Occupational Therapist - Band 5

at  Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY

Band 5 Rotational Occupational Therapist
An opportunity has arisen for a Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join our rotation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. The rotations include:
Acute Medical Unit supporting the frailty pathway
Acute Medicine (Respiratory, Cardiology, Gastroenterology)
General Surgery
Older People
Acute Stroke (based at UHL)
Trauma and Orthopaedics
We have Specialist Occupational Therapists who provide support and teaching as part of the preceptorship programmes for newly graduated and existing Band 5s.
To manage a designated case load with complex needs using evidence based/client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
To lead and manage the O.T. team, ensuring a responsive service supporting the Trust’s objectives.
Maintain records which fulfil legal requirements.
To regularly provide clinical and non clinical supervision to team members and the wider OT team.
To provide leadership for junior staff, through supervision and appraisal
To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of O.T. services within a designated clinical area.
To lead on service development in specialist area.
To contribute to the maintenance and development of the Trust O.T. Service

JOB PURPOSE

The Postholder rotates through speciality pathways on a 6-monthly basis and works under supervision of an allocated Specialist Occupational Therapist or Team Lead.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical
To undertake all aspects of clinical duties and to carry a full caseload of patients as an autonomous practitioner.
To be professionally and legally accountable for a patient caseload and to decide priorities for own work area, balancing other patient related and professional demands
To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work. This will include the management of clinical risk, clinical governance, knowledge of indications and precautions of chosen techniques in line with National and Trust clinical guidelines and protocols where they exist.
To assess patients’ capacity, gain valid informed consent to treatment and where such capacity is lacking/absent to work within a legal framework in the management of the patient
To undertake the comprehensive assessment and accurate diagnosis of patients, using investigative, palpatory, analytical and clinical reasoning skills
To undertake physical treatment techniques utilising developed manual skills
To formulate individualised clinical management programmes, utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options to plan a suitable programme of care
To use recognised outcome measures to evaluate the effect of Occupational Therapy interventions and ensure that treatment programmes are progressing appropriately.
To provide advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers, other disciplines and agencies. To promote understanding of the aims of Occupational Therapy and to ensure continuation of the treatment programme.
To participate in and where indicated, initiate multidisciplinary/multi-agency team meetings and case conferences to ensure the co-ordination of patient care. This may include the review of patient progress and discharge planning
To ensure accurate, comprehensive and up to date clinical records are maintained in accordance with Trust guidance and professionally agreed criteria
To identify and employ suitable verbal and non-verbal communication skills with patients where there may be barriers to understanding or the inability to accept diagnosis. To facilitate the best possible communication outcome in every situation and use appropriate services e.g. interpreters, SALT
To ensure that individual practice and that of the local pathway team is user focused and patient views are incorporated into treatment planning
To employ appropriate skills such as persuasion, motivation and negotiation to gain co-operation in the continuation of the agreed treatment programme
To communicate with empathy, patient information which may be of a complex and sensitive nature including details of prognosis or disability that may be unwelcome
To receive complex patient related information from patients, relatives, carers and other professionals to effectively plan and develop individual case management
To communicate and advise regarding complex patient related information effectively to ensure collaborative working within the Occupational Therapy service and with other professionals across health and other agencies to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service
To be integral in discharge planning including liaison with referring hospitals or community staff to which patients are discharged, providing timely discharge reports
To produce comprehensive patient related reports for other disciplines or agencies relating to assessment findings and/or treatment outcomes
To undertake the measurement and evaluation of own work through audit, outcome measurement, the application of evidence based practice and research where appropriate.
To facilitate the implementation and evaluation of Occupational Therapy clinical outcomes within a designated pathway and monitor adherence with professional and national standards
To work to Trust and College of Occupational Therapy clinical guidelines and have a good working knowledge of relevant national standards to which quality of practice should be monitored
To follow service policy regarding current clinical and service developments
To be accessible and provide clinical advice to colleagues
Once considered competent, to participate in the on-call, week-end, bank holiday and extended working rotas where clinically appropriate
To fully participate in whatever pattern of working is required by the service in the future
All clinical staff are accountable and responsible for their own clinical competence and should limit their actions to those for which they are deemed competent in line with guidance from their professional bodies