ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Candidates for appointment must:
A) Be registered, or be eligible for registration, on the Occupational Therapists’ Register maintained by the Occupational Therapists Registration Board at CORU (New graduates awaiting CORU registration may be considered for shortlisting)
And
B) Have the requisite knowledge and ability (including a high standard of suitability) for the proper discharge of the duties of the office.
And
C) Have experience in one or more of the following specialities: Older Person rehabilitation, Neuro/stroke rehabilitation, Respiratory rehabilitation, Older Person residential, Adult Intellectual Disability
D) Demonstrate excellent communication and teamwork skills.
E) Demonstrate recent evidence of Continuing Professional Development.

SKILLS, COMPETENCIES AND KNOWLEDGE

Demonstrate a command of the English language (both verbal and written) so as to effectively carry out the duties and responsibilities of the role.
Demonstrate sufficient clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning skills and evidence based practice to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the role.
Demonstrate evidence of having applied/used appropriate assessment tools and treatment interventions and a knowledge of relevant outcome measures.
Demonstrate an appropriate level of understanding/knowledge of the Occupational Therapy process within rehabilitation and/or residential settings.
Demonstrate knowledge of and experience in therapeutic group interventions.
Demonstrate the ability to plan, deliver and evaluate interventions and service in an effective and resourceful manner and the ability to organise self in a busy working environment.
Demonstrate ability to organise time and workload effectively.
Demonstrate ability to take initiative and to be appropriately self-directed.
Demonstrate a commitment to the delivery of a high-quality, person-centred service.
Demonstrate effective team, communication and interpersonal skills including the ability to collaborate and work in partnership with colleagues, service users, families, carers etc.
Demonstrate competence in goal setting, treatment planning, report writing and documentation in partnership with service users.
Demonstrate the ability to empathise with and treat service users, relatives and colleagues with dignity and respect.
Demonstrate evidence and commitment to continuing professional development.
Demonstrate flexibility and openness to change.
Demonstrate a willingness to develop IT skills relevant to the role.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

The Occupational Therapist will:
Participate in mandatory training programmes.
Keep up to date with advances and developments in Occupational Therapy and demonstrate a commitment to professional development.
Participate in continuing professional development including, reflective practice, journal clubs, in-service training, attending and presenting at conferences/courses relevant to practice, promoting and contributing to research etc as agreed with the Occupational Therapy Manager.
Contribute to in-service training within the Occupational Therapy department and within the organisation as required.
Participate in support/professional supervision with Senior Occupational Therapist/Occupational Therapy Manager.
Engage in personal development planning and performance review with Occupational Therapy Manager/delegate.
Participate in the practice education of student occupational therapists and attend practice educator courses as appropriate.
Participate in the supervision and training of Occupational Therapy support staff.

VALIDATION OF QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Any credit given to a candidate at interview, in respect of claims to qualifications, training and experience is provisional and is subject to verification. The recommendation of the interview board is liable to revision if the claimed qualification, training or experience is not proven.

PURPOSE OF POST

The Occupational Therapist will be responsible for the provision of a high quality person-centred Occupational Therapy service to a designated clinical area(s) and will carry out clinical, educational and administrative duties as assigned by the Senior Occupational Therapist/Occupational Therapy Manager.

PROFESSIONAL/CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Occupational Therapist will:
Implement the Occupational Therapy service in the designated clinical area(s) to which assigned. This may rotate as and when it is deemed appropriate.
Manage own caseload in accordance with prioritisation guidelines and the needs of the service.
Be responsible for assessment, planning, implementation and review of treatment/intervention programmes for service users in accordance with Occupational Therapy standards.
Collaborate with service users, multidisciplinary team members, family, carers and outside agencies, as required, ensuring co-ordinated intervention.
Be responsible for goal setting in partnership with service users, multidisciplinary team members, family, and carers as required.
Plan discharge or transition of the service user between services as appropriate.
Document all assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, reports and discharge summaries in accordance with the requirements of the Occupational therapy department and professional standards.
Communicate verbally and/or in writing results of assessments, treatment/intervention programmes and recommendations to the service user and relevant others as appropriate.
Participate in teams as appropriate, communicating and working in co-operation with other team members.
Foster and maintain professional working relationships with colleagues.
Attend ward rounds, multidisciplinary team meetings and care planning meetings as designated by Senior Occupational Therapist/Occupational Therapist Manager.
Arrange and carry out duties in a timely manner within settings appropriate to service users needs.
Maintain quality standards of practice and participate in quality assurance and clinical audit as appropriate.
Maintain professional standards in relation to documentation, consent, confidentiality, ethics and legislation.
Respect and maintain confidentiality in all matters of information obtained during the course of employment.
Seek advice and assistance from his/her Senior/manager with any assigned cases or issues that prove to be beyond the scope of his/her professional competence in line with the principles of best practice and clinical governance.
Operate within the scope of Irish Occupational Therapy practice and in accordance with local guidelines.

QUALITY, RISK & SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the responsibility of all staff to:
Participate and cooperate with legislative and regulatory requirements with regard to Quality, Risk and Safety.
Participate and cooperate with external agencies on safety initiatives as required.
Participate and cooperate with internal and external evaluations of hospital structures, services and processes as required, including but not limited to:
O National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare.
O National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections.
O HSE Standards and Recommended Practices for Healthcare Records Management
O Safety audits and other audits specified by the HSE or other regulatory authorities.
To initiate, support and implement quality improvement initiatives in their area which are in keeping with the hospitals continuous quality improvement programme.
It is the responsibility of all managers to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for Quality, Safety and Risk within their area/department