Community Occupational Therapist

Job overview

The Urgent Community Response Therapy Team  based at St James Clinic, Kings Lynn PE30 5NU has an exciting opportunity to recruit a Band 6 Occupational Therapist.

The role will be to serve the Urgent Community Response Teams working alongside the West  Home First HUB that aims to support optimal discharge from hospital but also avoid admission by providing multi-disciplinary intervention at home with our highly skilled multi-disciplinary  team.

If you are an experienced practitioner who is able to support patients and their families in challenging situations, then this role is for you.

You will need to be able to demonstrate effective communication skills, problem solving skills and be resilient and able to cope in changing and challenging situations. Previous experience in discharge planning and development of robust rehab programmes in a rehabilitation setting would be desired. The expectation of the post-holder would be to carry out occupational therapy assessments for patients in the in rehabilitation setting, and if required there may be a need to provide support to the Urgent Community Response team with assessing patients in their own homes,. Visits in the community may be planned or unplanned depending on the need.

Clinical supervision will be provided by a band 7 Clinical Lead Physiotherapist. We offer the opportunity to work in an experienced and supportive team with opportunities for ongoing professional development.

Main duties of the job

To assess and prescribe treatment packages for patients with long term conditions, the frail & elderly, palliative care and rehabilitation needs for example, to achieve quality of life and independence where possible.  Able to triage, review timely responses to referrals on a needs-based basis utilising the skills and expertise of others in the team.  To work within the integrated team to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital via an unplanned care triage hub Community Response Team  To work within the integrated team to facilitate early discharge from hospital  To work within the integrated team to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital  To provide in-reach to inpatient units and step up beds where required  To work with all health care professionals, and statutory/non statutory agencies to provide a seamless, integrated service to our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

•  Formulate and execute individualised occupational therapy treatment plans of patientsincluding those with complex presentation, in collaboration with the integrated team,other agencies and the patient, utilising a wide range of treatment skills. Provide assessment of functional ability and safety of patients in the community, toidentify care, equipment, adaptation and therapy needs. Assess & plan treatment including teaching patients to utilise techniques & equipment tomaximise their functional ability. Be aware of Assistive Technology and make referrals for this as required. Assess patients’ holistic needs, communicating complex and sensitive information topatients and carers as to their assessment, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan. Communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation andtreatment potential, and to aid motivation and understanding throughout the treatmentprocess. Where there are barriers to understanding, such as hearing impairment, mental capacityimpairment and other difficulties in comprehension, explanations require adjustments inorder to gain understanding, consent and concordance. Be required to use tact and persuasive skills in order to gain the patient’s co-operation intheir treatment plan. Liaise with GPs, Social Services, inpatient teams, other allied health care professionalsand the voluntary sector to ensure identified needs are met and care co-ordinatedappropriately Participate in multi-disciplinary/multi-agency meetings as appropriate, e.g. Gold StandardFramework. Be responsible for ensuring workload for self and others is planned and prioritisedaccording to service targets and needs. Ensure patient held records are completed for each visit, and that Systmone inputting iscompleted daily. Plan and organise specialist services within the integrated team. Demonstrate dexterity and co-ordination when using specialist equipment and fine tools,manual and mobilising skills. Order equipment and supplies via electronic ordering systems for use within the team. Be aware of budget and ensure all effort is made to work within this. Ensure informed consent is obtained prior to initiating interventions. Will be exposed to bodily fluids, infected material, blood products on a daily basis,therefore must utilise universal precautions and adhere to infection control policies.