Children’s Occupational Therapist

Job summary

We are excited to announce the launch of recruitment to support the development of our new Experts at Hand Team, supporting the local delivery of the national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms.

TheExperts at Hand initiative, from the Department for Education, brings Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) and Occupational Therapists (OTs) directly into mainstream schools and colleges to provide early SEND support.

We are inviting applicants who are interested in joining our team to work with children and young people in early years and mainstream schools with occupational needs, focusing on supporting participation in essential daily activities, independence and wellbeing.

As part of a team you will be responsible for the delivery of Occupational Therapy in line with the Experts at Hand guidance.

You will join a team of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Speech and Language Therapists who work collaboratively and are committed to delivering NHS values and providing compassionate support to children and young people, parents, and one another.

It is important to us that you enjoy coming to work and are proud of the difference you are making. Please tell us the reasons you would like to work for Shropshire Community Health Trust in your supporting statement.

Main duties of the job

As well as the responsibilities listed in the job description the roles will focus on supporting mainstream education settings to deliver effective universal, targeted and targeted + interventions for CYP with Occupational Therapy needs for example through Whole-setting support, Consultative advice, Workforce development, Group interventions and Earlier intervention. [gov.uk] Supporting the continued shift away from purely individual caseload models toward preventative support and capacity-building.

There will be opportunities to work in the core Occupational Therapy service to strengthen your clinical experience and maintain/extend your wider clinical skills and current areas of speciality.

About us

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust provides community-based health services for adults and children in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and some services in surrounding areas too. These range from district nursing, health visiting and running four community hospitals through to providing very specialist community care through talented and dedicated staff.

Patients, carers and the public play a vital role in helping us to develop and improve our services and we are constantly looking for ways to work with local communities, patients and the public to innovate and improve. Have a look at the Have Your Say section of our website to find out how you can feed back your experiences and help us to continually improve.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust is an exciting place to work. It offers a wide range of employment opportunities for many people.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust positively encourages applications from all areas of the community, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs. We are committed to ensuring people who work for the community trust have a good working life - and a good work life/home life balance.

Job responsibilities

Please see the Job Description and Person Specification attached for further information on the role.

Person specification

Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
• Current registration with the Health Professions Council.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of planning and providing clinical care to adults or children and young people with occupational therapy needs.
• Experience of working in a variety of settings.
• Neurology and rehabilitation experience.
• Some post-qualifying experience.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Experience of undertaking clinical audit.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Ongoing awareness of recent developments in practice and research including NSFs/NICE guidelines.
• Engaging and empowering approach that seeks to work with others and deliver outcomes in a successful and well informed manner.
• Good knowledge of occupational therapy core skills and processes.
• Demonstration of knowledge of child development.
• Previous experience of delivering programmes of care.
• Knowledge of safeguarding children and young people.
• Understanding of Clinical governance and risk management and their implications for the service.