Occupational Therapist (Acute Medicine Cardiorespiratory)

Our Respiratory medicine teamare seeking experienced Clinicians to lead our Occupational Therapy services, and to develop a more integrated approach to hospital discharge in line with latest national initiatives. The knowledge and skills of Occupational Therapists are key in supporting patients living with frailty and complex needs, and in assisting them in recovering from acute illness and enabling them to return 'home first'. We are ambitiously seeking to take this one step further by supporting this transition home through agile and innovative pathways, facilitating improved outcomes in conjunction with our community colleagues.
As the Band 7 Occupational Therapist, you will provide advanced clinical skills in the assessment and management of patients with complex health and social needs, relating these to the persons occupational therapy needs on the ward and at home. This will include managing your own caseload as well as supporting other team members, and providing specialist advice to the MDT for patients not directly under your care., + To be a specialist practitioner in the assessment and management of older adult patients (admitted to West Middlesex Hospital)
+ To use expert knowledge and advanced clinical reasoning skills to provide specialist support and advice to patients and staff within the Respiratory, Cardiology, Surgical, Enhanced care, and ICU pending on experience, and to manage a caseload of patients with highly complex discharge planning throughout their hospital stay.
+ To be responsible for the operational management and clinical leadership of the Respiratory Medicine Occupational Therapy team and service development of OT in Critical Care.
+ To lead on the development of the Occupational therapy service in the Intensive care unit and attend relevant training/meetings to build the service pathway., Be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of professional practice.
To take overall responsibility for the Occupational Therapy caseload, being able to independently manage service capacity and demand, ensuring service delivery is based on priorities
The patient group may include the following conditions: Post ICU syndrome, Orthopaedic conditions, Dementia and cognitive concerns, Frailty and related conditions.
To determine the patients and families/carers understanding of the occupational therapy intervention in order to gain valid informed consent and to be able to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment
To use in depth clinical reasoning, comprehensive knowledge and understanding of conditions, and wide-ranging knowledge of treatment options to plan and implement individual occupational therapy programs, and treatment protocols, using highly developed occupational therapy treatment techniques and therapeutic handling skills.
To monitor and evaluate occupational therapy treatment to ensure effectiveness of the intervention and to identify quickly when treatment requires modifying
Provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, promoting understanding of the aims of occupational treatment plans ensuring a consistent approach to patient care.
Demonstrate safe and efficient moving and handling skills and therapeutic handling on the basis of a sound risk assessment. Provide moving and handling advice to other team members as required.
Develop comprehensive discharge plans in collaboration with the other members of the multidisciplinary team and have good knowledge of community services and pathways
Within remit of specialist expertise ensure timely referral to other health professionals/services as appropriate.
Ensure that all documentation around patient care is recorded to Trust and COT Standards of Practice and Health Care Professionals Code of Conduct.
To take an active role in, and on occasions to organise, multi-disciplinary team meetings such as case conferences, ward rounds and discharge planning meetings to communicate information about individual patient progress and prognosis, including potential discharge dates.
To be responsible for the appropriate provision and the safe and competent use of a wide range of therapy aids and equipment to patients in line with department standards and ensure that all staff in your team do likewise.
To be responsible for undertaking and organising individual environmental assessments with patients through pre-operative home assessments, access visits, home visits and follow-up visits.
To work as a lone practitioner while on community visits including access visits and those as part of the Discharge to Assess pathway
To support more junior staff in the development of their assessment, treatment and clinical reasoning skills to ensure a high standard of care to Respiratory Medicine.
To develop the service of Occupational therapy within the intensive care unit in order to meet the relevant guidelines/recommendation.
Provide occupational therapy at weekends as required by the service - this will include participation on the Emergency Department weekend rota
Organisational:
To have an active role in the planning, development, coordination, delivery and evaluation of the Respiratory Medicine occupational therapy service.
To provide support to the clinical lead therapist in the daily operational management for the occupational therapy team including strategic developments
To provide leadership and peer support to occupational therapists and support workers within the Respiratory Medicine team.
Assist in planning and provision of the induction and education of new staff, occupational therapy students and work experience students.
To act as a mentor for occupational therapy colleagues, providing clinical and professional support on a regular basis.
To delegate to, supervise and inspire occupational therapists, students and support workers
To manage priorities for the Respiratory Medicine occupational therapy team, balancing patient related and professional/managerial demands within available resources; ensuring that these remain service led
To deputise for the clinical lead therapist as required
To collect data and statistics for reporting purposes.
To carry out designated departmental/service responsibilities.
To have an active role in the recruitment of new therapy staff., To assist with organising the Respiratory Medicine therapy training programme and demonstrate good presentation skills in the delivery of teaching sessions and tutorials.
To facilitate your team's development of therapy evidence based practice and specialist knowledge related to Cardio-respiratory.
To develop skills and knowledge in Critical Care.
To train, supervise and performance manage other occupational therapists, assistants and students (this will include the use of formal PDR documentation).
To provide educational opportunities to occupational therapy students
To initiate and carry out audit and evidence based practice projects, make recommendations and implement changes in conjunction with the inpatient therapy lead, in order to improve the Respiratory Medicine therapy service.
Professional:
To abide by the Standards of Practice as outlined by the Health Profession Council requirements for occupational therapy registration.
Review and reflect on practice and identify areas of self-development through participation in annual individual performance review/appraisal.
To participate in all mandatory training to ensuring annual compliance
To maintain own continuous professional development (CPD) and incorporate new trends and developments into practice. To attend and contribute as appropriate at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions, courses, other CPD activities and to undertake reflective practice.
To maintain a dynamic personal development plan and portfolio, with evidence of ongoing commitment to CPD and self-directed learning.
To maintain comprehensive and accurate assessment and treatment records in line with legal, professional, Trust and departmental policies and guidelines.
Communication:
To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients and carers.
To use skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, and empathy to encourage patients to undertake their treatment programme and optimise rehabilitation potential and/or quality of life. Barriers to effective communication may regularly be evident, e.g.: altered perception, age, dysphasia, pain, psychological/emotional status.
To use specific skills to communicate with patients who, for example, depend on sign languages, communication boards etc.
To communicate patient related information effectively, to facilitate co-ordinated services and ensure seamless collaborative working with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and multi-agencies. This may include case conferences, handovers, ward rounds, discharge planning, documentation in health records and medical reports. Patient related information might be complex, highly sensitive and contentious.
To contribute to and compile additional written reports which form the basis of legal documents for other agencies
To use Information Technology for the purposes of:
+ Communication within and outside the Trust
+ Accessing clinical and professional information
Ensure all communication is presented appropriately to the different recipients, according to levels of understanding, type of communication being imparted and possible barriers such as language, culture, understanding or physical or mental health condition

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites-Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital-along with award-winning clinics across North West London.
Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5 million, providing full clinical services, including maternity, A&E, and children's services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health clinics. The Care Quality Commission rates us 'Good' in safety, effectiveness, care, and responsiveness, and 'Outstanding' in leadership and resource use.
We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and Westminster and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Middlesex.
We welcome applications for flexible working arrangements, accommodating requests where possible to support our staff and patient needs.
The Trust is committed to equality and welcomes applications from all, regardless of background. Adjustments can be made for disabled candidates. Early application is advised as vacancies may close once sufficient applications are received. If you haven't heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful. Employment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

+ Please check your emails regularly as this is how we will communicate with you throughout the recruitment process.
+ If you have not heard from us within 3 weeks after the closing date, we regret that this usually means your application was not successful.
+ In submitting an application, you authorise the Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process, should you be appointed to the post.
+ During the recruitment process your identity documentation (ie passport, driving licence, visa etc) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, infrared and machine-readable zone security features of the documents provided.
+ Employment at the Trust is offered subject to successful completion of a six month probationary period.