Occupational Therapist

Job overview

We are looking to recruit a passionate and highly motivated Occupational Therapist to this varied and interesting role, dedicated to providing high-quality person-centred care for older people with functional mental health needs, people with a dementia diagnosis and their care givers.  You will work across the service including the Memory Clinic which has been accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatry since 2014.

You will be an integral member of the therapies team, working independently in the community and will be supervised by the Band 7 Lead Occupational Therapist.  We are happy to discuss your interests and aspirations and consider how we can nurture your progress.

The role is full time role (37.5hrs/week) and the role is agile with combination of office based and  remote working. The post holder will require a driving licence and vehicle to carry OT community visits.

Main duties of the job

To be responsible for a diverse caseload of service users with varied presentations and multiple health conditions.

To identify service development needs, to contribute to the planning, development and evaluation of the service, and have responsibility for defined projects including the introduction and piloting of the Home-Based Memory Rehabilitation programme into the Memory Clinic.

To support the memory clinic by providing specialist OT assessments to contribute to a holistic understanding of the person’s strengths and needs whilst contributing to differential diagnosis and post diagnostic support.

To contribute to the provision of psychosocial interventions for people living with dementia and their families e.g. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, Understanding Dementia for Carers or Living Well with Dementia Groups.

It is an exciting time to join the team as part of the role will be to support the development of the integration of the stepped care model for people living with dementia exhibiting distressed behaviour.  You will use your unique skills as an Occupational Therapist to assess the environment and situational and sensory triggers and use person-centred life history knowledge to implement positive behaviour support planning.  Working closely with the care home staff and ultimately enabling reduced use of antipsychotics, reduced conflict within the care home environment, and enhanced quality of life for the person with dementia.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The “must haves” for this role:

• Be a qualified Occupational Therapist with HCPC registration.

• Have experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team setting and be confident to work independently within the community.

• Have an understanding of the physical, mental and social needs of people with dementia and mental health conditions.

• Have excellent IT skills.

• Be able to travel between multiple sites on a daily basis.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Emma Barnett on: [email protected]

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.