Occupational Therapist

at  Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

A fabulous opportunity has arisen for a band 5 Occupational Therapist within the Kensington and Chelsea older adult community mental health team.
The post holder would work alongside two experienced Occupational therapists and the role would include OT specific assessments and interventions and you would be a named worker for a small generic caseload. Candidates would preferably have worked as an Occupational Therapist for at least a year in mental health and have experience of older adult care.
The multi-disciplinary team has close links and is co-located with our social work colleagues. It is a friendly and supportive team and is welcoming of new staff. Research and service development is encouraged and supported both by the team and the Trust.
You do not need to be car driver for this community post as all visits are done by public transport in this interesting and diverse borough.
To provide specialist, culturally appropriate, evidence based occupational therapy assessments for service users within the team in order to establish and meet their occupational needs.
To select and use validated standardised assessment tools routinely exhibiting clinical reasoning skills; to include the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) assessments.
To support service users and colleagues to ensure that care plans are developed in partnership with the individual and that they reflect ‘recovery goals’
To apply clinical knowledge and skills to carry out evidence based occupational therapy interventions which are underpinned by relevant theoretical approaches and in line with the Trust’s Research and Development Strategy.
To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions against clear aims, objectives and outcome measures in line with evidence-based practice and in conjunction with service users, carers and other professionals.
To apply a level of understanding of the effects of mental illness and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the service user’s social and physical environment.
To determine the impact of mental and physical conditions on service user’s functional ability and undertake assessment/make recommendations with regards to the provision of equipment/aids and adaptations.
To provide OT consultation to other professionals within the team.
There are over 300 Occupational Therapists (OTs) in CNWL. We work in many different teams in both physical and mental health, as well as a number of specialist areas. There are plenty of opportunities to develop your career with us and maintain your dual skills.
OT in CNWL is very fortunate in having an established professional structure including an AHP director, Trust wide Professional Head of OT, borough and specialist Head OTs. This has the huge benefit of ensuring representation of our profession at all levels - both strategically and operationally.
Personal and professional development is a high priority for the profession and is underpinned by research groups and OT clinical networks. We invest in the development of our staff by providing excellent internal training as well as commissioning specialised external training and providing quality supervision. This ensures all our OTs can reach their full potential at every stage of their career. Our commitment to research, audit and evidence-based practice is made possible by our strong links with local universities.
We actively support the next generation of OTs through apprenticeships, student placements and the promotion of the profession as a career in schools. We are proud of the diversity in our workforce.
If you are an OT who strives for excellence and wants to develop to your full potential then we would welcome your application.
To provide a comprehensive mental health assessment for service users allocated via duty.
To build and maintain therapeutic relationships with service users and carers and involve them in drawing up recovery focussed care plans to address their psychological, physical & social needs.
To implement appropriate interventions within skill level and to review the outcome of these with the patient and carer.
To refer or signpost service users to other professionals, services or voluntary agencies as appropriate.
To provide monitoring of medication, in line with the CNWL OT Medication Management Guidelines.
To identify carers needs in line with CPA policy and national requirements.
Together with client and carers plan appropriate packages of care and if necessary arrangements for suitable placement and prepare the necessary assessments for presentation at social services panel.
For all clients on caseload
To undertake risk assessment and ensure risk management strategies are applied.
To alert the line manager to any increase in risks to individual service users on a regular basis or immediately as required and will seek advice on appropriate action.
To be aware of and sensitive to the safeguarding needs of the client and those associated with them. To understand potential indicators of abuse or neglect and about what to do if they had concerns.
To support service users in relation to their physical health, housing and welfare benefits issues; referring to specialist provider services as necessary

Please refer the Job description for details