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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Patient contact:

The post holder will participate in regular supervision from a Paediatric Occupational Therapist of a higher grade but will be expected to work autonomously to:

• Provide evidence-based assessment, treatment and/or advice to children (aged 0 - school leaving age), referred to the Paediatric Occupational Therapy team in liaison with families and other professionals within a multi-agency framework. Children may present with life limiting, physical, multi-sensory disabilities and present with long term postural, functional and independence needs.
• Appropriate involvement in Education Health Care Plan process.
• Manage a varied paediatric occupational therapy caseload involving assessment, diagnosis, treatment and advice for patients referred to the Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service on a daily basis. This includes provision of treatment plans for conditions such as developmental coordination and cerebral palsy.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary / agency teams to provide a co-ordinated and integrated approach to patient care, e.g. health, social services, education, voluntary sector and families.
  • To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals in order to promote understanding of the aims of Occupational Therapy and to ensure a consistent approach to the child’s care.
  • To work with and provide information to members of the multi-disciplinary team regarding the child’s functional ability in order to:-
    • reach a working diagnosis
    • enable subsequent management of relevant functional difficulties
    • deliver a comprehensive and co-ordinated treatment programme to each child. This is based on their clinical need and may include, where appropriate participation in case conferences, school reviews and discharge planning.
  • Use clinical judgement/reasoning for the assessment and recommendation, of specialist equipment e.g. postural seating and toileting equipment, from budgets such as education. To review and monitor the specialist equipment to ensure it meets the child’s changing needs.  To report any issues affecting health and safety to the provider. This includes the training of children and staff in the safe use of the equipment
• Work with children and families to identify Occupational Therapy child centred SMART goals and to formulate and recommend the best course of intervention. These should address Occupational performance and skill deficits, enabling children to develop/improve in the areas of self-care, access to the National Curriculum, life skills, play and leisure activities.
• To monitor, evaluate and modify individually tailored treatment (evidence based) in order to measure progress using outcome measures to ensure intervention is effective and complimentary to the child’s development, lifestyle and educational programme.
• To assess child/carer understanding of treatment plans, gain informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with children and their families/carers who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• To facilitate a child’s return to school following discharge from Hospitals (local and Regional) following acute admissions and surgery in liaison with relevant services including Hospital staff, Special Needs Community Nurse, Physiotherapist, Education Staff and Speech and Language Therapists.
• To contribute to the planned admissions to hospital in collaboration with other members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure the child’s care plan meets their needs and optimises the outcome of their stay.
• To follow Trust procedures for incident reporting, and safeguarding  asking for support from appropriate other personnel, in order to report the incident
• To provide assessment, treatment, and/or advice to children referred to the Paediatric Occupational Therapy team in liaison with families and other professionals within a multi-agency framework. Children may present with physical, learning, social/emotional and behavioural difficulties e.g. neuromuscular conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, developmental conditions, perceptual difficulties and genetic abnormalities, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
• To take attend and participate in, as appropriate:
  • staff meetings
  • peer review
  • external courses
  • in-service training
• Will be expected to manage and prioritise own workload balancing other clinical, non-clinical and professional demands. Often working under pressure and to tight deadlines. Will use supervision with a more senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist as needed.
• Work alone in different environments including patient’s own homes, nurseries, and schools; following CCS Paediatric Occupational Therapy Lone Working Policy.
• Refer on to other professionals / agencies as required.
• Seek assistance from colleagues where further advice or support is sought with regard to patient care.
• Decide on appropriate clinical and non-clinical tasks to be delegated e.g. to assistants, carers, admin staff, school staff.
• Professionally and legally be responsible and accountable for all aspects of own wor

Project work

• To contribute to on projects as required
  • To participate in the Paediatric Occupational Therapy teams’ clinical governance arrangements and quality agenda
  • To adhere to and apply the Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice, Conduct and Ethics (RCOT Version 2/2021).
  • To participate in the implementation of changes to the service which may have an impact on other services e.g. OT referral criteria, as appropriate.
  • To have an understanding of national guidelines and legislation relating to health and social care and their impact on local service provision.