Specialist Occupational Therapist

at  Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, hardworking, motivated Occupational Therapist to join our Medicine for Older People Team.
The successful candidate will have excellent clinical skills within the field of medicine for older people, be able to communicate effectively and have good organisational and time management skills. The ability to work both individually and a member of a team and to prioritise activity is a key requirement of this post. Previous experience within in this area is essential.
The team provides a 7 day service to the inpatient service at Whiston hospital and an out-patient service on Allen Day Unit at St Helens hospital working with a broad range of medical and neurological conditions.
Our philosophy is to keep the patient at the heart of everything we do. We look for people who are willing to go the extra mile, not because they are asked to, but because they are committed to being part of a healthcare team that delivers an excellent caring service to our patients.
Deliver a high standard of evidence based care.
Be confident in their assessment and decision making.
Play a key role in the discharge planning process; including making recommendations about individual rehabilitation needs and discharge/placement requirements.
Have excellent skills in assessment and provision of equipment, including specialist manual handling equipment and of formulating written care plans.
Supervise therapy assistants; rotational Occupational Therapists and students on clinical placement within the specialty.
The ability to work closely with Physiotherapists and undertake generic therapy assessments and treatments to a basic level.
Have significant postgraduate experience as a junior therapist in a post with broad based rotational opportunities, including previous experience of working with medical patients.
Have the ability to work flexibly and adaptably to changing working patterns
Have a working knowledge of a broad range of conditions with proven clinical skills in this specialist area.
In return for your hard work and dedication we can offer a friendly and welcoming team and all the support and continuing professional development you will need to make a difference to patients and staff. We have an innovative service of AHP’s with an excellent staff supervision system enabling our staff to be committed to developing both their service and themselves.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

KEY DUTIES

To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients/clients in your care.
To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients/clients under your care and support more junior staff to do likewise.
To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients/clients including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi pathologies; use specialist clinical reasoning skills and appropriate assessment techniques to provide an accurate diagnosis of their condition.
Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme using assessment, reasoning skills and treatment skills based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options. Formulate an initial diagnosis and prognoses to recommend best course of intervention and develop comprehensive discharge plans.
To take delegated responsibility from the Band 7 clinician for managing patients/clients with conditions and be responsible for providing specialist assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.
Evaluate patient progress, reassess, and alter treatment programmes as required.
To have the ability to undertake self-directed/lone working in a variety of locations.

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

To maintain Professional Registration
To work within Trust clinical guidelines, HCPC and Registrant Body guidelines and to have a working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practise against these.
To be responsible for a designated area of work, as delegated by a senior clinician. Plan and organise efficiently and effectively patient/client caseload, and use of time for self and more junior staff.
To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out clinical duties, and to adhere to policy, including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training, and supervision of practice.
To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals to promote understanding of the aims of treatment and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
To provide specialist clinical advice to colleagues working within other clinical areas
To provide specialist clinical advice, teaching and training to other members of the MDT regarding the management of patients
To train, supervise and performance manage more junior staff and students. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.
To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise potential and to ensure understanding of their condition.
To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and can work within a legal framework with patients/clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
To communicate highly sensitive information effectively with all patient groups/clients/carers where there may be difficulties in accepting or understanding information.
To maintain tact and diplomacy and use highly developed communication skills when working in situations which may become hostile/antagonistic including potential complaints as per Trust Policy

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

To maintain accurate, comprehensive, and up to date documentation, in line with legal and local requirements, and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of reports and letters.
To undertake as directed the collection of appropriate data and statistics for the use of the department.
To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service. This will include participating in a variety of MDT, internal and external agency meetings, and forums plus other forms of verbal/written communication as necessary including report writing and referrals to other agencies.

LINE MANAGEMENT/SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Delivering change within sphere of practice, when and where indicated, to improve service delivery.
Influencing, motivating, supporting, and enabling others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the Therapy Team
To provide specialist advice and guidance in working with colleagues locally to ensure best practice across all disciplines in the assessment, treatment, and long-term management of patients/ clients within sphere of practice.
To deputise for the band 7 in terms of operational issues
To take responsibility for their own specialist and complex decision making and the decisions of their team which effect service delivery
To undertake any other duties that might be considered appropriate by senior staff.
To participate in working parties developing policy changes within speciality which will impact on all service users.