Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist (Band 6)

Job overview

This vacancy is for an experienced Occupational Therapist to join the newly formed Care Group 2, which covers Older People and . Rehabilitation across North London NHS Foundation Trust. This  vacancy is based at Highgate East  Mental Health Centre in one of the older adults ward. Previous experience of working with older adults  and working knowledge of the UK healthcare system is desirable.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication, be organised and ready to face the challenge of working in a fast paced environment.

If you are an existing Band 5 looking to develop as a senior therapist then this is an excellent opportunity to develop in a well supported setting. We are a friendly and supportive team. We offer access to in house training opportunities, and external training to promote your learning and skill development.

Main duties of the job

You will be expected to perform advanced Occupational Therapy assessment of patients with diverse presentations and complex physical and psychological conditions and use advanced clinical reasoning skills to provide a diagnosis and to develop and deliver an individualised treatment programme.

You will be responsible for managing your own caseload and a defined area of the service, working without direct supervision. You will supervise, educate and assess Occupational Therapy students, assistants and Band 5 Grade Occupational Therapists and provide specialised advice to other health care professionals in the specific clinical area.

You will be responsible for undertaking activities which contribute to own continuing professional development which may include, audit, evidence-based learning and research projects to further own and teams’ clinical practice.

You will be encouraged to make recommendations to the Clinical Lead/Manager of the service for changes to practice by the team and this may lead on the implementation of specific changes to practice or contribute to development of service protocols.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work as an autonomous practitioner, to assess and treat own caseload of patients, including those with complex presentations. In each rotation treatment decisions will be underpinned by specialist knowledge gained from post graduate study of evidence-based treatments and from previous experience.
• To quickly and accurately screen, establish priority for patient referrals for Occupational Therapy intervention some of which maybe complex and require a multi-disciplinary approach.
• To carry out an assessment of patients, including those with complex presentations. Draw on a wide range of information sources and use clinical reasoning skills to determine an accurate diagnosis. To identify an appropriate Occupational Therapy care plan from treatment options available.
• To formulate and deliver occupational therapy treatment programmes in a variety of settings. Settings include: hospital, community, and patients’ home, home visits, as part of a team and as a sole practitioner.
• To work collaboratively to prevent inappropriate hospital admissions and to facilitate hospital discharge in order to minimize hospital stays.
• To develop comprehensive discharge plans in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team members.
• To make recommendations to support a patient’s discharge including care support and rehabilitation opportunities.
• Undertake referrals to internal and external services when deemed appropriate/of benefit to the support or progression of the patient. e.g. community rehabilitation, social services, voluntary agencies. · This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.