Occupational Therapist - Aquarius Ward

Job overview

This is a really exciting opportunity for a newly qualified or experienced band 5 to join the inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Occupational Therapy team working at our of inpatient units, the General adolescent unit and,

The post holder will be based at Aquarius ward working 4 days alongside the band 6 Occupational Therapists and activity coordinator and spend one day working on CAMHS specific Occupational Therapy projects including the therapeutic youth club.

On the wards the postholder will be providing Occupational Therapy assessments and individual and group interventions to the young people and working with families, networks, schools and the multidisciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

• Aquarius Ward is a specialist inpatient mental health provision for young people aged 12 – 18 who are experiencing an acute mental health crisis. It is a 12 bedded National Unit open 365 days a year, 24h a day. It is part of the South London Partnership providing the adolescent in-patient services for young people under St George’s Southwest London Mental Health Trust, South London and Maudsley and Oxleas NHS Trust. The team provides inpatient treatment for adolescents aged 12 to their 18th birthday in an acute mental health crisis that is unable to be managed in the community with conditions such as severe depression, anxiety OCD, self-harm, psychosis and mania. You will be joining a multi-disciplinary team that is committed to the provision of highly quality service user centred care.  The Band 5 occupational therapy post will be an essential component of these services and the postholder  will work alongside the band 6 to deliver client centred & specific interventions alongside the MDT. They will offer occupational therapy knowledge to support clients’ skill  maintenance, development & progress during transition from in-patient services through to the community. There are excellent links with community services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To manage a defined caseload, using evidence based /client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in the hospital setting and on home and school visits.
• To act as the designated ‘Disability Champion’ on the ward, leading the multi-disciplinary team in Disability Equality matters within the service and other areas as required.
• To contribute to the care pathway from admission through to discharge in keeping with the principles of the team.
• To promote recovery and social inclusion
• To contribute from an occupational therapy perspective to individual care plans
• To maintain clinical records
• To lead on CAMHS inpatient projects including the therapeutic youth club