Employer: Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: ST Peters Hospital
Town: Chertsey
Salary: £48,270 - £54,931 pa inc. HCAS
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 28/02/2025 23:59
Interview date: 08/03/2025
Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist
Band 7
Job overview
We are looking for an experienced occupational therapist who has the passion and drive to lead occupational therapists within the surgical, cardiorespiratory, and critical care team in our acute hospital setting. This role requires a motivated individual willing to contribute, facilitate, design, and lead service development.
You will join a friendly and dynamic team, working alongside a band 7 physiotherapist to support and develop the team's work across surgical wards, including cardiorespiratory and amputee care, and more recently the role of OT within critical care. You will ensure a high-quality therapy service that is patient-centered and that evidence-based practice is embedded in its provision.
The successful applicant will provide expert support, advice, and training to both the OT team and the wider therapy/multidisciplinary service. They will manage their own clinical caseload and supervise band 6 and band 5 OTs, plus support staff.
The post holder should have expertise in clinical reasoning and assessment skills, including general experience in surgical, respiratory, amputee, and neurology. They should have expertise in the management of complex cases, discharge planning, and advanced communication skills while working in a busy multi-disciplinary hospital environment.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will:
1. Take a leading role in the advanced assessment, clinical diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with critical illness and post-operative problems.
2. Be responsible for the day-to-day operational delivery of Occupational Therapy services to critical care, respiratory, and surgical wards.
3. Work autonomously as an expert clinician, liaising effectively with other health professionals to ensure evidence-based delivery of service within professional scope of practice.
4. Provide leadership in the specialist field and be a key contributor to quality improvement, research, and audit.
5. Work in partnership with the band 7 specialist physiotherapists within critical care and respiratory.
6. Support staff development and training across professional and organizational boundaries and lead on simulation and on-call training.
7. Be involved in developing the service in line with national and local strategic plans.
Ashford and St Peter’s offer a seven-day service across some specialities, and you will be expected to support this on a rota system.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical or technical
1. To assess patients with complex problems including using highly skilled assessments and to make referrals to other disciplines and agencies as appropriate.
2. To support other less experienced staff with their patient caseload.
3. To be responsible as an autonomous practitioner to undertake a significant specialist clinical caseload and use excellent clinical reasoning skills to utilise a wide range of treatment options and skills to formulate a specialised programme of care.
4. To achieve and maintain a high standard of clinical care using evidence-based practice, keeping up to date with clinical developments, analysing current research, discussing and implementing changes in clinical practice, and encouraging this throughout the team.
5. To be responsible for setting and monitoring of standards and policies of clinical practice in the team and evaluate outcomes.
6. To take responsibility for the writing of evidence-based clinical guidelines and protocols as appropriate to the speciality and for regularly reviewing and updating those guidelines.
7. To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of professional activities working within codes of practice and professional guidelines.
8. To use ongoing investigative and analytical skills, assessment techniques, and diagnostic procedures to assess complex patients.
9. To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend the best course of intervention, developing comprehensive discharge plans.
10. To be aware of risks involved as part of delivering clinical care and manage this within the own patient case load.
11. To demonstrate physical ability to carry out assessments and interventions including manual and therapeutic handling techniques.
12. To maintain accurate records in line with the Royal College of Occupational Therapy standards and Trust and service standards and policies.
13. To attend relevant board rounds and meetings as required, in order to ensure appropriate management and effective and timely discharge of patients.
Leadership or managerial
1. Work in close conjunction with Clinical Lead for Cardiorespiratory services and other Band 7 Team Leads.
2. Act as a role model and resource, providing information and promoting high standards of patient care, whilst working closely with other professionals.
3. Supervise junior and senior staff where appropriate, and specifically B6 Occupational Therapists and Rehabilitation Assistants.
4. Effectively plan the daily management of a caseload of patients by prioritising clinical work, responding to urgent referrals and frequently unpredictable work patterns.
5. Maintain the high standards of the service by contributing to the individual team and service objectives.
6. Ensure team working within Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, assisting other members to effectively prioritise, plan and manage their caseloads.
7. Demonstrate ability to manage potentially stressful and upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner.
8. Demonstrate ability to prioritise clinical and managerial work and balance other patient-related and professional activities as the department requires.
9. Participate in the appraisal scheme as an appraiser and to be appraised.
10. Contribute to the overall strategic view of the inpatient cardiorespiratory services at ASPH, by monitoring and evaluating activity.
11. Demonstrate a high level of understanding of clinical governance and clinical risk.
12. Initiate and lead projects to develop services in line with recent NHS initiatives and guidance and in response to local demand.
Communication
1. Demonstrate ability to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff including imparting unwelcome news relating to their rehabilitation potential and gaining consent for treatment.
2. Assess patients’ understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid consent, and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
3. Demonstrate ability to motivate patients to comply with extended periods of treatment.
4. Maintain accurate records in line with RCOT, Trust and service standards and policies.
5. Ensure that records of directly managed staff also comply with these standards.
6. Use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients in order to progress treatment programmes.
7. Communicate any changes in care plan or treatment approach to other Occupational Therapists / MDT colleagues as necessary.
8. Attend staff meetings and actively participate ensuring understanding of information imparted.
9. Take responsibility for leading/supporting local team meetings to ensure accurate and timely information giving and receiving.
10. Initiate and maintain good contact with local service both internally and externally.
11. Provide advice to other disciplines both internally and externally to ensure a multidisciplinary approach to care.
12. Ensure timely and effective communication with the Therapy Manager and Clinical Leads on all operational or professional matters.
13. Communicate effectively with all disciplines involved in a patient’s care, both those from within the organisation and those outside, to ensure efficient multidisciplinary working.
Education
1. Supervise and lead on the professional development and training of Occupational Therapists and other members of the team in the specialist field.
2. Undertake regular supervision with individuals to support clinical reasoning and to undertake joint problem patient sessions as facilitator and participant.
3. Participate in any training sessions as a recipient and facilitator.
4. Disseminate any training received to other staff and healthcare professionals.
5. Be actively involved in special interest groups in order to share and disseminate knowledge to colleagues.
Information and reporting
1. Ensure all Trust IT systems are used effectively, particularly the use of “Evolve” is implemented and used to record patient notes and activity.
2. Collect & record data accurately in accordance with professional guidelines and ASPH Values.
Research and Development
1. Demonstrate the use of relevant information and research findings to support and promote evidence-based practice within the clinical area.
2. Promote clinical excellence through initiating & participating in setting, maintaining, and monitoring standards of care within a clinical governance framework.
3. Participate in both clinical and organisational audit to continually evaluate the effectiveness of the service.
4. Feedback to appropriate stakeholders on the results, trends of audits and research undertaken.
Person specification
Qualifications and Experience
* HCPC Registration in Occupational Therapy
* CPD activity demonstrated in ICU care
* ICU experience as an Occupational Therapist
* Experience in Leading a team
* Management courses
Knowledge
* Strong understanding of the role of OT in ICU
* Evidence of use of audit and its use to improve interventions/service
* Trust vision, values, strategic objectives, and key work programmes
Skills
* Advanced clinical reasoning skills that guide interventions (i.e. risk assessment and discharge planning, management of complex disability)
* Teaching and communication skills to promote the role of occupational therapy and physiotherapy with patients and the MDT
* Manage and be accountable for own and team workload prioritisation
* Good understanding of their communication, physical & emotional needs; can identify their individual needs and preferences, their changing needs and recognise and promote their independence.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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