Senior Occupational Therapist

The successful applicant will be required to work across all three Trust Sites.

They will provide skilled therapeutic input to patients on their caseload working collaboratively with the Integrated Therapy Team and wider MDT. They will support assessment and provision of routine and more specialist equipment to optimise functional ability and facilitate effective discharge.

Therapy input is provided with a Home First approach, facilitating referrals to appropriate support services to enable discharge home wherever possible or to inpatient rehabilitation settings when this is not achievable.

There is the expectation that the successful applicant will be able to drive to support completion of access and home visits when required including for provision of equipment.

Within the Integrated Therapy Team there will be involvement with line management where appropriate - providing supervision, teaching and wellbeing support.

The role will be involved in facilitation of wider team management and development through supporting the band 7 Team Leads with day to day caseload and staffing issues as well as service and quality improvement projects.

The successful candidate will be supported by a robust team structure and existing high level of skill and expertise across the team. They will be encouraged to continue their development through varied learning and CPD opportunities.

Therapists across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Medical

and nursing staff, other health care professionals and members of the MDT,

support staff, community care co-ordinators, discharge co-ordinators, patients,

carers, relatives, students and university staff.

This post involves frequent manual handling activities

e.g. hoisting, positioning, assisting sitting/standing, transferring, giving

physical support during walking practice/exercise and occasional pushing of

large items of equipment.

There is a frequent requirement for moderate physical

effort, including repetitive techniques e.g. manual chest techniques, passive

exercises, bed exercises and an occasional requirement for intensive physical

effort for several short periods throughout the day.

Close contact with patients including the performance of

invasive techniques such as Airway suction and Blood Gas sampling frequently

exposes the post holder to bodily fluids e.g. sputum, urine, blood, vomit and

faeces.

There is frequent need for prolonged concentration when

assessing and treating highly complex patients and a need to act rapidly in

potentially life-threatening situations.

The work pattern is often unpredictable with frequent

interruptions/changes and managerial deadlines.

Often you may encounter emotionally distressing

situations, such as dealing with bad news, terminal illness, death and

bereavement, where empathy and support for patients, carers and other team

members will be needed.

provide high-quality, patient centred care as an autonomous practitioner,

managing complex and high risk caseloads through assessment, diagnosis,

development and delivery of individual treatment plans, and effective discharge

planning.

Take

ownership for managing a specialist caseload, within a defined service area or

for a particular patient group.

To

provide clinical leadership within a rotational area including the supervision,

support, and education of unregistered staff, junior colleagues and students.

Actively

contribute in service development, departmental audits, quality improvement and

promote evidence-based practice.

Rotate

across various specialist areas in response to service needs, including

outpatients, community settings, and acute specialist areas as appropriate.

Contribute

to the delivery of a 7-day service on a rota basis, depending on the specialty

and rotation.

To

undertake on-call duties and/or weekend working, as appropriate to the

speciality. When performing on call duties, staff must be available on the ward

within 45 minutes of the call.

To undertake comprehensive, specialist patient-centred

clinical assessment, including complex risk analysis, of patients presenting

with a wide variety of physical, functional or cognitive presentations. This

may include in hospital, patients homes or other community settings that you

must be able to travel to.

Demonstrate advanced clinical reasoning and decision

making using functional analysis, and corroborative goal setting to optimise

patient outcomes.

To utilise a broad and evolving evidence base of specialist

knowledge to deliver and adapt a wide range of interventions such as mobility

training, equipment provision, environmental adaptations, exercise prescription

and cognitive strategies.

To independently plan and implement and evaluate

treatment programmes adjusting interventions accordingly based on clinical

findings and patient response.

To make onward referrals as appropriate and required

for the patient.

To maintain high quality, contemporaneous clinical

records in line with professional, legal and Trust standards.

To participate in the evening and weekend On Call

Service (individuals substantively employed by WAHT only), which includes

advanced respiratory techniques and non-invasive ventilatory aids. This may include the treatment of children.

In line with professional requirements and service needs.

To work hours over 7 day working dependant on

service delivery model.

To take a proactive role in safeguarding,

recognising, escalating and managing concerns

in line with policy.

To embed the principles of Making Every Contact

Count promoting health and well being and self-management.

To communicate highly complex, sensitive or

contentious information effectively with patients, families and carers adapting

style and approach to individual needs.

To utilise advanced communication skills to

motivate, educate and empower patients supporting engagement in rehabilitation

and long-term self-management.

To assess mental capacity, obtain valid consent and

practice within relevant legal and ethical frameworks, including best-interest

decision making where required.

To effectively manage and overcome communication

barriers, including cognitive, sensory, emotional, and cultural factors.

To act as a key member of the MDT contributing to

case conferences, ward rounds, discharge planning and complex decision making.

To provide

specialist advice and guidance to colleagues, patients, carers and other

agencies regarding patient management.

To be appraised by the Senior Therapist within each

team, taking a proactive role in setting, reviewing and achieving personal and

rotational specific objectives. Demonstrating progression in both clinical and

leadership competencies across settings.

To actively engage and contributing to supervision,

CPD and in-service training programmes and take responsibility for personal

learning and development whilst supporting the wider learning needs of the MDT.

To maintain and apply advanced knowledge of current

clinical developments and evidence based practice, and contribute to the

dissemination of best practice within the team.

To consistently complete all annual mandatory

training and maintain competencies relevant to each clinical rotation,

demonstrating flexibility and ability to rapidly acquire new skills required

for different service areas.

To provide leadership, support, guidance, training

and formal supervision to band 5 staff, students and junior and unregistered

staff as appropriate, acting as a role model within the team.

To lead and actively participate in audits, quality

improvement and service evaluations, and implementation of changes to enhance

patient care and service delivery.

To independently prioritise a complex patient

workload and providing oversight and support of the management of the workloads

for both band 5s and assistants.

To regularly take responsibility for the

coordination of the team or service area in the absence of the team lead.

To demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of and

adherence to National, Professional, Trust and Departmental policies and contribute

to the review implementation and development of changes recommended within own

service area following audit or research.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large

acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute

services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a

larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from

three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our

caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred

care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to

work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our

everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise

accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working

within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a

DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check

(at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting

Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Experience

Desirable: - Experience in community settings

Personal Qualities

Qualifications

Essential: - Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy; - HCPC Registration; - Evidence of post-registration CPD relevant to role

Desirable: - Membership with RCOT

Other Job Requirements

Skills and Knowledge

Desirable: - Able to demonstrate IT skills including knowledge of Word/Excel and EPR (Electronic patient record)