Clinical Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist

This is an exciting opportunity for a Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist to become part of the leadership of the well-established and dynamic Rheumatology and Chronic pain team, here at Evelina Children's Hospital, part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. This position will oversee all areas of Occupational therapy input across these two services.
The 8a post will be the lead Occupational Therapist for the rheumatology and Chronic Pain service at Evelina London and has operational oversight and responsibility for delivery of OT assessments and interventions in this tertiary level service. It provides clinical leadership to the team and will support the development of the band 6 Occupational therapist. The post holder is responsible for clinical governance and assurance including, but not limited to, the management of clinical risk and patient safety, compliance with mandatory training, clinical and professional standards. Reporting to the Clinical Lead for Paediatric Occupational Therapy and ultimately the Head Occupational Therapist, this position leads workforce planning, training and development, with oversight of job plans and has responsibility for delivering governance and operational performance.
This position has become available as a result of redesigning the OT workforce based on the available funding. We look forward to receiving applications from experienced OTs who have worked in inpatient services., This role involves providing specialist out-patient assessment and intervention for children and young people, working in
partnership with multi-disciplinary colleagues in Physiotherapy and Psychology, as well as the wider MDT and medical colleagues.
You will also support the provision of an in-patient acute service for children and young people requiring rehabilitation
following an acute flare up. Examples of clinical problems but not limited to are: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), Juvenile Dermatomyositis,
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and other multi-system inflammatory disorders with weakness, joint stiffness and fatigue which result in functional incapacity.
The occupational therapists are valued members of the multidisciplinary team. They have a key role in promoting the child/young person's
recovery in terms of physical, communication, cognitive and psychosocial abilities. You will be core to providing robust, multidisciplinary,
individualised rehabilitation packages. This includes promoting the child/young persons' acquisition of skills to support their development and independence
You will need to be…
+ enthusiastic about developing staff within the team
+ able to demonstrate the value of occupational therapy and advocating for OT as a key profession
+ experienced in working within paediatric rheumatology/chronic pain services
+ able to work autonomously and provide specialist OT assessments and interventions to children, young people and their families

Working for our organisation
This post requires applicants to have excellent verbal and written communication skills, as collaborative working within the multi-disciplinary team and with our community colleagues in health, education and social services is essential. It also requires an OT who has experience with working with this population of children, as you will need to be adaptable to meet the child's individual therapy needs.
You will need to be flexible in order to support the team within a busy tertiary service.
You will be energetic, keen to critically appraise literature in the field of occupational therapy and deliver evidence-based practice as part of a service that encourages reflective practice.
This post sits within the Paediatric occupational therapy service at Evelina London Children's Hospital.
You will be responsible for the supervision and support of the band 6 occupational therapist within the service. You will contribute to service development alongside your colleagues in the MDT as well as the paediatric OT team.
You will be supervised and operationally managed by the clinical lead in paediatric occupational therapy and professionally managed by the Trust Head OT., The successful candidate will have experience with intervention modalities which will include goal-directed task-based occupational therapy, pain and fatigue management. Specialist skills in mental health or a background in working in child development are also desirable.
You will be experienced in setting client-centred rehabilitation goals and will offer a family-centred service. This role requires close liaison and
working in partnership with community therapy services, education services, and/or other appropriate agencies.
You will support children to work towards meaningful goals focusing on functional skills and independence in areas of self-care, school/work and
leisure/play, alongside their families and local teams.
You will be responsible for supporting the development of knowledge and skills in this area and will contribute to service development alongside
the team.
There is the potential to participate in departmental audits or research projects. There is also the opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills through participation in team and hospital wide continuing professional development programmes, supervision of junior staff members and students, appraisal, in-service training and joint working
Guy's and St Thomas' celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.
Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now."

NHS AfC: Band 8a
Guy's and St Thomas' is among the UK's busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy's is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas' has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children's Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King's Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King's College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of 'good'. Our adult community services achieved a rating of 'outstanding'.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.