Senior Occupational Therapist - Acute Medicine

Job summary

The Acute & Emergency Medicine Therapy team at Luton & Dunstable Hospital is seeking a highly motivated Band 6 Occupational Therapist. This role offers an excellent development opportunity for an experienced Band 5 OT ready to progress or for a existing Band 6 OT.

The team delivers therapy input across a 7-day extended hours service, supporting key front-door services including the Emergency Department, Medical Assessment Units and the Frailty Unit.

You will work within a friendly, supportive ED environment that promotes learning and skills development, helping you to further advance your clinical career. The therapies team is committed to ongoing service development, maintaining high clinical standards, and striving for excellence in patient care.

Working closely with the multidisciplinary team, you will play a vital role in providing timely Occupational Therapy input and ensuring patient-centred decision-making at all times. The service is actively involved in quality improvement initiatives.

The post includes contributing to the supervision and development of students, apprentices and junior staff. Staff are supported through regular supervision, OT Excellence training and CPD opportunities.

Applicants must demonstrate the Trust's values and meet the responsibilities outlined in the job description and person specification. You should have proven experience working in an acute hospital setting, with at least Band 5-level experience.

Main duties of the job

• To perform advanced Occupational therapeutic assessment of patients with diverse presentations and complex physical and psychological conditions, to determine a diagnosis, formulate and deliver an appropriate, individualised treatment programme.
• To hold responsibility for own caseload and be responsible for a defined area of the service/particular patient group, working without direct supervision. Access to advice and support from a more senior therapist is available if required. Clinical work is evaluated through regular clinical supervision with a specialist occupational therapist but day-to-day clinical work is not routinely reviewed.
• To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner.
• To plan, supervise, educate and assess the performance of occupational therapy students on placement within the complex medicine wards. To work closely with the university and comply with all the standards required for the degree level qualification.
• Supported by the specialist occupational therapist, to design and undertake evidence-based audit and research projects to further own and team's clinical practice and improve service delivery with the specialist therapist. Make recommendations and occasionally implement changes to practice or service protocols, as agreed with the specialist occupational therapist.
• To deputise for the specialist occupational therapist in their absence, taking the lead role in the day-to-day operational management of the team.

About us

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.

Job responsibilities

Please see job description and person specification provided. If further information is required, please speak to our contact on advert.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Dip COT or BSc (Hons) in OT
• HCPC registration
• Evidence of CPD maintained in a portfolio including attendances at recent post graduate courses/ in-service trainings relevant to the speciality

Desirable

• Membership of BAOT/RCOT or similar
• Practice educators certificate
• Membership of relevant clinical interest group
• Experience in wheelchair prescription

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in an acute hospital environment
• Substantial broad based postgraduate experience to include a reasonable amount of experience in the relevant acute setting
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of supervision of staff or students including staff appraisal
• Work experience, student or therapy assistant supervision
• Teaching/training groups or individuals
• Decision making involving complex facts / situations

Desirable

• Committee membership e.g. Health & Safety Committee
• Knowledge of working in liaison with community therapy services and intermediate care services
• Involvement in service improvement via project management or clinical audit
• Experience of contributing to the development of treatment guidelines
• Experience within the NHS

Skills

Essential

• Understand the legal responsibilites of the profession
• Ability to organise, prioritise and delegate appropriately
• Ability to comprehend and work within the Trust's policies of data protection, equal opportunities and health and safety and meet the differing needs of the patients
• Remain updated with professional practice and new research
• Ability to keep accurate and legible patient notes
• Competent IT skills
• Effective decision making skills
• Ability to relate theory to practice
• Effective time management skills
• Ability to be highly organised and responsive to changing workloads and situations
• Ability to work to deadlines and under pressure
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced work environment
• Ability to adapt to change
• Self directed learning

Desirable

• Research skills
• Evidence of assessing and prescribing adaptive equipment

Communication

Essential

• Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• Ability to communicate where there may be barriers to understanding
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to disseminate complex information to others
• Ability to pass on skills/ knowledge to others within formal and informal environments
• Able to present information, written and orally, in a clear and logical manner

Desirable

• Evidence of internal/external leadership and communication courses

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding of the need of confidentiality awareness at all times.
• Knowledge of legislation, policies and procedures
• Developed working knowledge of broad range of illnesses, injuries and conditions. Particularly those relevant to the clinical setting
• Developed working knowledge of a broad range of occupational therapy assessment and treatment techniques relating to the clinical setting
• Awareness of research process and critical evaluation of evidence
• Understanding of clinical governance and its implications for services including experience of quality issues and audit
• Experience of clinical audit

Desirable

• Awareness of the wider local and national agenda around occupational therapy and NHS developments
• Understanding of resource management
• Knowledge of theoretical concepts

Personal Characteristics & Relationship Skills

Essential

• Ability to work both as a team member and independently
• Empathetic
• Flexible
• Reliable
• Innovative
• Confident
• Committed to personal and team development
• Able to maintain judgement and work under pressure
• Problem Solving
• Motivated and Enthusiastic
• Driven
• Ability to demonstrate personal and professional integrity and present a profession image of the team/profession
• Clear vision of role with commitment to relevant speciality