Specialist Occupational Therapist | Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Occupational Therapist to work within our intermediate care team based within Newton Hospital and Duffy Suite, St Helens Hospital. You will be responsible for managing a case load of patients with a variety of different medical conditions and needs, planning and completing relevant assessments and interventions to promote independence and recovery.,

• To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients/clients in your care.
• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients/clients under your care, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients/clients including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi pathologies; use specialist clinical reasoning skills and appropriate assessment techniques to provide an accurate diagnosis of their condition.
• Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme using assessment, reasoning skills and treatment skills based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options. Formulate an initial diagnosis and prognoses to recommend best course of intervention and develop comprehensive discharge plans.
• To take delegated responsibility from the Band 7 clinician for managing patients/clients with conditions and be responsible for providing specialist assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.
• Evaluate patient progress, reassess, and alter treatment programmes as required.
• To have the ability to undertake self-directed/lone working in a variety of locations.
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
• To maintain Professional Registration
• To work within Trust clinical guidelines, HCPC and Registrant Body guidelines and to have a working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practise against these.
• To be responsible for a designated area of work, as delegated by a senior clinician. Plan and organise efficiently and effectively patient/client caseload, and use of time for self and more junior staff.
• To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out clinical duties, and to adhere to policy, including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training and supervision of practice.
• To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals to promote understanding of the aims of treatment and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
• To provide specialist clinical advice to colleagues working within other clinical areas
• To provide specialist clinical advice, teaching, and training to other members of the MDT regarding the management of patients
• To train, supervise and performance manage more junior staff and students. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.
• To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise potential and to ensure understanding of their condition.
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and can work within a legal framework with patients/clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• To communicate highly sensitive information effectively with all patient groups/clients/carers where there may be difficulties in accepting or understanding information.
• To maintain tact and diplomacy and use highly developed communication skills when working in situations which may become hostile/antagonistic including potential complaints as per Trust Policy, To maintain accurate, comprehensive, and up to date documentation, in line with legal and local requirements, and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of reports and letters.
• To undertake as directed the collection of appropriate data and statistics for the use of the department.
• To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service. This will include participating in a variety of MDT, internal and external agency meetings, and forums plus other forms of verbal/written communication as necessary including report writing and referrals to other agencies.
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES
• To maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments and incorporate them as appropriate into your work. To support junior staff to do likewise.
• To be an active member of relevant training programmes attending and delivering presentations and training sessions at staff meetings, tutorials, and by attending external courses and being a reflective practitioner
• To participate in the supervision scheme as supervisor and supervisee, To demonstrate leadership by means of:
• Delivering change within sphere of practice, when and where indicated, to improve service delivery.
• Influencing, motivating, supporting, and enabling others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the Therapy Team
• To provide specialist advice and guidance in working with colleagues locally to ensure best practice across all disciplines in the assessment, treatment, and long-term management of patients/ clients within sphere of practice.
• To deputise for the band 7 in terms of operational issues
• To take responsibility for their own specialist and complex decision making and the decisions of their team which effect service delivery
• To undertake any other duties that might be considered appropriate by senior staff.
• To participate in working parties developing policy changes within speciality which will impact on all service users.
CLINICAL GOVERNANCE, RESEARCH & AUDIT
• To adhere to the appropriate Registrant Body code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and facilitate compliance of staff with local and national standards of practice.
• Implement policy and service development changes as directed.
• To demonstrate a sound understanding of clinical governance and risk management and apply to work situation.
• To undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices using evidence-based practice projects, audit, and outcome measures under the guidance of senior staff. Make recommendations for change and to implement change.
• To comply with the organisational and departmental policies and procedures and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate.
• To support research activity within the Service
• To engage actively in practice development, evaluation, audit, and research activities relevant to service to promote evidence-based practice.
  
  The successful applicant will be enthusiastic, hardworking and motivated with clinical, communication, organisational and time management skills. There will be opportunity to work on devising a tailored activity program for our patients with support from the wider therapy team., Have a working knowledge of a broad range of medical conditions with proven clinical skills applicable to intermediate care
• Deliver evidence-based practice using rehabilitative and compensatory approaches
• Contribute to and lead on group work/ activity sessions
• Be able to carry out complex holistic assessments
• Be able to make decisions based on sound clinical reasoning
• Demonstrate excellent problem solving skills
• Have excellent discharge planning skills, facilitating the patient's discharge from hospital to the most appropriate environment for their needs
• Be flexible in their approach and be willing to work across Duffy Suite and Newton Hospital at short notice to support service demand
• Adapt to changing working patterns as the team work their hours across a 7 day rota, 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.

The trust is committed to the professional development of our staff; clinical supervision will be provided from the Band 7 Occupational Therapist within the team. We offer a supportive and friendly environment and welcome innovative ideas. Our philosophy is to keep the patient at the heart of everything we do, and to always go the extra mile. Intermediate care offers the chance to work closely with patients building therapeutic relationships to get the best possible outcome. Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care. Our services: Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales. Achievements:
• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme