An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate Occupational Therapist to apply for a 12-month fixed-term Band 7 Community Perinatal Occupational Therapist post, in the boroughs of Hillingdon.
CNWL’s Perinatal Mental Health Services provides support for pregnant & postnatal women experiencing mental health/emotional difficulties in the boroughs of Brent, Harrow, Kensington and Chelsea, Hillingdon and Westminster, providing community and inpatient care.
An integrated model of care is provided between maternity, primary and secondary care services. The clinicians are experienced specialists offering mental health assessment and treatment for women in the context of the community to support them to remain in their own home with their families encouraging the formation of lasting positive bonds.
As the Occupational Therapist working within the team you will offer a unique understanding of occupational performance, physical and mental health, mother/infant co-occupations and child development in the context of maternal mental health. A range of individual and group interventions to enable women with perinatal mental health problems to overcome the barriers that prevent them from participating in self-care, productive, leisure and mothering occupations will be offered.
This position is open to applicants who have significant experience in working in mental health including a minimum of 1 year in a community mental health setting.
The applicant must have excellent clinical skills with a special interest to work in maternal mental health, providing assessment using tools drawn from the Model of Human Occupation and specialist perinatal interventions. We aim to improve occupational performance within the parenting role which supports and promotes improved mental and physical health for mothers, babies and their families.
There will be expectation of supporting the team to meet targets while participating in service developments tasks, as well as contributing to delivering generic assessments and supporting the role of duty. Thorough assessment of risk, the formulation of safe and effective risk management plans and documentation with the ability to communicate these clearly and concisely is essential.
Experience of participating in formal child protection procedures and of being involved in inter-agency work with families is desired.
Appropriate training, support and regular supervision will be provided by MDT and the Occupational Therapy Lead.
Each team comprises of a highly skilled and dedicated multi-disciplinary team, including professionals such as psychiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, parent-infant psychotherapists and nursery nurses.
The successful applicant will work closely with the team’s excellent Band 6 Occupational therapist as well as the supportive and skilled MDT. We have an excellent network of Occupational Therapists working across other perinatal sites within the Trust who meet on a regular basis to engage in training, share working and learning experiences as well as get involved in new and exciting projects. There are also opportunities to link in with OTs within the wider trust and/or Perinatal OTs regionally.
The services offered will be provided in line with the principles and ethos of recovery and social inclusion. The Band 7 Senior Occupational Therapist will contribute their specialist knowledge and expertise in supporting this approach and will ensure that all interventions amplify an individual’s self-management skills.
To manage a caseload of women in the perinatal period with complex, severe and enduring mental health needs, providing interventions which support and promote improved mental and physical health for mothers, babies and their families.
To support the duty rota with the team.
To work in conjunction with the Lead OTs in the service to support the development and evaluation of evidence-based OT within the perinatal service.
To work in conjunction with senior staff in the MDT to support the development of services.
Actively liaise with the MDT and external services such as primary care, maternity services, health visiting teams, adult and children social care, perinatal community teams and other mental health services.
To carry out generic assessments and contribute to the duty rota within the team, providing specialist knowledge, care and risk management.
To provide occupational therapy clinical expertise while engaging and contributing to professional meetings such as CPA, multi-agency case reviews, birth planning, child protection meetings and any other meetings related to the care and treatment of the women and their babies.
To provide training and education to occupational therapists and other professionals with regard to how occupation may assist the recovery of service users.
To be responsible for supervising and providing clinical support for junior staff while considering professional development opportunities.
To act as an educator to students on practice placement.
To contribute to the development and facilitation of Recovery & Wellbeing College courses within the perinatal setting.
To contribute to Occupational Therapy research and development (R&D), audit activities and projects within the perinatal service, implementing the Trusts Occupational Therapy R&D Strategy.
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