Senior Occupational Therapist - Prevention of Deconditioning

Job overview

This pioneering AHP role focuses on preventing deconditioning in acute hospital wards. Around 30% of older inpatients experience hospital-associated deconditioning, affecting physical function, cognition, independence, and wellbeing, and increasing length of stay, falls risk, and care needs.

As part of Bedford Hospital’s Prevention of Deconditioning Team, the post-holder supports patients through reconditioning, promoting early mobilisation, meaningful activity, and patient-centred care to maintain or restore function and confidence.

Collaboration is central: working closely with nursing, therapy, and medical teams, providing education and practical support to embed prevention into everyday practice and enhance staff capability.

The role also leads innovative projects, including the PIVOT study using volunteers for ward exercise programmes, Dance for Health to improve activity and wellbeing, and the planned Bedford Health Radio Exercise project, providing weekly exercise guidance for patients in hospital and at home.

Through service development, research, and auditing, the role drives sustainable improvements in patient outcomes and multidisciplinary practice.

Main duties of the job

The Prevention of Deconditioning Team is currently working on targeted wards at Bedford Hospital South Wing. The aim of the service is to gather data and understand how and why patients are deconditioning, and to develop projects that address the culture around immobility and inactivity in a hospital setting.

As an Occupational Therapist within this team, you will be responsible for completing complex assessments to support patients’ ongoing reconditioning and rehabilitation goals, as well as supporting Band 5 staff within the hospital and assisting with the use of our new Therapy Assessment Suite. You will also bring valuable professional insights to the role; to increase the robustness of the service.

You will need to be able to work autonomously in some situations, as the role may require you to work across multiple ward areas without constant direct supervision. You will also be required to support ward teams with their clinical caseloads as needed for ongoing rehabilitation and, in some instances, to assist with patient discharges.

You will be expected to build effective relationships with colleagues from different areas of the MDT to help reduce the impact of deconditioning in our hospitals. There will be opportunities to be involved in delivering training and education as part of a broader educational initiative throughout the hospital and to external partners where required.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your work including management of patient caseloads. •    Formulate and develop individual treatment programmes underpinned by sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and using a range of treatment options. •    Use clinical reasoning skills and evaluate outcomes of treatments to continually reassess and develop treatment programmes. •    Establish an accurate prognosis and recommend best course of treatments in addition to developing comprehensive treatment and discharge plans. •    Use a large range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate with patients to progress and gain participation with rehabilitation treatment programmes. This will include patients who have difficulties in understanding and communicating. •    To be responsible for management of clinical risk of your own caseload. •    To work within Trust and Royal College of Occupational Therapy (RCOT) guidelines, have a good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and other working practices in liaison with Senior Occupational Therapists •    To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment. •    To be responsible for maintaining own competencies through CPD activities. •    To be responsible for teaching student occupational therapists to graduate level on knowledge and skills within your department.