Band 5 Occupational Therapist - Fountain Way Hospital - Salisbury

Job summary

Occupational Therapist - Band 5 Mental Health

If you are a Band 5 Occupational Therapist, newly qualified, about to graduate or looking for a chance to develop a variety of experience in mental health, this could be the role for you.

Our supportive Occupational Therapy team at Fountain Way works across acute working age adults, dementia, functional later life wards, and the community mental health team. This role would initially be based on Beechlydene acute ward, providing inpatient care to male and female adults, and we hope to develop this as part of a mental health rotation.

We are looking for Occupational Therapists who are passionate about mental health and ready to develop their occupational therapy skills. You will be working as part of the multidisciplinary team with other allied health professionals, nursing and medical colleagues, focusing on mental health recovery, but additionally physical function and practical abilities of service users. This is a role where you can develop all your occupational therapy skills.

We can offer regular supervision, preceptorship, exciting training opportunities, and links to the wider therapy team in AWP. You will have support from Band 6 and Band 7 Occupational Therapists and work with Occupational Therapy Assistants and Occupational Therapy apprentices. There are opportunities to work flexibly which can be discussed prior to or at the interview.

Main duties of the job

Responding to the needs of the service, under supervision and working alongside experienced Occupational Therapists and support staff, you will develop your skills in a range of OT assessments and group interventions. You will be equipped with training and a toolbox of assessments that can be used, including Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability, Allen Cognitive Level Screen assessment, and Model of Human Occupation. You will need to be a flexible and versatile practitioner who is committed to lifelong learning in order to deliver an outstanding service. Reflective practice and the use of evidence-based interventions will enable you to grow in confidence in this role.

You will be an active and involved member of the multidisciplinary team with an emphasis on developing integrated and meaningful person-centred plans of care and promoting the OT role. You will be required to work both in the ward environment but also conduct home assessments to facilitate safe discharges.

You will have the opportunity to develop the service, and the OT team is currently exploring the use of therapeutic garden spaces on the ward.

Please do not hesitate to contact Emily Paintin, Band 6 Occupational Therapist, emily.paintin1@nhs.net or Megan Moody, Lead Occupational Therapist at megan.moody4@nhs.net to find out more about the role, arrange a visit or ask any questions.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust), a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire, and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP, we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities, and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives, and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Date posted: 24 February 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 5

Salary: £29,970 to £36,483 a year (pro rata)

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time

Reference number: 342-WTS048-0225

Job locations: Beechlydene Ward, Fountain Way Hospital, Salisbury, SP2 7FD

Job description Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities, Patient Contact

• Accountable for designated caseload, working within an evidenced-based occupational therapy treatment plan and care programme approach under the guidance of the supervising occupational therapist. Service users may demonstrate behaviours that challenge and have difficult family situations of relevance.
• Undertakes occupational therapy assessments, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits.
• Assesses and manages risk effectively in clinical and community settings including the service user's own home.
• Works with service users and carers to identify Occupational Therapy goals as part of the overall Multidisciplinary Team plan.
• Develops and implements individual and/or group interventions, in collaboration with the service user(s) and MDT to achieve therapeutic goals.
• Uses technical and creative skills to engage service users in therapeutic activities and encourages them in a compassionate manner, to support them in achieving their identified goals.
• Monitors and evaluates occupational therapy treatment in order to measure progress and modifies treatment plans to ensure effectiveness of clinical interventions.
• Provides reports on service user progress at clinical meetings and participates in the clinical decision-making process regarding service user care programmes as part of the multidisciplinary team.
• Provides advice, education, and training to service users, carers, and other healthcare staff involved in service users' care.
• Undertakes health promotion activities.
• Assesses service users for and fits adapted equipment in the home, as appropriate.
• Acts as lead professional for service users if no other professional is involved in the service user's care and may undertake care co-ordination for service users on Care Programme Approach where there is an occupational therapy component identified.
• Responsible for recognising the potential for or signs of service user harm, abuse, or neglect, including poor clinical practice, reporting all such concerns and taking all reasonable steps to protect the service user. Responsible for identifying and reporting concerns regarding the safeguarding of children who may be at risk.
• Demonstrates safe moving and handling of service users, using equipment as required.
• Demonstrates safe physical interventions in the management of violence and aggression as required.

Administrative Responsibilities

• Undertakes administrative tasks in relation to own work.
• Uses Microsoft Office applications on a daily basis.

Responsibility for Information Systems

• Responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive service user records using RIO or other electronic systems approved by the Trust and in accordance with the Trust and professional record-keeping standards.
• Writes letters and reports on service users' progress for distribution to other healthcare professionals.
• Contributes to MDT reports.
• Records information required for statistical purposes in an accurate and timely manner.
• Uses recording tools (e.g. Clustering tool) and related assessments accurately as a key part of the system requirements, where appropriate.
• Responsibility for Planning/Organising & Strategic/Business Development Plans own workload, managing competing demands (e.g. urgent referrals) to ensure care is delivered according to clinical priority.
• Delegates work to OT assistants whose competence has been established, whilst maintaining professional accountability and ensuring their work meets required professional standards.
• Plans, organises and writes session plans for individual service users or groups.
• May undertake care co-ordination for service users on Care Programme Approach where there is an occupational therapy component identified.
• Plans training sessions, workshops, seminars, and poster displays.

Policy Development

• Contributes to the development of policies and procedures in own area as part of the Occupational Therapy Team.
• Participates in continual safety and quality improvement activities as part of the Occupational Therapy Team.

Please see Job Description PDF file for more details.

Person Specification

Essential

• Relevant professional OT qualification
• Previous experience in relevant mental health setting (placement, personal, employment)
• Understanding of Mental Health challenges

Desirable

• Experience of using OT specific mental health assessments (VdT MoCA, ACLS6, MOHO)
• Experience of providing individual/group interventions

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

Employer details

Employer name: Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address: Beechlydene Ward, Fountain Way Hospital, Salisbury, SP2 7FD

Employer's website: http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/