Specialist Occupational Therapist - Housing

To provide an integrated Occupational Therapy service to children and young people and their families, with a focus on major housing adaptation. This will involve expertise in the assessment of housing needs and provision including adaptations and equipment needs for children and young people and their families with close, effective working relationships with the community occupational therapists and with colleagues in social care.

You will be responsible for your own caseload and in a supervisory capacity for that of junior staff working within your team.

To provide specialised children's occupational therapy assessment and treatment for children in the domain of housing adaptations, safety within the home and equipment needs related to a major housing adaptation.

To assess and prescribe specialist equipment for home to support function and participation (e.g. positioning, beds, toilet and bathing, hoists and slings, safety) and link with the community Occupational Therapists within the service to ensure a fully integrated service.

To appropriately delegate work/tasks to therapy assistants, maintaining oversight of their input with children and young people.

Nature of work

To provide specialised childrens occupational therapy assessment and treatment for children in the domain of housing adaptations, safety within the home and equipment needs related to a major housing adaptation.

To assess and prescribe specialist equipment for home to support function and participation (e.g. positioning, beds, toilet and bathing, hoists and slings, safety) and link with the community Occupational Therapists within the service to ensure a fully integrated service.

To appropriately delegate work/tasks to therapy assistants, maintaining oversight of their input with children and young people.

To participate in training/lecturing programmes, with support from senior colleagues, for Occupational Therapists staff, Occupational Therapy students and external agencies, as required.

To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of the children and young peoples Occupational Therapy service.

To complete assessments with support from senior occupational therapist to inform the SEN tribunal process

The nature of childrens practice will require the post holder to bend, stretch, lift childrens limbs, crawl, kneel, work in confined spaces and at times work from the floor employing light physical effort on a day-to-day basis.

To plan their own diary and prioritise their caseload in line with the service offer.

To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of the children and young peoples Occupational Therapy service.

To work as an autonomous practitioner supported by regular clinical and management supervision.

To comply with departmental and organisational policies and procedures.

Specific projects

To participate in defined, delegated projects.

To liaise with Team Leaders to ensure that all children referred into the occupational therapy Housing Team receive an equitable service.

To provide excellent communication with Children and Young People, Parents, carers, schools, local education authority, social services, acute hospitals, paediatricians, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, pre-school teachers, psychologists (clinical and educational) and child and family nurses.

Often information handled will be sensitive and highly complex. Occasionally children are seen with extremely sensitive rare and complex medical conditions this requires communication at a high level with specialist doctors and national centres of excellence.

To investigate and manage concerns, incidents and complaints recognising limitations and referring to more senior colleagues, where appropriate.

To provide clear, concise written reports for other agencies for statutory processes to meet legal requirements, e.g. Education, Health and Care Plan, Tribunal cases.

Contribute to EECs internal communication strategies ensuring effective two-way communication and engagement within the organisation

Contribute to EECs external communication strategies working with the Head of Communications to raise awareness and promote the reputation of EEC services

To be involved in the supervision of Therapy Assistants (alongside the team leader Occupational Therapist).

To be involved in the supervision of occupational therapy students in their clinical practice.

Maintain their own professional development and ensure complies with mandatory requirement to take part in appraisal process

To provide support, guidance and training to therapy assistants assessing and evaluating competence and delegating work appropriately.

To participate in the staff appraisal scheme as an appraiser for therapy assistants, where appropriate.

Rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.

There's one reason why our services are outstanding - and that's our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.

If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.

Please be aware that East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust will never ask applicants to pay fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. All recruitment communications and job applications should only be made through our official careers website and published contact details.

If you receive a suspicious job offer or recruitment-related communication, do not make any payments, share personal information, or provide identity documents. We encourage you to report the matter to your local police or relevant law enforcement agency. Any concerns relating to potential recruitment fraud should also be reported to our Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) as soon as possible.

Qualifications & Training

Essential: - Degree or Diploma of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (DipCOT); - Registration with HCPC

Experience

Essential: - Experience in major adaptations and equipment; - Experience working in multi disciplinary or multi agency teams

Skills & Knowledge

Essential: - Knowledge of relevant housing legislation; - Seeks support where appropriate in line with the professional code of conduct

Desirable: - Ability to work in a team and also work independently

Safeguarding

Essential: - Demonstrates understanding of safeguarding issues

Desirable: - Shows awareness of current safeguarding legislation