Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
At Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, our Occupational Therapy service is recognised for its high-quality patient care. We are excited to announce that we have an opportunity for a band 4 Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner, 22.5 hours a week within Speciality Medicine at the Alexandra Hospital.
The posts support our vision of a highly skilled, experienced, dynamic, and flexible workforce that has knowledge and skills in delivering modernised Occupational Therapy, focusing on providing acute assessments and interventions for patients with a variety of acute medical needs.
The role will involve working with a variety of conditions and will be expected to hold a delegated caseload, working closely with the qualified Occupational Therapists. You will have a varied role and will be required to conduct community visits to support equipment provision/fitting in order to facilitate patient discharges.
We are looking for a motivated individual who can demonstrate safe and effective patient-centred care. You need to be professional with excellent communication skills and the ability to work autonomously.
You will be supported by a very skilled workforce and will be developed and nurtured by the team, receiving regular supervision and accessing a variety of development and learning opportunities.
Main duties of the job
Key Duties:
1. To work as part of the occupational therapy and the multi-disciplinary team.
2. To carry out assessments and interventions under the guidance of an OT, e.g., personal care assessments, transfers, activities of daily living, environmental and equipment.
3. To screen referrals for priority intervention by OT.
4. To take responsibility for monitoring referrals to Occupational Therapy for patients who are not yet fit enough to be seen and for those awaiting a community service to ensure they maintain or improve on their functional level. To be responsible for notifying a qualified Occupational therapist if those patients require a new assessment.
5. Daily manual handling aspects of the role, which will include the loading/unloading and transportation of equipment.
6. To actively participate in regular clinical supervision.
7. To carry out community visits to fit equipment and assist qualified Occupational Therapist on visits to aid discharge home.
8. To support patients with cognitive difficulties under the supervision of qualified OTs.
9. To carry out admin/non-clinical tasks to ensure the smooth running of the department.
10. To participate in service improvement activities.
11. To demonstrate sound clinical reasoning skills that underpin practice.
12. To recognise own limitations within clinical practice/knowledge and to seek advice and guidance from the OT in cases that are beyond their clinical experience and accountability.
About us
Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional colleagues who can help us achieve this.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services in Kidderminster, Redditch, and Worcester.
Our workforce is nearly 6,800 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to help achieve our Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our communities, leading and supporting our teams to move forward.
Our objectives are simple:
* Best services for local people
* Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients
* Best use of resources
* Best people
Better never stops.
We are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex-positive employer.
We are currently undertaking an AHP integration project within the Integrated Care System (ICS) aimed at streamlining and enhancing the roles of Allied Health Professionals across urgent and community care pathways. As this initiative progresses, it has the potential to significantly reshape the structure and delivery of AHP services within WAHT.
Job responsibilities
Post Title: Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner
Pay Band: 4
Hours: 22.5 hours
Contract: Permanent
Location / Department: Alexandra Hospital base, with the requirement to be able to occasionally travel to other bases as service provision requires.
Accountable to: Occupational Therapy Manager
Reports to: Occupational Therapy Clinical Specialist/Team Lead OT/Clinical Strategic Lead
Key Working Relationships: To work with and liaise with your supervisor, Occupational Therapy Manager, wider OT team, members of the multidisciplinary team, Community Equipment Store, patients, carers, and internal and external agencies.
Person Specification
Other
* Car Driver: The post holder must have a full driving licence and have access to a vehicle, as conducting community visits is an essential part of the role.
Skills and Knowledge
* Understanding of the complex nature of Occupational Therapy.
* Specific understanding of the needs of the service-user in the service area.
* Ability to transfer knowledge across practical situations.
* Knowledge of a range of OT interventions.
* Understanding of grading activities.
Experience
* Experience of working in a patient-facing role, with frail and elderly patients in a hospital, out-patients, or community setting.
* Experience of working with people with a variety of health conditions.
* Experience of managing own time and prioritising activities.
* Experience of self-development demonstrated by CPD portfolio.
* Experience of contributing to running groups.
* Experience of helping other staff to develop.
* Experience of working independently.
* Experience working with equipment/manual handling.
* Experience of working within a hospital healthcare setting with direct patient contact.
* Experience of working as an OT Support Worker/OT Assistant (band 2 or 3).
Qualifications
* Functional skills level 2 or GCSE Maths and English (Grades 9-4 or A-C).
* Foundation Degree or equivalent level 5 or above (NVQ, HND, Assistant Practitioner apprenticeship) qualification in a Health and Social Care related subject.
* Communication skills in written and verbal format to level 3 standard.
* Knowledge and application of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
* Evidence of attendance at short condition-specific courses e.g., Dementia awareness, stroke specialist seating, Parkinson's, palliative care, cognition and perception.
* Clinical experience/expertise within an AHP profession underpinned by theoretical and practical experience.
* Demonstrable interpersonal skills within individual and group situations.
* Problem-solving skills.
* Experience of adapting to new demands.
* Reliable and responsible.
* Motivated to direct own workload and workload of others.
* The ability to move between sites within the Trust or patients' homes as demanded by the job role.
* Experience of coping with distressing or emotional situations.
* Able to cope with occasional exposure to challenging work environments.
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.
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