Paediatric Occupational Therapist

at  Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

TERM-TIME ONLY-30 HOURS PER WEEK

We are looking for an experienced, motivated and enthusiastic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to work at Perseid Special Schools.
The post holder will provide a specialist occupational therapy service for children and young people with severe and complex learning difficulties in Perseid special schools, in accordance with the Service Level Agreement for Sutton Health and Care Alliance.
They will contribute to the development of the special schools occupational therapy service for children and young people. They will plan and provide specialist occupational therapy assessment, advice and treatment to a defined caseload of children and young people with severe and complex needs.

WORKING FOR OUR ORGANISATION

Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (ESTH) provides a range of medical services to approximately 500,000 people living across south west London and north east Surrey.
We serve an area that is rich in diversity, with a mix of urban and rural areas, and differing levels of quality of life. We cover some of the most prosperous postcodes in the country as well as some poorer areas. Together, with our NHS colleagues in Surrey, Sutton and Merton, we work to make sure that we deliver the best possible care to the communities we serve.
Sutton Health and Care (SHC) was an innovative joint venture between local partner health and social care organisations, which sees community services fully integrated to support the delivery of a new model of care for the people of Sutton. Hosted by ESTH, the model ensures the breaking down of traditional organisational barriers to enable the provision of care that is wrapped around the patient.
We pride ourselves in having a highly dedicated team and offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment with a wide range of staff benefits and development opportunities. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our vision and values and can play a crucial role in our ongoing achievements.

EDUCATION, TRAINING AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Be responsible for training/education of families and school staff to ensure understanding and need for treatment advised
• Be aware of changing trends in treatment and promote evidence-based practice within own specialist area of work in order to provide the highest standard of care to service users
• Participate in clinical audit, service development activities and research programmes as required
• Carry out continual professional development as identified through supervision and PDR, including in-service training and courses as agreed
• Participate in own supervision on a regular basis and work towards objectives set in PDR
• Take responsibility for identifying suitable courses and training programmes to enhance your own professional development, keeping abreast of new developments within relevant clinical fields
• Actively participate in delivering in-service training, tutorials, individual training sessions, external training and peer review. To demonstrate own willingness to learn
• Participate in the clinical education of students on placement
• Comply with the SHC/ESTH and occupational therapy service mandatory training requirements
• Be actively involved in peer support and relevant specialist section support groups.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

• Membership of relevant specialist groups
• Professionally active in specialist section
• Local/regional groups
  Your application: Please ensure that you have read the job description and person specification and that your supporting statement reflects these, as your application will be assessed and scored against these criteria.
  References: You will be required to provide 3 years of employment/educational history. We do not accept references from personal email addresses such as Hotmail, Gmail etc. therefore please ensure you are providing professional working email addresses within your application form. If you are unable to provide professional email addresses and are invited to an interview, please ensure you advise the interviewers of this - otherwise, this may delay your pre-employment checks.
  Closing date: In order to streamline recruitment within our Trust, we reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications.
  Shortlisting: You will only be contacted via e-mail/SMS by the SWL Recruitment Hub if you are successfully shortlisted for this post. Please ensure that you check your Trac registered e-mail regularly.
  DBS: We are committed to safeguarding children and adults who are at risk of abuse. As such, if this post will have access to children or vulnerable adults, you will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. However, all employees have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the course of their duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.

Disability Advice Line: SWL Recruitment Hub is committed to promoting equity and equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities. We believe that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even more positive impact on the people we serve. For support with job opportunities and reasonable adjustments contact our Confidential Disability Advice Line at:

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

MAIN DUTIES OF THE JOB

The post holder will provide a specialist occupational therapy service for children and young people with severe and complex learning difficulties in Perseid special schools, in accordance with the Service Level Agreement for Sutton Health and Care Alliance.
They will contribute to the development of the special schools occupational therapy service for children and young people. They will plan and provide specialist occupational therapy assessment, advice and treatment to a defined caseload of children and young people with severe and complex needs. They will work in partnership with the children and young people, their families and with other professions and agencies, including school staff and the wider health team, to reduce the impact of these difficulties on the children’s and young people’s social and emotional development, their learning and their ability to participate in daily life.
They will work autonomously and without direct supervision and be accountable for their own actions.

CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• To provide a specialist level of clinical skill in paediatric occupational therapy
• Be responsible for a clinical caseload of children and young people attending Perseid special schools as identified by the service specification, managing the defined caseload independently and prioritising own workload to ensure effective service provision
• Use standardised and non-standardised assessment, interview and observation skills to interpret a range of factors relating to the client’s condition, determine needs and effectively set goals and plan intervention including implications for access to education, functional skills at home and the wider community
• Contribute to the development of material that enables clients to understand and self manage their condition, whenever possible, and supports continuation of programmes in the client’s environment (home, school, community)
• Recommend, provide and advise on provision of equipment within the scope of the role and take responsibility for demonstrating and training clients/carers in its usage
• Undertake risk assessments in complex moving and handling situations where appropriate
• Have a full understanding of the workings of any equipment and ensure regular checks are completed to maintain safety
• Communicate complex assessment findings and treatment plans with service users dealing sensitively with distressing or emotional circumstances and being realistic about clients’ and families’ expectations
• Provide written, typed and/or verbal reports to referrers and other agencies involved in client’s care and keep accurate up to date records
• Monitor the effectiveness of intervention through goal setting, outcome measurement and evaluation of practice and communicate this information to relevant parties
• Liaise and establish communication networks with the multidisciplinary team and external voluntary and statutory organisations, as appropriate, in planning for each client’s treatment.

MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES/PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

• Assist the Team Leader in planning and providing the commissioned occupational therapy input to clients attending Perseid schools, including attendance at appropriate meetings, developing guidelines and protocols and review service provision
• Keep the Team Leader updated with service provision issues and report promptly any untoward incidences, clinical or non-clinical, cooperating with any investigation undertaken
• Actively review efficacy of service delivery and facilitate setting up of new standards or amendment of existing ones, in close liaison with the Service Manager
• Actively contribute to formulating policies for specialist area and proposals for general service changes
• Support the development of the occupational therapy service in the special schools, facilitating development and implementation of effective client/care pathways and outcomes for clients in conjunction with the Team Leader
• Keep up to date with the Department and Trust standards and policies and facilitate dissemination of this knowledge to colleagues
• Develop good working relationships with multidisciplinary teams, outside agencies and voluntary agencies to ensure the professionalism and service delivery are maintained
• Provide support and supervision to other occupational therapy staff, where appropriate, monitoring the standard of treatment and giving training and instruction as appropriate.