NDS Lead Occupational Therapist | Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

We are seeking a full-time specialist Band 7 Lead Occupational Therapist to join the Neurodevelopmental Service (NDS), part of our 'Outstanding' community Children's and Young People's Services. You would be leading the development of the Occupational Therapy role within a dynamic multidisciplinary team delivering diagnostic assessment for young people with suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The role is a combination of patient facing work within the clinic, school or home environments and team leadership. Part time hours will be considered.

You will be a core member of the leadership team supporting the needs of the service. As a Discipline Lead you will lead a small team of Occupational Therapists. The service is at an exciting time of development and as the band 7 Discipline Lead you will be involved in promoting the OT role within the team.

Office bases are either in Norwich or Kings Lynn, with travel expected across both sites. Flexible working is supported.

• Supporting the NDS Clinical Lead in developing the OT pathway within service developments embedding professional standards of practice and up to date evidence base.


• Identify future service development needs and contribute to recommendations for models of implementation.


• Workin a timelyand efficient way to meet service demands, encouraging and supporting other team members to do the same.


• Clinical supervision, including specialist supervision around specific assessments requiring knowledge of sensory processing differences and impact on diagnostic decision making.


• Leading a multidisciplinary sub-team.


You will also be responsible for supporting and supervising other disciplines within the team which may include newly qualified Clinical Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Nurses, andAssistant Practitioners.

You will be a key worker for a small caseload of young people in their assessment journey. This will include:

• Delivering Autism and ADHD assessments using formal and informal assessment methods such as ADOS, school observations, early developmental history interviews.


• Writing thorough and detailed reports to evidence diagnostic decision making.


• Supporting clinicians with planning and delivery of care, andprogress of young people through the diagnostic pathway.


• Facilitate multidisciplinary discussions in order to reach diagnostic outcome following assessment.


• Feedback to young people and their families the outcome of diagnostic assessment.


You will receive support from the NDS Clinical Psychologist/Clinical Lead and other NDS Discipline Leads.

Our supportive teams value innovation, foster development and are committed to improving the lives of the children and young people we work with. The post holder will benefit from being part of a supportive, experienced multidisciplinary team. Opportunities for personal and professional development exist through regular supervision; managerial and peer support, annual performance and development review, sharing of best practice and opportunities to lead on service development projects. There will be the opportunity to liaise with other specialist Occupational Therapists working within the Trust., 1. To complete independent neurodevelopmental assessments, utilising highly specialised observation and assessment skills for those children referred with potential neurodevelopmental conditions in line with National Standards and NICE guidelines.

2. To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own clinical work and the management of cases on own caseload.

3. To be responsible for most complex cases and the delegating of work to NDS multi-disciplinary colleagues.

4. Participate in administration and interpretation of specific assessment tools within neurodevelopmental assessment and communicate the results to the NDS MDT as part of the diagnostic clinical formulation.

5. Perform clinical observations of behaviour in clinical, educational, and home settings where necessary to assess for wide range of complex neurodevelopmental conditions.

6. To write detailed and comprehensive clinical reports to support diagnostic decision making.

7. To act as an expert Occupational Therapy resource within the service in respect of this client group, working autonomously to support families and other health care professionals.

8. Provide specialist knowledge, support and training to colleagues related to associated sensory processing differences in neurodevelopmental conditions. Support the team with complex clinical decision making around assessment outcomes.

9. To make clinical decisions around diagnostic outcomes using specialist knowledge and assessments and communicate the results to families and carers in a sensitive way.

10. Offer children, young people and their family's information on a range of therapeutic approaches/strategies as part of their diagnosis feedback. Including awareness of signposting to relevant organisations.

11. To contribute to development of leaflets/ information regarding ADHD/ASD and associated needs.

12. To design, deliver and review specialist parent groups around ADHD and ASD. To lead on pre and post diagnosis groups for children.

13. To liaise with multi professional agencies and act as a specialist information, advisor, and training resource to colleagues in other services. To provide specialist knowledge, support and training to clinical colleagues, children, families, carers, schools, and other relevant agencies.

14. To attend various multi-agency meetings including safeguarding to advise, write reports and plan care, acting as the patient advocate when appropriate and to work in accordance with safeguarding children's policies.

15. To promote patient and public involvement by involving patients, parents/ relatives in planning and delivery of care/ development of services

16. To contribute actively and regularly to the clinical training of undergraduate Occupational Therapists.

Leadership:

1. To provide leadership and clinical supervision to occupational therapy colleagues within NDS.

2. To work closely with clinical and team leads in service development ideas to develop the NDS services and quality of care delivery.

3. To liaise closely with clinical and team leads to plan occupational therapy input to the Neurodevelopmental Pathway.

4. To co-ordinate induction / training new staff.

5. To assist with recruitment to this specialist area.

6. To ensure the effective and efficient use of physical and financial resources.

7. To ensure the service is monitored on a regular basis and data is available as a record to provide statistical information to Neurodevelopmental Pathway Lead and others and to provide data to relevant local and national bodies to audit Neurodevelopmental service as appropriate.

8. Undertake Personal Development Plans and management supervision for other staff members.

9. Follow all Trust policies, local procedures, and use discretion in interpreting them according to the setting and circumstances.

10. Implement policies for the service, proposing changes to these, and advising other external agencies about these changes or developments.

11. Ensure absence reporting is undertaken as determined by Team Leader and Trust Policy.

12. Identify need for, and undertake, research and clinical audit, in order to improve effectiveness of patient care, service delivery identifying areas for improvement and initiate change.

13. Complete risk assessments and incident forms as required.

14. Be aware of performance and contribute as required.

15. Understand the Governance agenda and contribute as required.

16. Be aware of contractual arrangements, local and national, ensuring targets are met.

17. Adhere to the code of conduct for NHS managers.

18. Adhere to Trust Leadership Promise.

Clinical / Professional:

1. Maintain membership of HCPC.

2. Act in accordance with the HCPC and Royal Collage of Occupational Therapists code of conduct and professional standards.

3. Maintain up-to-date evidence of CPD showing relevant skills and knowledge and awareness of professional issues.

4. Ensure own compliance and compliance of others with regards to mandatory training, professional standards of practice and HCPC/BAOT requirements.

5. Participate in own annual Personal Development Review.

6. Take part in clinical supervision as per Trust Policy.

7. Complete the staff survey as required.

Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.