Advanced Occupational Therapist

Job responsibilities

Specific duties and responsibilities

• Promote, develop and model high quality occupational therapy practice within the sphere of reablement.
• Monitor that staff are working within statutory responsibilities and promote evidence informed practice. This will include the quality assurance and evaluation of day to day practice of occupational therapists and other reablement team members.
• Practice within the current legal framework, including health, social care and housing legislation; and Wiltshire Council policies and procedures. Provide guidance and expert advice to support other members of the team to work within the legal framework, policies and procedures. Produce reports on practice and professional standards.
• Manage a busy caseload including complex and challenging cases; provide expert guidance and mentoring to colleagues for the management of complex and challenging cases.
• Maintain an overview of the reablement service, reprioritising work according to staffing and service needs.
• Undertake strengths based occupational therapy assessments working with complex and contentious situations. Act as an expert advisor to other reablement team members.
• Design and implement creative reablement plans to enable customers to meet their goals and reduce need for ongoing support and minimise demand for long term care.
• Demonstrate competence in complex risk assessment and positive risk taking. Work with customers to manage risk and record actions and strategies agreed. Support other team members with management of risk.
• Undertake complex moving and handling risk assessments, using your expertise to record the recommendations in an format appropriate to the customers and/or carers needs. Monitor and evaluate risk, share information with the relevant parties including demonstration of recommended techniques. Support occupational therapists in the reablement team with expert knowledge of moving and handling and specialist techniques and equipment.
• Assess for and recommend minor and major adaptations in accordance with the Care Act and Housing legislation and guidance with customers with complex physical or social barriers, within the reablement service. Use expert professional skills and judgement to analyse, discuss and negotiate options with the customer to improve accessibility within their own home or recommend re-housing. Review reablement and occupational therapy support plans, suggesting other possible options, equipment or intervention as appropriate. Authorisation of equipment and minor adaptations.
• Establish and maintain collaborative working within the health and social care community, negotiating the most appropriate pathway for the customer and referring to specialist partners as required.
• Consider the needs of carers in line with Care Act eligibility and make referrals to partneragencies for assessment and support as required.
• Take active responsibility for your own continuing professional development and maintain an overview of the reablement teams professional development including attendance at statutory and non-statutory training and participation in development opportunities
• Plan, co-ordinate and deliver training sharing your expert knowledge and experience with the reablement team and external partners.
• To have an excellent awareness of safeguarding in line with Wiltshire policy, including making referrals and participation in safeguarding investigations.
• Provide professional supervision to other members of the team, promoting evidence-informed practice
• Actively engage in individual and group supervision and embed learning in practice.
• Participate in appraisal and team meetings and contribute to individual and team development
• Have an expert knowledge of IT including Microsoft applications. Oversee that all occupational therapy and reablement contacts are recorded accurately, and in a timely way, onto the Social Care records and monitor performance standards.
• Understand and utilise universally available services within the voluntary and community sector, as well as maintaining knowledge of services commissioned by the Council to support effective provision of information to customers. Promote the use of universal services with reablement team members and the wider service.
• Actively participate in the development and strategic direction of the team to influence effective and efficient service delivery. Contribute to development of policy and guidance. Lead implementation of new legislation, policies and guidance in social care.
• Work in collaborative partnerships with colleagues from the council, health and other stakeholders within the voluntary and community sector which promote well-being, social inclusion and resilient communities
• Deal with urgent and high risk situations to maximise the services ability to respond to emergencies. Deputise for the Team Manager as required
• Using advanced negotiation skills contribute to complaints resolution.
• Comply with the Wiltshire Council behaviours framework or any new policy adopted by the council on professional practice.
• Be an ambassador for the Council at all times, always representing the Council positively, professionally and appropriately at meetings with customers, external partners and agencies.
• Attend Civil Emergencies requiring a rest centre

Specific requirements for this post

• Ability to travel on a daily basis and to undertake visits to customers in their own homes or in other settings e.g. hospital.
• There will be a requirement to work outside of standard hours, including weekends to meet the needs of the service, for example assessing customers abilities at different times of the day or provide support to other members of the reablement team. The number of out of hours worked will not exceed 10% of the total contracted hours per week.
• To be flexible and work in other reablement teams as required

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

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Desirable

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