Senior Occupational Therapist- Older Person's/ Medical Therapy Team

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Gateshead Occupational Therapy Department;  working as part of the Older Person's Team . This role is suited to an existing or emerging Band 6 who has a passion for supporting older people to manage functional decline, to support skill maintenance and proactively plan hospital discharges .

The aim of the role is to support patients to return home from hospital through the delivery of timely assessment and intervention; we are seeking an enthusiastic and flexible therapist who has sound clinical reasoning and risk management skills.

You will have excellent development opportunities including service improvement. You will be supported by the clinical MDT's  as well as the Occupational Therapy Department; including regular clinical and professional supervision, peer support and access to CPD opportunities.

You will be required to work a shift pattern between the hours of 08:00 – 17:00 and will be required to support delivery of the weekend working rota. The post holder is required to hold a UK driving license with access to a vehicle for work purposes; you will be based at one of the Gateshead Health Locations or as directed by your line manager.

We welcome enquires so please don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like to know more about this exciting role.

Main duties of the job

• To act as an experienced autonomous practitioner, providing specialised occupational therapy assessment and treatment plans for patients with complex acute and/or chronic medical conditions which require intervention to prevent hospital admission/ support discharge.
• To independently manage a caseload, using evidence based and holistic principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
• To work as a key member of the MDT.
• To deliver care  within a variety of clinical settings  and within the patient's own home.
• To support and supervise qualified and non-qualified staff within the department.
• To contribute to service development and the learning culture within the department.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To work within a variety of clinical settings; this will involve loan working.
• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients in your care.
• Reporting  to a Band 7 Occupational Therapy Team Lead.
• To work as part of the multi-disciplinary team to deliver a holistic patient-centred approach to care. To regularly liaise with MDT members including those from heath, social services and voluntary agencies to ensure an integrated and comprehensive service is provided.
• To ensure that patients are identified for prompt discharge from the service  and handover to community services as required.
• To provide leadership for more junior staff, as agreed with senior staff.
• To support the Band 7 Team Lead Occupational Therapist in planning, coordinating, and delivering the service provided to patients and to assist in the development, planning and progression of service provision.
• To deputise for the Band 7 Team Lead Occupational Therapist in their absence as required.
• To supervise other qualified and non-qualified staff within the team
• To supervise Occupational Therapy students on clinical placements.
• To participate in CPD and develop skills and knowledge through participation in in-service training.
• Maintaining Records as an autonomous practitioner.
• To be an active participant in the weekend working rota