We are offering an exciting opportunity to join our well-established Acute Stroke Occupational Therapy Service.
The Acute Stroke Unit (ASU) at the John Radcliffe Hospital is a 22-bed unit that works as a cohesive multiprofessional team (MDT), delivering hyper-acute and acute services to stroke survivors to maximize recovery, patient experience, and quality of life. The ASU MDT consistently scores grade A for quality outcomes in SSNAP and provides services over a seven-day period. Therapy and rehabilitation services are critical to the quality and operational performance of the stroke clinical service unit, as well as facilitating excellent service user outcomes and experience.
This is an ideal opportunity for those with Band 5 level experience to progress working in the specialty of neurological rehabilitation or those who are already working as a Band 6 seeking to gain more specialist experience.
As part of a MDT, you will manage a varied caseload and plan and undertake specialist Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions.
We support staff to protect a proportion of their time for CPD, clinical audit, quality improvement, and service development projects. This role provides a great opportunity to develop both clinical and leadership skills.
We are seeking Occupational Therapists who are enthusiastic, passionate, and great communicators. We commit to providing learning and development opportunities and support you with regular supervision, peer support, and great teamwork.
Main duties of the job
To act as an autonomous practitioner, providing therapeutic interventions of the highest standard, in alignment with national and professional guidelines, working across a range of disciplines and settings, including (but not limited to):
1. To provide specialist Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment, treatment, and discharge planning to patients with a stroke diagnosis as an autonomous practitioner.
2. To work effectively with the wider interdisciplinary team (IDT).
3. To clinically supervise junior OTs, assistants, and students.
4. To assist the Team Lead OT in the provision, monitoring, and ongoing development of the service to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the service users and responds to government and trust initiatives.
5. To actively participate in quality improvement, clinical audit, and research projects.
About us
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training, and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington, and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards, and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues, and the wider community.
We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement, and excellence.
These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical
1. To undertake specialist assessment and treatment of adults following a stroke diagnosis.
2. To enact the professional and legal responsibilities for all aspects of the post-holder's own clinical practice.
3. To carry out comprehensive assessments following stroke diagnosis, including those with complex presentations, and form treatment and rehabilitation plans in partnership with the patient and their carers/family.
4. To formulate and deliver comprehensive treatment, rehabilitation, and discharge plans, based on clinical skills, evidence-based practice, and patient preferences.
5. To evaluate patient progress against agreed treatment goals and be able to modify plans accordingly.
6. To determine a patient's mental capacity to understand and to gain informed consent for treatment. To work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent and are deprived of their liberty.
7. To co-ordinate intervention where there is a need to collaborate across multiple disciplines.
8. To maintain accurate written records using an electronic patient record system and maintain fidelity to professional standards.
9. To determine and mitigate for the risk of patient and staff harm using the agreed risk assessment frameworks and the Trust's manual handling policy.
10. To demonstrate physical ability to carry out Occupational Therapy assessment and interventions.
11. To demonstrate highly developed dexterity, coordination, and palpatory skills for assessment and treatment of patients.
12. To represent Occupational Therapy and/or individual patients at multi-disciplinary team meetings to ensure delivery of coordinated care.
13. To be an integral part of the team's extended hours and seven-day service provision.
Communication
1. To liaise with all members of the IDT, patients, carers, Health and Community Services, relevant external agencies, and OUH staff to ensure a coordinated, consistent approach to service delivery.
2. To communicate with individual patients and those involved in the patient's care to gain consent and understanding of treatment programmes to ensure OT intervention is effective. This will frequently be with patients who have complex emotional, physical, and psychological conditions e.g. aphasia and cognitive problems and will need expert use of verbal and non-verbal communication tools, or with patients from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds where English is not their primary language.
3. To be able to provide and receive complex, sensitive, and contentious information such as discussing limitations associated with diagnosis/procedures/prognosis, managing complex discharges, and providing appropriate emotional support where persuasion motivation and reassurance skills are required.
4. To be able to assess a patient's understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent, and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
5. To keep accurate written records of assessment and treatment in accordance with the trust, NHS, and professional OT standards including comprehensive discharge/home and progress reports to medical and therapy referrers.
6. To attend and contribute to relevant service-related meetings.
7. To promote understanding of the aims of OT intervention within the IDT team and with external agencies involved in the patient's care.
8. To assist the Team Lead OT in communicating relevant information efficiently and effectively to staff within each rotational service area and the wider therapy team.
Leadership and Management
1. To be responsible for the competent use and maintenance of rehabilitation equipment and support others in the effective and safe use of this equipment.
2. To assist in the supervision, teaching, and appraisal of junior staff and assistants.
3. To undertake delegated tasks and roles from the team lead and be able to deputise for them on occasions.
4. To effectively plan and organise own time, patient caseload, meetings, training, and be able to adjust plans as required according to staffing levels and unpredictable factors.
5. To assist in the planning of junior staff, students, and assistant timetables and deputise for senior staff in organisational duties.
Education, Training, and Research
1. To organise and contribute to the team's training and post-registration education programme.
2. To contribute to the education of multidisciplinary groups, patients, families, and carers as appropriate.
3. To be responsible for individual undergraduate student Occupational Therapists supervision and practice-based learning.
4. To adopt a proactive approach in learning from others within, and outside of the Occupational Therapy profession.
5. To be responsible for continuing professional development and maintain a portfolio record to evidence this.
6. To maintain contemporary knowledge to apply and maintain best practice in stroke rehabilitation.
Research and Development
1. To actively participate in the department's quality improvement and clinical audit programme through the completion of authorised projects.
2. To implement and maintain evidence-based Occupational Therapy practice through continuing professional development.
3. To ensure good working knowledge and application of national and local clinical standards.
Effort
1. To be able to undertake episodes of moderate physical effort for several short periods during a shift.
2. To be able to effectively maintain concentration at work despite frequent interruptions and, at times, an unpredictable working pattern.
3. To tolerate and manage frequent exposure to distressing or emotional circumstances and maintain a high level of professionalism.
4. To tolerate and professionally manage frequent exposure to unpleasant working conditions, such as exposure to bodily fluids and offensive odours.
Person Specification
Essential
* Degree in Occupational Therapy
* Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council
* Evidence of continuing professional development - post-graduate level
* Able to present information, written and verbal, in a clear and logical manner
* Able to communicate complex and sensitive information, e.g. where there are barriers to communication
* Broad range of experience at Band 5 level including core areas, such as respiratory, orthopaedics, neurology, older adults
* Experience of managing a complex varied caseload
* Broad understanding and application of clinical governance in Occupational Therapy practice
* Knowledge and application of outcome measures in stroke care
Employer details
Employer name
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address
John Radcliffe Hospital
Headley Way, Headington
Oxford
OX3 9DU
Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.
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