Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist Neonates

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dynamic and passionate Occupational Therapist to join our neonatal team, working across a Level 3 Neonatal Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital, which is currently in the process of becoming a Level 2 unit.

The postholder will work alongside the Clinical Specialist Neonatal Occupational Therapist to provide high-quality, family-centred care to infants and their families across both neonatal settings. The role will also contribute to service development, evaluation, and audit activities to support the ongoing growth and impact of neonatal occupational therapy services across the Trust.

You will work collaboratively with families and the wider multidisciplinary team, providing specialist assessment, intervention, and support for infants with a range of developmental and medical needs.  This is an excellent opportunity to join a dynamic and established team, with opportunities for joint working, education, training, and service innovation.

The role will be based across both the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex Hospital sites, with flexibility to meet clinical service needs.  This is a fixed-term role to cover maternity leave.

Main duties of the job

• To continue to establish and develop the role of occupational therapy on the neonatal units on both sites.
• To provide expert assessment, diagnosis and intervention for infants on the units and timely appropriate onward referrals.
• To establish teaching for the multidisciplinary team on specialist areas of knowledge such as family integrated care and to promote the role of the occupational therapist within neonatal services.
• To work autonomously as an integral member of a multidisciplinary team providing a holistic service to the infant and their family/carers.
• To work alongside therapy and dietetic colleagues and the wider MDT to promote the roles of AHPs in neonates.
• To work with MDT colleagues in driving developmental care and early intervention.
• To engage with clinical supervision and professional support delivered from outside of the Trust.
• To use evidence-based principles/current best practice and specialist skills to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
• To participate in service development projects and QI initiatives, particularly those that highlight the impact of a strong AHP workforce within the neonatal unit.
• To provide teaching for more junior staff on the neonatal unit and within the therapy teams on the occupational therapy role in neonatal care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of professional practice, including the management of patients in your care.
• To uphold the standards set by HCPC and RCOT.  To have a good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others’ quality of practice as appropriate.
• To be responsible for an individual caseload, including prioritisation, assessment and management of patients with acute conditions.
• To support the delivery of the clinical service with the neonatal services according to service demands and deliver a high-quality, evidence-based service.
• To identify and prioritise infants on the neonatal unit for clinical caseload and carry out highly specialised individualised assessments and interventions.
• To use standardised screening tools and outcome measures specific for the neonatal population.
• To identify infants at risk of neurodevelopmental problems, work with families/carers and other MDT to provide appropriate early intervention and ensure onward timely referrals as appropriate.
• To use evidence based and a family-centred approach to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
• To work with families/carers to identify goals and monitor, evaluate and modify treatment to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.
• To prescribe and provide individual patient equipment such as developmental aids or limb splints, seeking support as needed.

• Please see the attached documents for the full job description and personal specification.