Senior Occupational Therapist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for Occupational Therapists to join our innovative, proactive well established Occupational Therapy Team within Acute Discharge Services based at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital. We take a home first approach and work collaboratively with the MDT to assist with discharge from hospital at the earliest available opportunity.

The post will allow the successful candidates to gain enhanced clinical experience across a wide range of specialities including, but not limited to, Care of the Elderly, Acute and Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Respiratory, Orthopaedics.

This post provides opportunities for development in your clinical specialist area of interest. Elements of this role include leadership, quality improvement, opportunities for audit and research.

Core working hours are 0830-1630 Monday to Friday with rostered weekend working., However service contacted hours are between 8am-8pm 7 days per week.

Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for candidates who are motivated, enthusiastic and willing to engage in current service developments & audits and use highly developed Occupational Therapy skills and evidence-based practice to enhance the health and wellbeing of patients. The candidate will be expected to work closely with the wider multi-disciplinary team to foster an environment of high quality and seamless therapy pathways across North Tyneside and Northumberland. This will ensure high quality individualised care is delivered which focuses on promoting independence and optimising recovery after illness or injury. The successful candidate will be supported by supervision and appraisal processes and will have opportunities to complete specialist training to enhance key skills and knowledge.

Candidates will be responsible for their own clinical practice, delegating work to Occupational Therapy Technical Instructors and support workers where appropriate, and supporting students on clinical placements. The successful candidate will comply with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and National and Trust procedures to deliver a seamless therapy pathway. The candidate will work autonomously respecting the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of patients and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide a comprehensive Occupational Therapy service in the specific specialist area(s) following Trust policies and procedures to ensure safety and clinical excellence.
• To ensure service provision in the specialist areas is prioritised and service delivery is made effectively within resource constraints.
• To practice within the multidisciplinary team, providing specialist Occupational Therapy assessments, diagnosis and treatment using clinical reasoning skills.
• To manage a defined caseload of patients (often with highly complex needs), using evidence based clinical reasoning to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
• To provide leadership for junior and support staff, through supervision, appraisals and mentoring.
• To support service provision across sites when needed, in line with needs of the service.
• To regularly supervise undergraduate Occupational Therapy students on practice placement and participate in placement experience of other professionals.
• To complete home visits with patients where appropriate.

The successful candidate's may be required to work within a 8am-8pm rostering system. Working patterns between these hours will be considered to accommodate individual needs, in line with needs of the service. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if this appeals to you.

It is an essential requirement of the role that the post holder has a valid driving licence and is either a car owner and able to use the car for work purposes, or has a Trust personal lease vehicle which may be used for the role. However, the Trust would consider making reasonable adjustments to the role, if necessary, to enable a disabled person to undertake the role.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.