Childrens Occupational Therapist

Job overview

Children’s Occupational Therapy Job in Enfield

Come and work with a great team

We are a dynamic, friendly OT team who report high levels of job satisfaction. We offer a professionally led service with direct support from an OT Clinical Lead Specialist, monthly in-service team training, effective supervision and External Training opportunities through the Trust.

An exciting opportunity has risen for a highly motivated Occupational Therapist who wishes to develop specialist skills in Paediatrics within a supportive team. We are looking for a creative, friendly and enthusiastic OT to join our established Children’s Team. We are located within easy commuter links from central London/Hertfordshire.

We are now part of the Royal Free Hospital as Royal Free London North Mid Trust NHS. We are committed to working as an integrated team, within health, education and social care. You will sit within a dynamic multi professional team comprised of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics, Specialist Nurses and Speech and Language Therapy. The team is based at Cedar House, St Michaels Site near Enfield Town, with easy commuter links from central London and Hertfordshire.

Your job will be to provide specialised Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention to children with varying needs in community settings, clinic and the CDC. As part of this role you will be expected to participate in service development activities, regular audits and staff training.

Main duties of the job

To provide a high standard Occupational Therapy service to children aged 0-18 years referred to Enfield Children’s Occupational Therapy Department.

To contribute to and lead on aspects of planning, co-ordinating, delivering and evaluating the Children’s Occupational Therapy Service.

To contribute to and lead on specified service improvement and quality initiatives within the team.

To be responsible for a defined caseload of children within community, SEN/EHCPs and special schools.

To work autonomously with access to supervision.

To lead on a designated clinical area within the team and develop clinical expertise within this specialist area.

To develop evidence based clinical pathways and service provision with a specialist area.

To provide high quality family centred, occupationally focused assessment and intervention to disabled children and children with additional needs. To support the team with implementing evidence-based treatment approaches and good practice guidelines.

To supervise, appraise and train students and junior staff as required.

To work effectively and flexibly within an interdisciplinary framework in a multidisciplinary and multi-agency environment, including working with the local authority SEN service, teachers, community providers, social workers, SLT, psychologists, dieticians, paediatricians, physiotherapists and other professionals.

To be flexible to the demands of the service in regard to location of work

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To manage a caseload of children and young people with a range of needs including those with complex disabilities, providing occupationally focused assessment and intervention.
• To be responsible for a defined caseload of children with specified OT in their EHCP within mainstream schools/nurseries as well as home educated children, out of borough provision and special school settings if requested.  To provide second opinions on EHCP OT provision as requested by Enfield SEN and to take the lead in attending SEN Tribunals where OT is contested.
• To act as an expert advisor and practitioner in Children’s OT contributing to differential diagnoses, provision of highly specialist advice and intervention for a client group with complex physical, social, mental health and cognitive disabilities.
• To set occupationally focused intervention goals with children and/or their parents/carers that are family centred and agreed by the child and/or their parents/carers.
• To set and maintain high standards of clinical practice, which is evidence based, and includes outcome measures to monitor achievement of person-centred goals.
• To work within an occupational frame of reference.
• To demonstrate the ability to analyse the interplay of the child, environment and activity when assessing the child’s level of functioning and identifying appropriate strategies and intervention to facilitate and enhance participation in self-care, school, and play/leisure.
• To devise and manage a specialised treatment plan individual to a child’s presenting condition through occupationally focused intervention, equipment provision (as appropriate), parental support & training, provision of hand splints, advice & strategies and programmes.
• To form productive relationships with parents/carers who may be under stress.
• To advise and teach parents/carers of children with additional needs on appropriate on-going Occupational Therapy management programmes. To develop integrated support plans with multidisciplinary teams and external agencies to ensure effective management in achieving the best care for the child.
• To have the ability, knowledge and skills required for moving and handling children in school and community environments.
• To assess and manage clinical risk concerning the treatment of clients in own caseload and support junior staff to do the same e.g., Manual Handling risk assessment, Trust lone working Policy.