OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST - SHORT TERM ASSESSMENT AND REABLEMENT

Employer
Sutton Council
Location(s)
Sutton
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Length of Employment / Contract End Date
3 year contract
Working Hours
Full Time
Grade
8
Hours Per Week
36
Salary Range
£39,264 - £47,040 (£49,083 unconsolidated maximum)
Salary Basis
Per annum
Leave Entitlement
28 days
Application Deadline
26/07/2024, 23:55
About the Borough
In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.
Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.
All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We’ve set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.
About the Role
Join Adult Social Care as an Occupational Therapist and receive a Welcome Bonus of £1000 paid in your first month’s salary and a Retention Bonus of £1000 for every complete year in service (*subject to pay scale). With a total package up to £51,083 including bonuses and benefits, this is an excellent opportunity to advance your career in social care.
This is an exciting opportunity for Occupational Therapists to join our Short Term Assessment and Reablement (START) Team on a 3 year fixed term contract, as part of a significant transformation journey in Sutton’s Adult Social Care service. Our goal is to empower people to live as independently as possible, and we are looking for individuals with specialist skills to help us achieve this mission.
As an Occupational Therapist (OT) in Sutton Adult Social Care, you will be based in the START Team with support from Occupational Therapists in our new OT Hub. You will screen and prioritise Reablement occupational therapy referrals. You will work with people to achieve their goals for up to 6 weeks, supporting them to regain their independence, and prevent, reduce and delay the need for ongoing support. You will ensure that assessment and recommendations are robust and fully meet the needs of our residents and their carers. Recommendations may include equipment from the peripheral store, adaptations, and working closely with formal and informal carers to provide moving and handling risk assessment. You will work closely with colleagues in Sutton Health and Care NHS teams and the Hospital Pathway Team. You will provide guidance and supervision to Enabling Independence Officers in Reablement, who complete work as Trusted Assessors.
Your role will be vital in helping individuals access the support they need to enhance their quality of life and well-being. If you are passionate about making a difference, have strong interpersonal skills to build effective relationships and can show empathy and sensitivity towards individuals facing difficult circumstances, we want to hear from you.
About Us
The Short Term Assessment and Reablement (START) Team provides a Reablement Service to the London Borough of Sutton. You will be based in the Start team, and work autonomously providing occupational therapy for people receiving a Reablement Service. You will work closely with, and receive supervision from the new Occupational Therapy Hub.
Guided by the Team Manager and Principal Occupational Therapist, the new Occupational Therapy Hub in Sutton unifies Occupational Therapy and Sensory services within social care. The Hub will provide professional leadership and support for practitioners, while offering career development opportunities, including apprenticeships and a unique Preceptorship for new or returning therapists. Sutton is proud to be one of the only London boroughs to have launched an Occupational Therapy Preceptorship, to support and develop people who are newly qualified or returning to practice. The Hub focuses on strength-based assessments to enhance independence and well-being, covering a wide range of support from reablement, assessments for disabled facilities grant, optimal care, to housing needs assessments, making it a comprehensive service for the community.
For more information on our new operating model and teams click here.
About You
Our Occupational Therapists take a person-centred approach whilst working within a multidisciplinary team. The successful candidate will demonstrate the following competencies:

The successful candidate will have:

• Degree or an equivalent qualification in Occupational Therapy, registered with HCPC
• Experience of Occupational Therapy (minimum 2 years) including complex moving and handling
• Experience of working with Adults and/or Children Social Care services, within a multidisciplinary team.
• Have up to date knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance in relation to working with and safeguarding vulnerable adults and children in social care.

Learning and development is supported by the Team Manager, Principal Occupational Therapist and Learning and Development Team. We aim to provide robust supervision and mentoring and encourage reflective practice to identify areas of improvement. As a Borough, we are committed to building a workforce that is empowered with knowledge to work autonomously and provide the valuable care service to the residents of our community. We want you to be a part of our journey.
Our Offer To You
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.
To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Additional Information
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

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We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.
The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

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Please refer the Job description for details