Occupational Therapist – Community & Intermediate Care in London

We are looking for an enthusiastic & suitably qualified individual to join our friendly Intermediate Care Team. We have a full time post (37.5 hours) to be worked Monday - Friday but this could change to a 7 day week in the future. The post holder will provide rehab across the bedded areas and Intermediate Care within the Wigan borough and may also be required to support the New Intermediate Care at Home team service within the community settings. It is essential for this role that you have the ability to independently travel across the borough to assess, formulate therapy plans and deliver therapy interventions for patients in their own place of residence. NHS experience is essential.

Main duties of the job

• To complete functional and specialist therapy assessments of people on the unit.
• To plan and implement effective interventions, work closely with other community services, to support patients to return and remain in their own homes, whilst maximising function and independence, while effectively managing risk.
• To act as a source of knowledge on the management of a varied range of conditions providing an advisory service to patients, relatives, healthcare professionals and social care.
• To assist the Team Leader in planning, co‑ordinating, delivering and evaluating the intermediate service provided on a day-to-day basis.
• Function as an effective member of the multi‑disciplinary team and the integrated team within Health and Social Care.
• To manage a defined caseload using evidence based/client centred principles to access, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
• To regularly supervise students on practice placement.
• To provide leadership and clinical supervision for other junior staff as delegated by supervisor.
• To support team leads in the development and delivery of in‑service training for MDT colleagues.
• To consider and support service development alongside senior colleagues including data collection, audits, service review etc.
• Responsible for providing therapy intervention to patients in a defined caseload using evidence based/client centred principles to access, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.

Working for our organisation

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff, makes for happy patients’. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement, and living our values. WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. With this in mind we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work and to maintain overall accountability for delegated duties of treatment to junior staff for patients on your caseload.
• To use a wide variety of Occupational Therapy assessment methods to identify clients who require Occupational Therapy intervention.
• To use clinical judgment in order to prioritise caseload in line with clinical guidelines and protocols.
• To ensure interventions take place in the most appropriate setting.
• To take a role in preventing unnecessary admissions to the acute setting by assessing and treating Patients within a variety of locations.
• To identify areas of occupational performance and skill deficit in all functional activities of daily life.
• To work with clients and/or carers to identify goals as part of an overall care plan in co‑operation with the multi professional team.
• To demonstrate and apply a broad level of understanding of the effect of disability and recommend adaptations to the clients physical and social environment.
• To justify own clinical judgments when differences of opinion occur.
• To act as an advocate for patients’ needs when necessary.

Planning and Organisational Duties

• To plan, prepare and undertake client assessments for a designated caseload.
• To plan and implement individual interventions in collaboration with clients using graded activity to achieve therapeutic goals.
• To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment for clients with multiple needs/pathology in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.
• To contribute to client related developments and activities within the multi‑professional team.
• To identify and implement service and practice development within own area of clinical specialism in conjunction with the team and line manager.
• To maintain accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records in line with WWL Foundation Trust Policies and COT Standards of Practice.
• To maintain timely statistics and other records as requested by Unscheduled Care and WWL.
• To comply with the College of Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, Health Professions Council Guidance and National and WWL Foundation Trust Policies and Procedures.
• To participate in the day to day organisation and development of the team.
• To demonstrate understanding of national and local guidelines and legislation relating to health and social care and their impact on service delivery.
• Be responsible for the monitoring of materials and equipment and bring defects or deficits to the attention of the Team Leader.
• To exercise good personal time management, punctuality and consistent reliable attendance.
• To advise the Team Leader on resources required to carry out the job.
• To prescribe wheelchairs and equipment for patient use within resources available in Health and Social Services.
• To contribute to development of practice/procedures etc. within the team.
• To participate in the planning, evaluation and audit of practices, clinical pathways and protocols within your clinical area.
• To participate with other team members in measurement of and evaluation of work and current practice through use of outcome measures and audit.
• To demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate current research, apply them to practice and disseminate findings at a local level.
• To broaden research and development skills through participation in local audit and research projects.

Person specification

• Diploma / Degree in Physiotherapy/Occupational therapy
• HCPC Registration
• Evidence of Post Graduate Study and relevant post graduate qualifications.
• Training from a higher Education Institution for graduate student supervision.
• Post registration experience in rehabilitation and condition management
• NHS Experience
• Experience of working with multi‑agencies
• Experience of working in an inter‑disciplinary team and independently
• Experience of liaison with other professionals and partnership working
• Experience of supervising students and staff from different professions
• Post graduate experience related to clinical speciality
• Experience of working in a community setting

Skills

• Evidence of working without direct supervision and being able to use own initiative.
• The ability to understand and respect different points of view working with people from a variety of cultures.
• Must demonstrate excellent verbal and non‑verbal communication with the ability to motivate people and empathise with the challenges of long term condition management.
• Good literacy in computer use i.e. Microsoft Work, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Effective communication (both written and verbal) and interpersonal skills with the ability to be flexible in approach as the situation requires.
• Excellent time management skills / ability to prioritise own caseload with the education and supervision of team members and support / delegate the organisation of the caseload of support staff.
• Good analytical judgement skills.
• High level clinical reasoning skills and problem solving skills.

Knowledge

• Specialist knowledge in relevant clinical skills and approaches to patient management.
• Knowledge of research / audit.
• Working knowledge of Evidence Based Practice.
• Evidence of clinical and professional post qualification training and education.
• Demonstrate and evidence commitment to lifelong learning.

Additional

• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation.
• To maintain professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
• Ability to travel independently within the requirements of the post.
• Ability to work flexibly according to service needs.
• Experience in supervising therapy support staff.
• Experience of training staff.