Occupational Therapist - Urgent Response Team

Occupational Therapist - Urgent Response Team

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

South Warwickshire Foundation Trust is committed to bringing care closer to home. A vacancy is now available for an enthusiastic and experienced Band 6 Occupational therapist to join our Community urgent response team URT working within the Community Therapy Team - Based in North Warwickshire.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a dynamic and forward-thinking service and a good opportunity to develop into an inspiring senior Occupational therapist. You will be well supported and encouraged to continuously develop to meet the needs of our service and your profession.

The successful candidate will work within the urgent response team, preventing hospital admission and working with patients in their own homes to deliver an integrated rehabilitation pathway across community services. You will liaise and work closely with Community & Specialist Nursing Colleagues, General Practitioners, and the acute hospital, as well as with other therapists within the Integrated Health Teams.

The Integrated Community Health Service operates a seven-day service from 08:30 - 22:00, so flexible working is required including weekends and bank holidays. The ability to travel independently across Warwickshire is required, and you must hold a full British driving licence and have access to a vehicle.

Main duties of the job

Working as a member of the Integrated Health team, planning, coordinating, delivering, and evaluating the programmes of care provided across health, social, and voluntary care sectors as part of a multi-disciplinary community-based rehabilitation team.

To provide effective clinical leadership within the Integrated Health team, enabling the service to deliver to the highest possible care standards, ensuring that evidence-based practice is used. To act as a role model and exercise good leadership.

Providing skilled therapy treatment and advice to clients and carers. Communicating with members of the multi-disciplinary team to maintain high standards of care.

To work as an accountable and autonomous professional responsible for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of clients who may have problems as a result of presenting with medical conditions involving multiple pathology and the acutely ill.

To provide assessment and treatment for patients with a range of complex physical, sensory, perceptual, and cognitive problems within community settings as a member of the Intermediate Care Service.

To work flexibly over a 7-day roster including weekends and bank holidays in order to meet the demands of the service and a rapidly changing caseload.

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa, Shipston-on Stour, and Community Services across North Warwickshire such as Nuneaton, Bedworth, and Coleshill. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways, and delivering high levels of productivity.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, effective, and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process, you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient-facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Job responsibilities

To be professionally and legally accountable for a designated case load of clients with a variety of physical and social needs.

To undertake a comprehensive assessment of clients with a wide variety of complex conditions using investigative and analytical skills of clinical and non-clinical information to form accurate diagnosis and prognosis.

To formulate individualised therapy programmes, using sound clinical reasoning skills and evidence-based treatment to provide rehabilitation, which is client-led and goal-orientated.

To assess competency for and delegate appropriate tasks to other team members, carers, and their families.

To have clinical responsibility for a designated caseload and at times dealing with unplanned and unpredictable urgent referrals for clients living in the community.

To demonstrate ongoing evaluation of therapeutic interventions with the client and respond accordingly.

To carry out treatment plans for other professionals in their absence under delegation and within your competency.

To work innovatively to address the challenges posed by providing rehabilitation in a variety of community settings.

To demonstrate highly developed dexterity, coordination therapeutic handling skills for assessment and manual treatment of a predominantly older caseload.

To demonstrate highly developed knowledge and skills in the use and application of relevant specialist physiotherapy equipment.

To demonstrate highly developed knowledge and skills in the assessment and provision of mobility equipment.

To take an active lead in the advising and teaching of therapeutic handling of clients, to other professionals, families, and carers.

To assess for and provide equipment in accordance with ICES (Integrated Community Equipment Store) guidelines.

To regularly work unsupervised and alone in clients' homes.

To fulfil the duties of the key worker role. This involves being the named clinician who is available for consultation for designated clients. This includes detailed discussion with the clients, families, or careers and other agencies to recommend the best course of intervention using client-led goals, and developing comprehensive discharge plans.

Alongside regular caseload, to act as duty clinician when needed with other professionals within the team. The duty clinician will triage all referrals to the service and where indicated, allocate an appropriate service response or alternatively signpost the referrer utilising knowledge of local service providers.

To immediately report to the professional lead any variance to the clients' care pathway and document in accordance with the agreed procedure.

To identify urgent need for, and initiate an emergency response, giving appropriate first aid as necessary within own capabilities.

To work at all times strictly within the Trust's Infection Control Guidelines. To ensure that therapy/treatment/care does not constitute a risk of infection either to the health professional, the patient/client or to visitors, and to report any situation that compromises the safety of staff, clients/patients or visitors with regard to risk of infection.

To communicate effectively with clients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential, using a wide range of verbal and non-verbal communication skills.

To gain valid consent to intervention where possible in accordance with the legal framework and consent policy. To identify and report concerns where clients may lack capacity.

To liaise and effectively communicate assessment and rehabilitation outcomes with other multi-disciplinary teams, voluntary agencies, and health and social care professionals in accordance with the Trust's information sharing guidelines. This communication will include verbal, report, or letter format and include case conferences and multidisciplinary team meetings.

To maintain accurate, comprehensive, contemporaneous documentation and maintain confidentiality in accordance with local intermediate care protocols, the Trust's records policy, and national professional standards.

To undertake and promote efficient use of available resources.

To maintain accurate and timely input into EMIS information systems.

Under the direction of the Integrated Health team Professional Team Leader participate in the training/clinical education for staff and students, including: peer clinical supervision, interdisciplinary reflection, the training and support of NVQ candidates including writing expert witness statements.

To attend external courses were identified as part of individual appraisal.

To attend professional meetings and study days appropriate to the needs of the service. Thereafter, to provide written evidence of learning and feedback to the Integrated Health team.

All employees will have an organisational and individual responsibility towards safeguarding vulnerable adults, young people, and children. Where employees are working with children, young people, and families they have a responsibility to cooperate in national safeguarding policy around early intervention activities appropriate to improving health outcomes.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in Occupational Therapy
• HPC registered
• Evidence of relevant post graduate courses and CPD in a variety of formats

Experience

• Minimum of 2 years post grad experience covering a broad range of rotations
• 1 year experience working in elderly care in NHS
• 6 months experience working in community setting

Skills

• Demonstrate knowledge of clinical governance and experience of clinical audit
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience of supervising students and junior staff members/assistants
• Ability to pass on skills and knowledge to others within formal and informal environments
• IT literate
• Ability to present information, written or verbal, in a clear and logical manner
• Evidence of working towards clinical specialism with an interest in community application
• Ability to work independently
• Critical appraisal and research skills
• Evidence of experiential learning and reflective practice

Personal Qualities

• Ability to work collaboratively across and within professional and organisational boundaries
• Able to demonstrate flexibility and reliability
• Motivation, drive and enthusiasm
• Committed to personal and team development
• Ability to maintain judgement under pressure and demonstrate forward thinking
• Confident and assertive
• Clear vision of role and commitment to speciality

Other

• Ability to travel by car independently across the community
• Willingness to work on flexible basis to meet the needs of the service, involving evening & weekend working

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 Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust