Team Leader / Lead Specialist Occupational Therapist
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
Applications only accepted from existing or seconded Band 6 Occupational Therapists within the Care of the Elderly OT Team at Sunderland Royal as this is not a new post.
We are looking to recruit a permanent Team Leader / Lead Specialist Occupational Therapist into the inpatient Care of the Elderly OT team at Sunderland Royal Hospital which will be an upgrade of an existing Band 6 role.
This is a challenging but rewarding role with the opportunity to develop your leadership skills and further enhance your specialist clinical skills with a varied and complex patient group. Further support and training will be available for leadership development to support your career progression.
The acute therapy teams work closely with our community partners as part of the hospital discharge planning process and this is a great opportunity to help shape future services as a lead specialist therapist.
Main duties of the job
The Care of the Elderly OT team is part of the Acute Occupational Therapy service which covers both Sunderland Royal Hospital and South Tyneside Hospital and sits within the Directorate of Therapy Services. The inpatient teams provide assessment and intervention for discharge from hospital and link in with the Transfer of Care Hub and our community partners. As a Lead Specialist OT and Team Leader, you will hold your own caseload of hospital inpatients while supporting your team clinically with specialist advice and knowledge and will also support the team with first line operational management. You will need to be a good advocate for Occupational Therapy and have a desire to get the best from your team and help them develop. The service works closely with both Sunderland and Northumbria Universities to provide undergraduate and post graduate pre-registration Occupational Therapy placements and you will be expected to support the future workforce through provision of student placements as well as providing learning opportunities for junior staff within the service. Due to the need to visit patients' homes as part of the discharge planning assessment process, you must be able to meet the travel requirements of the role. The post is 30 hours per week, Monday to Friday with a requirement to work some Bank Holidays.
About us
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One Team One Trust - There are many reasons to work at our Trust. From our commitment to putting people first to our accessible services and award-winning teams. We have a passion for research, innovation, and tackling inequalities. We are committed to respect, fairness, and civility and promote a compassionate, caring, and positive culture / working environment.
We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, and in particular those from under-represented groups. Looking after our workforce's health and wellbeing is a priority for STSFT. We also provide access to high-quality education, training, career progression, and support. Flexible working is supported via the Trust's Flexible Working Policy.
The Trust employs around 8,300 people and provides a range of hospital services to a local community of around 430,000 residents. We also provide a range of more specialised services outside this area, in some cases to a population as great as 860,000. We offer our staff outstanding benefits - Fitness Centre (SRH), libraries at both hospital sites, chaplaincy support, and access to a Childcare Co-ordinator to help staff with childcare arrangements.
Job responsibilities
* To provide leadership to a designated inpatient Occupational Therapy Team.
* To lead a team of Occupational Therapists and support staff within a specialist area.
* To work as an autonomous practitioner using advanced clinical reasoning skills to provide highly specialist therapy assessment, treatment, and advice to an independently managed caseload which will incorporate complex presentation of conditions.
* To take a lead role in clinical practice issues, raising the profile of the service and offering highly specialist advice to planning and service development teams in order to assist in the implementation of service improvements.
* To be responsible for the achievement of specific response time targets within the team.
* To complete effective, concise documentation of patients' records in line with Trust, professional & department standards.
* To ensure accurate data entry takes place within the team, in line with departmental standards.
* To work towards improving quality services including implementing evidence-based practice.
* To develop the clinical education of staff within the specialism and be responsible for the supervision of unqualified, newly qualified therapists and undergraduates who work under your direct supervision.
* To develop the service and patient pathways in line with clinical standards and best practice.
* To participate in research activities pertinent to the role.
* To assist in raising the profile of the service.
* To maintain professional development through participation in relevant professional training programmes.
Person Specification
Skills and Knowledge
* Experience as a Practice Placement Educator.
* Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills.
* Highly developed written communication skills including report writing and maintaining patient records.
* Skills to prioritise workload and make judgements on priorities when there are several competing demands.
* Highly developed analytical & judgemental skills.
* Experience of leading service developments.
* Experience of leading audits.
* Able to present information, written and orally in a clear and logical manner.
* Basic IT skills.
* Presentational skills.
* Highly developed knowledge of current best practice principles.
* Evidence of highly specialist knowledge and experience in Occupational Therapy with Care of the Elderly inpatients.
* Extensive knowledge of adaptive aids and equipment that can be prescribed to aid functional independence and safety.
* Knowledge of standard wheelchairs and the indications for safe use.
Physical skills
* Ability to lift and carry equipment (such as walking aids, ADL equipment).
* Ability to exert moderate physical effort throughout the day.
* Ability to assist patients to mobilise.
* Ability to carry out complex moving and handling procedures with patients involving the use of specific equipment such as mobile hoists and stand aids.
* Ability to drive department vehicles.
* Ability to sit at a workstation as necessary to complete administrative aspects of the post.
Qualifications
* Recognised degree in Occupational Therapy.
* HCPC registration.
* Membership of professional body.
Experience
* Significant previous experience at senior level of working as an Occupational Therapist in the speciality area.
* Evidence of high level communication skills within a wide variety of settings.
* Evidence of working within multidisciplinary, cross-agency teams.
* Evidence of high level of post-graduate training including CPD in relevant topic areas.
* Evidence of leadership and basic HR functions with lower grade staff members.
* Evidence of a sound understanding of clinical governance and risk management.
* Evidence of an understanding of Health & Safety relating to work activities.
* Experience of completing audits within Therapies.
* Experience as a Practice Placement Educator.
* Evidence of planning, delivering and evaluating training to others.
* Evidence of membership of relevant specialist interest group.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
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