Occupational Therapist/Advanced Occupational Therapist - Prison

at  South Gloucestershire Council

HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

As an Occupational Therapist you will make a difference by working with adults who may require social care services whist in prison. You will assess their social care, functional and health needs and work with them to create a support plan, aimed at promoting their independence and meeting their goals in order for them to manage the requirements of daily life.
There are three prisons in South Gloucestershire – HMP Leyhill, HMP Ashfield, and HMP Eastwood Park. HMP Leyhill and HMP Serco Ashfield accommodate male prisoners transferred from other prisons. HMP Eastwood Park is a female prison with generally a younger population with a wide range of complex needs including substance misuse and mental health needs.
Salary are offered at points within these bands depending on experience:

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

• It is essential that you hold a professional Occupational Therapy qualification and any further advanced training and are HCPC registered.
• You must be able to work with the range of professionals based within the prisons and work dynamically often in a challenging environment.
• You will have interpersonal skills, be able to carry out assessments and communicate findings and risks to service users, families and other professionals.
• You will demonstrate knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations, and codes of practice, processes and procedures.
• You will be able to demonstrate that you can manage complex cases and that you can apply excellent assessment skills in practice.
• Due to the nature of this role and the settings you will be working in you will need to work under tight security rules. You will be required to complete enhanced security vetting and undertake specific training, under the continued support and supervision of the Prison Team Senior Practitioner / Service Manager.

Advanced Occupational Therapist:

• We will require you to have a minimum of 2 years post qualification experience.
• You will have evidence of meeting the essential (and desirable where possible) criteria for the role of Advanced Occupational Therapist or in South Gloucestershire council.
• A clear commitment to Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

You will be expected to travel throughout the authority and surrounding area so must have a full valid driving licence with regular access to a vehicle or have alternative appropriate means of travel.
Please note that due to the nature of this role it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained for this post.

• This is an essential role within Adult Social Care, where you will be responsible for carrying out the assessments needs and providing advice and guidance to our service users. You will liaise and work closely with contacts from different sectors, including prison, probation, health and the voluntary sector, working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, ensuring that communication is effective, and that knowledge and best practice are shared.
• You will review and monitor care plans and the quality of service provision and respond to changes need. This includes, develop, and evaluate reablement programs as part of care packages ensuring that programs to support independence are implemented.
• You will be responsible for managing your own caseloads or specific projects to ensure specialist inputs are obtained and effective outcomes achieved.
  You will raise awareness of a range of care issues and their implications and carry out risk assessments and complete safe methods of work practice guides, in order to ensure that needs are assessed, and appropriate action is taken.

As an Advanced Occupational Therapist, you will be required to:

• Support students on placement as an experience practitioner.
• Be fully up to date with the core training expectations as an Advanced Occupational Therapist.
• Examples of using research and evidence-based resources to enhance practice and share learning with team (e.g. use of Research in Practice / other online resources).