Highly Specialised Occupational Therapist - Community Stroke Team

at  Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

In addition, you will lead a multidisciplinary team of Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Nurses, rehabilitation assistants and practitioners providing therapeutic interventions with patients following stroke.
Patients are seen both in the early stages and during their longer-term rehabilitation period.
Excellent communication skills and enthusiasm to make a positive change to the quality of life of our local stroke survivors is essential.
You will possess outstanding stroke skills and have extensive evidence of uptake of post graduate stroke rehabilitation CPD. Examples of innovative practice and extensive service development and change management skills are essential.
Experience of delegating programmes to and training support staff will be valuable as will previous community experience. We provide a countywide seven day service. Therefore being a car user and driver is essential. There will be two bases; one at Northampton General Hospital and one at Isebrook Hospital, Wellingborough.
You will have the ability to work on your own initiative and on your own in patient’s homes, yet thrive on working as a valued member of a multi-disciplinary team.
Northampton General Hospital has a dynamic stroke service and is one of the designated centres in the East Midlands to provide hyper acute care. There is a commitment to CPD and various courses have been hosted here. We take Occupational Therapy students.
Responsible for overseeing, providing and co-ordinating occupational therapy assessment and treatment for all stroke patients in community stroke team.
Responsible with the MDT for managing and co-ordinating treatment and care input for all patients on the caseload in conjunction with the patient, family and carers within the patient’s own home or place of care.
Supervise, appraise, and develop band 6 and 5 occupational therapist, band 4 and 3 staff and student OTs in the team.
Support band 7 and 8 staff in managing and planning the community stroke rehabilitation services, deputising for team lead as required.
Leadership and service development for the team.
Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.
Our Excellence Values
Compassion
Accountability
Respect
Integrity
Courage
We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.
We are a Defence positive trust, supporting our reservists, veterans, spouses and partners.
The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals.
We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.
We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.
To work as a highly specialist autonomous practitioner.
To identify, select and implement, with the patient and their carers, the most appropriate intervention options which balance the complex interaction of risk, safety, patient choice, independence, areas of conflict and availability for services.
To support the wellbeing of patients within the Community Stroke Team.
To apply a high level of understanding of the effect of stroke and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the patients’ physical and social environment.
To share records and information with patients, carers and MDT and store securely in an accessible location.
To generate handouts/information booklets/exercise programmes for supplying to patients, carers and MDT using electronic/IT and software.
To utilise an established knowledge of the full range of disability equipment and adaptations available to the patient group.
To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out Occupational Therapy duties and to adhere to department policy including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training, and supervision of practice.
To advise patients, their family and carers-teaching and demonstrating the safe use of equipment and other techniques to optimise the patient’s functional ability and independence
To advise patients on purchase and provision of necessary equipment that cannot be supplied.
To advise specialist OT, other OTs, generic assistants, carers and MDT in the selection of appropriate aids/methods of treatment to promote patient care and independence.
To participate in and where indicated, initiate multidisciplinary/multi-agency team meetings and case conferences to ensure co-ordination of patient care. This will include the review of patient progress and discharge planning and close working relationships with other health and care sectors.
To generate reports/discharge documents, including referrals on request in a variety of formats, using IT on a timely basis and demonstrate ability requirements to specialist team.
To refer patients for assessment and treatment by other agencies e.g other therapies, orthotics as appropriate
To take a lead role in the highly specialist assessment and treatment of stroke patients who may have complex presentation, to determine the occupational therapy interventions indicated to provide the best outcome for the individual using evidence-based practice and establish clinical reasoning and knowledge where recommendations may not agree.
To utilise and further develop highly specialised skills for stroke including therapeutic handling (e.g., ability to move complex patients from bed to chair).
To undertake environmental and manual handling risk assessments in the community/rehabilitation environment and advise as appropriate
To use expert clinical reasoning skills frequently with no access to other colleagues.
To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers, other disciplines, and agencies to promote understanding of the aims of therapy and to ensure continuation of the treatment programme
To take into account the psychological, social and leisure needs as well as medical aspects of the patient’s situation considering the functional impact of stroke on everyday life.
To utilise high levels of negotiation and reasoning with patients and their families and carers on a daily basis including possible unpredictable and volatile response to discussions about long term effects of stroke and discharge from service.
The post holder must have the ability to travel across Northamptonshire
7-Day working on a roster basis. Liaise with team lead to maintain appropriate 7-day clinical cover.
Physical effort required daily

To communication sensitively and effectively in all situations and with all people.
To identify and employ suitable verbal and non-verbal communication skills with patients who may have difficulties in understanding or communicating e.g., altered perception, expressive and receptive dysphasia and fear or inability to accept diagnosis and implications.
To engage the patient and relatives and carers where appropriate, in the planning and agreement of a treatment programme to maximise rehabilitation potential.
To educate patients/relatives/carers regarding the nature of the condition/prognosis and the aims of therapy intervention and long-term management in the home.
To ensure all team members maintain timely written records including realistic goal setting and activity data in accordance with professional and Trust standards.
To undertake ongoing measurement and evaluation including audit, uni-professional and team outcome measurement and integration of evidence-based practice and research into clinical practice.
To liaise with higher education establishments to aid student placements’
To provide education on all aspects of OT care to other members of the MDT to further their professional development and improve patient care.
To use information such as Clinical Governance, NICE and other stroke guidelines, and evidence of best practice to produce working guidelines, competencies and objectives et cetera and to develop the service.
To identify organisational changes within NGH and the NHS which will affect community stroke services and act accordingly.
To record information that has been personally generated following assessment and treatments.
To advise and participate in the operational planning and implementation of policy and service development within stroke, leading on delegated projects, in liaison with the team lead.
Maintain and monitor standards on health and safety, consent, note keeping, clinical governance, continuous professional development on both a personal and departmental level. Complete all work necessary to maintain registration and encourage others to do so.
Build safe working knowledge of all equipment used to provide patient care and participate in risk assessment, maintenance, and training