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Job summary

Main area
Occupational Therapy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 5
Contract
Permanent: Full time
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
363-NEW7396208
Employer
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
First Avenue Resource Centre
Town
London
Salary
£35,763 - £43,466 per annum Inc HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
22/08/2025 23:59

Employer heading

East London NHS Foundation Trust logo

Occupational Therapist – Mental Health Care for Older People (MHCOP)

NHS AfC: Band 5

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job overview

The friendly Occupational Therapy team in Newham are inviting a Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join the older adults in the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) 

This is an ideal opportunity for your first Band 5 role, and we are inviting passionate final year students to apply as well. (There is the option of starting as a Band 4 whilst awaiting HCPC registration.) The CMHT is based in the community at First Avenue Resource Centre in Plaistow. x

The Occupational Therapist is part of the established multi-disciplinary team and the role is to undertake specific Occupational Therapy assessment and interventions of referred individuals, the emphasis is on supporting the person to achieve their goals in self-care, productivity and leisure to continue to live at home; group work is encouraged; another aspect of the role is generic assessment and joint working with other team members. 

 

Please contact us for any further discussions, visits and to answer any questions you might have

 

Main duties of the job

 

  • To provide Occupational Therapy specific assessments and intervention/treatments to a designated caseload of older people with mental health/dementia support needs via a range of individual and or group treatments.
  • To develop and maintain links with the MHCOP OT service, relevant statutory and non-statutory agencies.
  • To  support students on  practice education placements when required
  • To contribute to the planning and evaluation of MHCOP services

 

Working for our organisation

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • To liaise with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and other agencies to ensure an integrated, high quality service

 

  • To assess service-users’ mental state and identify any significant risk factors pertaining to management within the setting.

 

  • To plan interventions in conjunction with those involved in the service-user’s care, ensuring regular evaluation of care plans

 

  • To evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions in conjunction with service-users/carers’, other professionals, to include joint working to ensure successful transfer of care plans developed

 

  • To promote and apply evidenced-based practice to service delivery

 

  • To be aware of service-users’ and carers’ cultural and ethnic needs when developing interventions

 

  • To provide support and advice on the integration of activity into the day-to-day care and management of older people with mental illnesses to other staff and agencies as appropriate

 

  • To promote and apply equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory interventions that respect a service-user’s customs, values and spiritual beliefs at all times

 

  • To apply clinical knowledge and skills to develop a range of interventions, for use on both a one-to-one and group basis, for service-users with complex needs.

 

  • Opportunities to develop clinical reasoning skills through case discussions and informal peer support during two weekly OT meeting

 

  • To use clinical reasoning to assess how the service-user’s mental health difficulties impact on their function in the occupational areas of self-care, productivity and leisure, as well as their performance in the cognitive, inter/ intrapersonal and physical areas

 

  • To manage difficult clinical situations arising from working with service-users with emotional and behavioural needs

 

  • To produce clinical reports on a regular basis and disseminate to other involved professionals, agencies and the client as appropriate (to include, for example, Personal Profiles)

 

  • To attend clinical meetings/ward rounds/CPA meetings and contribute clinical information on progress to other MDT professionals

 

  • To ensure that own documentation and service-user records are recorded and stored in line with Trust and Royal College of Occupational Therapy  guidelines

 

  • To ensure compliance with confidentiality is maintained

 

  • To collect Occupational Therapy  & other statistics submitting them as per service requirement, including the use of electronic systems in line with the Trust’s clinical governance and performance management standards, ensuring that information is complete and timely

 

  • To carry out administration tasks as required for smooth running of the service

 

  • To provide service-users and carers with accurate information on the service provided

 

  • Exercise clinical professional judgement in complex clinical cases and refers to supervisor or others when necessary

 

  • To prioritise caseload in response to service-user needs and the changing demands of the service under guidance of the Head OT in MHCOP

 

  • To make decisions independently in terms of day-to-day management of own caseload or in collaboration with the Senior and  Head Occupational Therapist’s

 

  •  To develop supervisory skills opportunities  to work towards supervising an OTA and practice educator role with support from Senior Occupational Therapists

 

  • To contribute to the training and development of OT’s and other disciplines, which may include from time to time assisting with the development of staff groups in external agencies in order that service-users receive the best possible care

 

  • To provide treatment plans to the OT assistants and support workers

 

  • To deal with conflict and resolve difficulties on a clinical level with support from the Senior and Head Occupational Therapist’s in Older People’s Mental Health Services

 

  • To be involved with student Occupational Therapist’s practice education  placements
  • To register with and adhere to the Health Care Professionals Council standards of conduct, performance, ethics, proficiency, education and training, continuing professional development.

 

  • Adhere to the  Royal College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct and Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice and ensure that supervisees comply with these requirements

 

  • To follow the Trust and Occupational Therapy service policies and procedures and the  Royal College of Occupational Therapy professional standards in clinical practice

 

  • Together with the MDT, to continue to actively implement initiatives that aim to promote the value of activity for service-users and the role of Occupational Therapy

 

  • In collaboration with the Occupational Therapy  team, plan new developments in the Occupational Therapy  service to enhance the quality of the service received, actively involving service-users and carers in the developments and getting feedback

 

  • To contribute to audits of service, review and evaluation  and opportunity to be involved with QI projects

 

  • To developing organisational skills by sharing the role of chairing and minuting the weekly OT referrals and business meetings

 

  • To implement policies and procedures for the safe use of therapeutic stock and equipment in line with health and safety requirements.

 

Person specification

Education

Essential criteria
  • • Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy
  • • HCPC Registration
Desirable criteria
  • • Member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapy

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • • Developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed and maintained with clients who have complex needs
  • • Analytical & clinical reasoning skills to assess clients’ complex needs (including risk assessment) & complete a holistic formulation to guide interventions with significant support & supervision
  • • Ability to apply specialist skills in individual and group based OT assessments, interventions and evaluations
  • • Ability to manage frequent highly distressing clinical interactions with client’s and their carers
  • • Good organisational and time management skills
  • • Ability to liaise with other services around clinical issues

Other

Essential criteria
  • • Physical skills required to facilitate a wide range of activities both on a one-to-one and group basis, including using equipment as required
  • • Mental and emotional effort required to undertake intense concentration required for clinical consultations and interventions on both a one-to-one and group basis
  • • Mental and emotional effort required to undertake intense concentration for holistic formulations, report writing, etc.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Capital Nurse, LondonCommitted to being an Inclusive EmployerApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveHSJ Best places to workArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare quality commission - OutstandingStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Lorraine Kazembe
Job title
Older Adults OT Lead
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07974768054
Additional information

Diana Herrera

Older adults OT Lead Newham 

07918445521

 

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