Job summary
- Main area
- LD - PH & Wellbeing Services
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 30 hours per week
- Job ref
- 294-MHCA-6248573-JB-A
- Employer
- South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Balham Health Centre
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £51,488 - £57,802 pro rata per annum inclusive of inner London HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 02/06/2024 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Occupational Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 7
South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.
We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ however we aim to be ‘outstanding’.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is "making life better together".
When you join us, you’ll be part of something special – an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.
As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
We are seeking a motivated, Lead Occupational Therapist to join Wandsworth Community Learning Disability Healthcare Team. As a friendly and dynamic team we provide specialist services for adults with learning disabilities across Wandsworth.
You will have considerable post qualifying experience working as an Occupational Therapist and evidence of a special interest in Learning Disabilities. You will be able to work autonomously and demonstrate enthusiasm and creativity in your approach to your work. You will lead on identified service developments and provide supervision to junior colleagues. You will need to be passionate about improving the quality of care and support to individuals with a learning disability and their carers. You must be interested in working with external partners to develop supportive networks.
You will not only carry a varied caseload but will also provide clinical leadership to a small team of occupational therapists. You will be supported in this aspect of the role by the Clinical Team Leader and Deputy Head of Therapies for the Specialist Service Line.
Main duties of the job
- To manage a caseload of service users with complex needs, using evidence based /service user centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
- To provide a specialist Occupational Therapy service to services users in the service, providing interventions underpinned by the Model of Human Occupation
- To provide OT clinical leadership for junior staff, through supervision and appraisal.
- To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of OT services within a designated area/team, holding responsibility for defined projects.
- To contribute to the maintenance and development of the Trust OT Service.
- To monitor and maintain standards of OT practice as directed by the Head of Therapies
- To implement Trust-wide Occupational Therapy strategy by overseeing OT Clinical Specialist forums and participating in Lead OT activities as directed by the Deputy Head of Therapies for the Specialist services.
- To regularly supervise OT students on practice placement.
- To undertake regular audit and R&D activities.
- To oversee the supervision of OT students on fieldwork placements.
- To oversee Disability Equality within the service and provide ‘Disability Champion’ duties leading the multi-disciplinary team in Disability Equality matters within Specialist Services as required.
- To be responsible for delegated tasks, to assist in the management and administration of the service, including participation in service improvement activities.
Working for our organisation
We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.
This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services.
We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.
We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.
Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To use available evidence base and work in partnership with service users, carers, colleagues and other stakeholders.
- To offer interventions that are person centred, respecting choice and values.
- To use a problem solving approach, identifying and managing risk, and working in the most appropriate environment for service users and their carers will ensure equitable and accessible service provision.
- To offer interventions aimed at empowering service users to take responsibility for self-management, where this is possible
- To work with service users individually or in groups, as appropriate.
- To independently manage a caseload of service users with highly complex health and social care needs, who may have multiple pathologies and no formal medical diagnosis.
- To undertake highly specialist, comprehensive, person centred Occupational Therapy assessments, using both standardised and non-standardised tools, to ascertain service users’ level of functional ability, support and accommodation needs.
- To develop and implement highly specialised intervention/treatment plans, working in partnership with service users, carers, MDT and others, in order to achieve identified goals and agreed outcomes.
- To promote independence, develop/maintain function and train service users, carers and colleagues in carrying out appropriate parts of the intervention programme
- To evaluate outcomes, re-assessing and modifying goals and intervention plans as necessary in order to measure effectiveness of intervention and progress or plan discharge.
- To use advanced clinical reasoning and reflection, to evaluate and interpret the range of complex information gathered during assessment and intervention with service users.
- To assess for, prescribe/recommend, assemble and monitor specialist equipment, environmental adaptations, wheelchairs, specialist seating and postural control systems in order to ensure that people with additional physical disabilities are able to live as independently as possible and minimise the physical demands on carers.
- To initiate and undertake complex risk assessments, both individual and environmental, in order to advise on appropriate management for moving and handling, and the safe use of equipment and adaptations in home and day care settings, where this forms part of an intervention programme.
- To use verbal and non-verbal communication tools to gain valid informed consent prior to assessment and intervention and use the legal framework pertaining to service users who lack the capacity to consent.
- To work autonomously with service users in a range of settings including their home, out in the community, day care, work or college placements and other health settings.
Person specification
Training and Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy
- Registration to practice in the UK
- Evidence of post registration training relevant to mental health practice
- Training in the theory and application of the model of human occupation within the first 4 months of appointment
Desirable criteria
- Practice placement educators course within one year of appointment
- Leadership and/or management training
- Apple registration
Experience
Essential criteria
- Minimum 4 years post qualification experience, including 2 years in learning disabilities
- Experience of working in an inter-professional team.
- Experience of working within a multi-agency environment.
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural context
- Experience of maintaining a written record of continual professional development
- Experience of working as an occupational therapist in a community setting
- Experience of writing specialist occupational therapy reports
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in a range of mental health settings
- Experience of using mental health services as a service user, or carer, relative, friend of a service user
- Experience of being a practice placement educator
- Experience of MDT project management
Knowledge and Skills- Communication
Essential criteria
- Highly developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed & maintained with service users who have multiple & complex needs
- Basic word processing and IT skills
- Proficient standard of written communication skills
- Ability to promote & maintain the profile of OT within an MDT & the wider organisation
Knowledge and Skills- Personal and People Development
Essential criteria
- Ability to work autonomously and set own priorities
- Ability to reflect upon and critically appraise own performance
- Ability to enable staff to develop & apply their knowledge & skills in practice
- Ability to deliver presentations
- Ability to role model positive professional behaviour
Knowledge and Skills- Health, Safety and Security
Essential criteria
- Ability to identify and assess potential risks involved in work activities for self and others
- Ability to monitor work areas & practices to maintain a healthy, safe and secure working environment.
Knowledge and Skills- Service Improvement
Essential criteria
- Ability to adapt own practice & style of working to service requirements
- Audit skills
- Ability to identify strategies to improve service effectiveness.
Knowledge and Skills- Equality and Diversity
Essential criteria
- Ability to apply equal opportunities & anti-discriminatory interventions that respect the service users’ customs, values & spiritual beliefs
- Ability to identify patterns of discrimination and take action
- Ability to promote a culture of recovery & social inclusion.
Knowledge and Skills- Health and Wellbeing
Essential criteria
- Ability to assess complex health & well being needs & develop, monitor & review care plans to meet those needs
- Ability to undertake clinical risk assessment & apply risk management strategies
- Ability to independently manage a complex clinical caseload.
- Specialist clinical skills relevant to service user group
Desirable criteria
- Working knowledge of model of human occupation tools
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mandy Billingham
- Job title
- Deputy Head of Therapies
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0203 513 6351
- Additional information
Adebisi Bisi-Balogun – Deputy Clinical Team Leader: [email protected]
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