Community Occupational Therapist Rapid Response

We have an exciting opportunity to recruit a Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join our Rapid Response/Virtual Ward Team in Barrow-in-Furness. This is a unique opportunity to work in a supportive and friendly team. We offer excellent clinical supervision, development and training opportunities. Therapy is a key component of the service delivery and you will become a very valued member of our team. Our aim is to support and treat suitable patients in the community with a range of escalated health and social care needs. Rapid Response aims to prevent inappropriate hospital admission and support early discharge from hospital.

You will work within a team of skilled and experienced therapists, ACP's, nurses, AP's, and therapy assistants. Every day is so different and this makes it such an exciting place to work! Rapid Response continues to develop the virtual wards and increase the therapy offer within the service; building on the visions outlined in the NHS Long Term plan and the future NHS model. We can be flexible and supportive with hours and days of work as the service covers 8-8, 7 days a week and has lots of shift options available. The successful candidate will be based in Furness. We encourage all interested candidates to make contact with the service for informal discussions and more information.

Main duties of the job:

• You will be expected to be flexible for the needs of the service with some expectation to work across traditional boundaries.

Requirements:

• A Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy approved by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.
• Registration with HCPC as an Occupational Therapist.
• The ability to travel to a variety of venues throughout the community to deliver patient assessments within an identified locality and to attend meetings.

In addition to a comprehensive induction package, we offer Team support, staff supervision and in-service training opportunities.

Working for our organisation:

We operate from three main hospitals - Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal, as well as a number of community healthcare premises including Millom Hospital and GP Practice, Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, and Ulverston Community Health Centre. FGH and the RLI have a range of General Hospital services, with full Emergency Departments, Critical/Coronary Care units and various Consultant-led services. WGH provides a range of General Hospital services, together with an Urgent Treatment Centre, that can help with a range of non-life threatening conditions such as broken bones and minor illnesses. All three main hospitals provide a range of planned care including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery. In addition, a range of local outreach services and diagnostics are provided from community facilities across Morecambe Bay. Our community services for adults are provided in people’s homes, community centres, clinics, GP Practices, community hospitals and our main hospitals. Our aim is to work with people to help them remain independent, improve their health and manage their conditions through high quality care, advice and support.

Person specification:

• Health and Care Professions Council registered Occupational Therapist.
• Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy approved by the College of OT, UK.
• Membership of the British Association of Occupational Therapists.

Experience:

• Comprehensive experience at undergraduate level of the core competencies within Occupational Therapy.
• OT practice placement experience or post registration work experience in an acute hospital and/or community setting as an OT, achieving knowledge and skills applicable to this post.

Skills, Ability & Knowledge:

• Evidence of occupational therapy assessment, observation, evaluation and reporting skills.
• Ability to deal with information sensitively, professionally and confidentially.
• Ability to work single handed with individuals/groups of patients with access to guidance from an experienced B6, B7 OT colleague either at base or by telephone.
• Effective personal organisational skills.
• Understanding of team dynamics.
• Basic computer skills e.g. word processing, email and internet skills.
• Evidence of written communication skills in English sufficient to communicate effectively with patients to gain consent and explain treatment interventions.
• Knowledge of current evidence based practice in OT.
• Competent skills in risk assessment and risk management.

Personal Qualities:

• To demonstrate flexibility in approach to work patterns and the ability to work across different sites/bases/locations.
• Ability to participate in manual handling tasks and therapeutic handling, using skills developed through practice, including dexterity, coordination and physical effort, during OT interventions and the use of specialist tools and materials and installation of equipment.
• Ability to support effective teamworking.
• Ability to demonstrate emotional intelligence.
• Ability to meet the physical/psychological requirements of the post.

PLEASE NOTE THAT SHORTLISTED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED BY EMAIL. The Trust promotes flexible working opportunities wherever possible to enable staff to balance their work and home life. We are committed to Equal Opportunities and aim to be Effortlessly Inclusive. The Trust operates a No Smoking Policy. Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our Person Specification will be shortlisted for Interview. We reserve the right to close a job advert early where sufficient applications have been received. The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert. If the post is subject to Disclosure & Barring Service checking, a charge of £49.50 for Enhanced and £21.50 for Standard clearance and additional to this a £4.90 administration fee will be made to the successful candidate(s). This currently only applies to roles Band 6 and above and Medical & Dental posts. Anyone newly appointed to the trust under the Agenda For Change contract will be subject to the completion of a satisfactory 6 month probationary period. This will give the new staff member an opportunity to become familiar with the role and working environment.

We have introduced a new system called Pre-Onboarding, specifically to support you right the way through to your first few months in your new role with us at UHMB. This bespoke site has lots of useful information to help you settle into your new role including: what to expect from the recruitment clearances process, where to get a uniform, when you'll get paid etc. As well as information on a number of our services i.e. Infection Prevention, Anti-fraud, Inclusion and Diversity, Care Certificates and much more.