Children's Occupational Therapist Band 5 or Band 6 | Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

A rare opportunity has arisen for a committed and passionate clinician looking to join a highly experienced and specialist paediatric Occupational Therapy service in Worthing., This is a community post, with a caseload of children and young people with neurological and developmental conditions. The post holder will be responsible for applying their expertise in assessing and providing interventions or strategies that can be administered by parents, education staff and technical instructors as well as yourself.

You will work closely with the child, family and other professionals involved in their care, across various settings, e.g. clinic, client's homes, schools and nurseries. We are committed to multi-disciplinary working and contribute to specialist clinics.

The team are very committed to Sussex Community Trust's values of "Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence and Compassionate Care", and aspire to deliver a service of 'compassionate patient centred care, promoting independence and empowering families'.

We offer excellent in-service training, supervision and clinical support from the Countywide Paediatric Professional Lead.

The ability to travel is essential as you will need to visit nurseries, schools and children's homes.

To work as a band 6 registered professional (or below goals to work at Band 5 to develop to a Band 6 role) within a Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust service:

1. To manage a caseload of patients with a variety of conditions.

2. To formulate and deliver generic and specialised treatment programmes based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options using clinical assessment and reasoning skills.

3. To treat all patients with respect and courtesy, maintaining dignity and respecting individual needs and differences, both physical and cultural.

4. To be involved in the support and supervision of staff at Band 3 to 5 level.

5. To act as a clinical educator for undergraduate students within own professional area.

6. To receive and deliver internal training and keep your own Personal Development plans up to date.

7. To take on an audit and evaluation role of the service in which you work.

8. To assist the team with service development initiatives, A job plan will be created by your line manager in line with the service blueprint and discussed with you. It will be reviewed annually at your PDR and updated as required. The main tasks you will spend your time doing are:

1. To work effectively as a team member in providing and facilitating a high standard of care, social and rehabilitative support across various settings.

2. To plan therapy, social and rehabilitative pathways taking account of the fluctuating needs of the patient and assist in evaluating the outcomes.

3. To report and document variances in a patient's condition or planned pathway of care.

4. To offer advice and support and education on healthcare to both patients and carers.

5. To take referrals for all services using the criteria specified in their operational policies.

6. To undertake a holistic assessment of all the patients' needs and understand the routes for escalating issues that are not directly resolved by own professional practice.

7. Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options using specific clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills.

8. To evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes as required.

9. Assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.

10. To manage clinical risk within own patient case load and recognise potential risks to others, complying at all times with the requirements of health and safety regulations.

11. Work in line with the SCFT lone worker policy where lone working is integral to the role.

12. To be responsible for maintaining personal accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records in accordance with SCFT Information Governance and professional bodies.

13. To be responsible for maintaining and developing own competency to practice through CPD activities and maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development.

14. To clinically supervise, support and teach other staff, including Band 5 therapists, assistants and students.

15. To support the operational lead with annual appraisals for staff at Band 3 to 5 staff and assist them with their career development.

The post will ideally suit an experienced band 5 or a band 6 wishing to expand their skills in the paediatric field.

This could also provide a development opportunity for an experienced band 5, to develop into a band 6 role, which would be fully supported by the team here to achieve.

There may be flexibility in the hours available for the right candidate.

Candidates must be able to demonstrate clinical skills gained through previous OT experience. The successful candidate will also have the ability to work independently in the community, have excellent organisation/time management skills and be committed to clinical governance.

Candidates are required to have current HPC registration.

As the largest provider of community healthcare services in Sussex, our teams help people to plan for and manage changes to their health, supporting patients and their families to live more independently. We employ over 5,000 full and part time staff, and provide community services to a population of 1.3 million people.

Each year our dedicated clinicians see adult or child patients more than 2.6 million times, caring for people from their earliest moments right up to the final stages of their life.

SCFT teams deliver a range of health and care services to more than 9,000 people every day, working in care homes, clinics, intermediate care units, people's own homes, GP surgeries, schools and other community venues across the region.

Our vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community and achieving the highest level of service is our top priority. We develop and nurture our staff and recognise that they are our greatest asset.

We give them clear career pathways, support their wellbeing, recognise, and value their diversity and provide them with the leadership, skills and knowledge they need to deliver the best care for our patients now and in the future.