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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical and Professional

•  To undertake all professional duties as a senior occupational therapist maintaining high professional standards, complying at all times with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and the College of Occupational Therapists, Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
• To participate in the senior occupational therapist rotation scheme, acquiring specialist knowledge in a range of assessments and interventions relating to each speciality. This will involve managing a caseload of patients that require a range of complex assessments and interventions.
• To participate in rotations including 7 day working if required, extended weekday working hours and weekend working rotas depending upon the allocated rotation.
• To assess and treat patients with disabilities and complex needs who would benefit from a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary assessment, rehabilitation and discharge planning.
• To undertake appropriate assessment programmes to determine patient needs and prioritise patients treated according to need.
• To consider all the elements and select the appropriate course of action, to achieve the best possible outcome by processing a range of information with each individual patient, who may have complex physical, cognitive and mental health needs.
• To provide treatment to facilitate maximum independence by processing and interpreting a range of information and using the techniques that are appropriate to occupational therapy.
• To establish a rapport with the patient and use the skills of empathy and persuasion to ensure compliance with the treatment programme. This may result in the necessity to alter the place of residence e.g. they may not be capable of returning to their own home, or may have a permanent change in their physical abilities.
• To use clinical reasoning to plan and undertake appropriate evidence based treatment programmes, undertaken in conjunction with the patient and their relatives/carers if possible.
• To regularly review and adapt the treatment programmes to ensure they continuously meet the patient needs.

• To comply with the manual handling policies and procedures whilst undertaking moving and handling procedures, this includes transferring patients with hoists or stand- aids and carrying equipment.

• To organise and facilitate health promotion activities.  These will involve discussions and explanation of various strategies and resources available.

• To plan and undertake patient assessments in their own homes as appropriate. This may include visits under pathway 1, long term rehabilitation or as part of the social services rotations to meet the needs of their customers. To ensure the relevant organisations and teams policies and procedures are followed as part of the rotation. 

• To ensure the effective use of appropriate assessment and treatment resources, both in the rotation setting and the patient's home or clinic. This will involve the use of physical, cognitive and mental health standardised and non- standardised assessments.

• To ensure timely and appropriate referrals are undertaken to aid recovery and rehabilitation.
• To initiate, undertake and participate in regular formal and informal clinical supervision in order to reflect on professional practice, identify training needs and develop professional practice. To be a supervisor for qualified staff and occupational therapy students including those undertaking the occupational therapy apprenticeship programme.

• To participate and provide appraisals in a timely manner and ensure own mandatory training is up to date at all times.  

• To continuously improve own professional development to ensure development of specialist clinical skills in line with best practice. This will include:
  • Attendance at courses/study days relating to the speciality or area of interest

  • In service training

  • Maintaining CPD file and participating in the professional development programme
• To assess and order the essential and most appropriate equipment required to meet the patient’s needs. To ensure the order is completed and is safe for use, liaising with the relevant equipment store to address any problems as relevant.

• To assess, order, supply, use and adapt equipment for patients, to enhance independence/mobility. This may include manual and electric wheelchairs, hoists, standing aids and feeding aids. At all times ensuring that any equipment used and /or adjusted is handled in a safe manner for staff and patients.

• As appropriate, to refer or undertake the assessment, fabrication and fitting of splints for hands and upper limbs following surgery or injury.

• To educate other professionals about the role of Occupational Therapy, ensuring the positive promotion of the profession.
• To ensure all policies and procedures are followed in relation to the organisation e.g. COSHH, Health and Safety.
• To be prepared to work flexible hours when requested, in response to the needs of service.

Communication and Team Working

• To communicate with patients and family/carers as appropriate, the physical/mental/cognitive health problems ensuring a sensitive approach to assist engagement with treatment programmes. This will involve motivating patients and negotiating treatment goals.
• To ensure excellent communication ie with verbal and written handovers, ward rounds, MDT meetings and case conferences to ensure effective communication in regards to patient progress and treatment plans. At all times, occupational therapists need to respect confidentiality whilst giving and receiving complex clinical and personal information.
• To maintain all necessary communication using the relevant patient/customer documentation IT system. To ensure other accessible IT systems are also accessed as essential in order to inform decision making and safe practice. At all times following the organisations policies regarding the confidentiality of data collection.
• To ensure regular communication with the patient, family and carers in order to maintain patient involvement and manage expectations regarding the patient’s condition, diagnosis and prognosis.

• To closely liaise with other agencies, internal or external to ensure excellent communication of needs. To continuously foster good working relationships with internal and external agencies and the wider MDT to enable the best results for patients and staff.

Training and Teaching

• To undertake regular informal and formal supervision of occupational therapists, students and therapy practitioners/assistants as needed. 

• To supervise students as needed on a regular basis after completing a practice placement educators course.

• To regularly teach in training sessions to occupational therapy staff, students and other professionals as required.

• To be prepared to promote occupational therapy both internal and externally.

Planning and Organisation

• To be responsible for arranging appointments, booking cars for home visits etc following the teams and department guidelines.
• To provide cover within the team or across other teams, including acute or community based as appropriate to ensure the occupational therapy service is maintained.

• To be responsible for planning and prioritising own caseload and assist other more junior staff with prioritising as required. To balance clinical and non-clinical tasks on a daily basis.

• To be responsible for cleaning/infection control on all equipment /cars / work areas etc. In addition to be responsible for dealing with bodily fluids in the department and unpleasant conditions in some patients home. 

Managing People and Resources

• To delegate appropriate tasks to ensure tasks are carried out in an appropriate manner using the right skillset of others. To actively identify and engage with training where the skills are needed within own role.
• To assist in the promotion of the department and Occupational Therapy to work experience students and visitors from other professions.

Service Development and Research

• To actively identify, lead and be involved with audits, service developments and relevant projects related to the delivery of occupational therapy.

• To continuously engage with learning new practices in line with the current evidence and changing trends in occupational therapy. To initiate new ideas for service provision, closely liaising with the professional lead for support in order to align initiatives with the needs of the service, direction of the alliance and the local population.

Policy and Service Development

• To attend meetings formal and informal meetings to discuss the overall management of the department including policies and service development and to implement these policies in the relevant settings. To attend higher level meetings to support the team lead.

• To monitor and evaluate the Occupational Therapy intervention with a view to measuring efficiency and ensuring high quality standards.