBT+ or from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background, as they are currently under-represented within our organisation. We are proud to be a forces-friendly organisation and are dedicated to supporting Veterans, Service Leavers, Reservists, and military spouses/partners. We value the unique skills and contributions you bring. CityCare is an equal opportunities employer. We are positive about employing people with disabilities.