Perinatal Mental Health Occupational Therapist
Job Description
Job summary
15 hours per week - Permanent.
We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Occupational Therapist to join our multidisciplinary team (MDT). Working closely with the Clinical Team Manager and Clinical Team Lead, the post holder will contribute to the planning, coordination, delivery, development, and evaluation of the Occupational Therapy service on a day-to-day basis.
You will be clinically responsible for ensuring the delivery of a high-quality Occupational Therapy service, with guidance and support from the Clinical Team Manager and Clinical Team Lead, while working collaboratively within the MDT.
The role involves providing specialist advice, guidance, signposting, and information to health and social care professionals, patients, carers, relatives, and other relevant contacts. You will also play an active role in education, training, and sharing best practice with colleagues across the service.
As an autonomous practitioner, you will manage your own caseload and exercise professional judgment without direct supervision. You will also be expected to maintain and develop your professional competence in line with HCPC regulations and the standards of practice set by the Trust.
Main duties of the job
Please see the full Job Description for detailed information.
Key responsibilities include:
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People Management: Provide supervision, guidance, and support to staff and students, contributing to performance and development.
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Resources: Ensure the effective and appropriate use of financial and physical resources in line with Trust policies.
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Administration: Maintain accurate and timely clinical records, and support audit and data collection as required.
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Service Users: Deliver high-quality, person-centred care that promotes independence, wellbeing, and safety.
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Policy and Service Development: Support the implementation of new policies, procedures, and service improvements alongside the Clinical Team Manager and Team Lead.
Please note this role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. For more information, please visit the Direct Gov website.
Important: Livewell may close this advert early if a high volume of applications is received. We encourage early submission.
All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work flexibly across a 7-day service.
About us
Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.
As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values,kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve.
We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.
We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.
Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.
Job responsibilities
Responsibility for People Management.
To take responsibility for all aspects of service delivery, including providing leadership to Occupational Therapy/support staff, providing cover for staff who are absent and deputising in the team leads absence.
Deputising in the absence of the Registered manager/Team Lead can include operational/leadership duties such as supporting triage, waiting list management, attending meetings and delegation of work to Occupational Therapist/support staff.
To take a flexible approach to supporting colleagues in times of caseload pressure, including working with colleagues to maintain clinical cover across the team within the resources available.
To co-ordinate the day-to-day activities of Occupational Therapist/support staff and admin staff where applicable.
To regularly supervise and line manage both workload and caseload of Occupational Therapist/support staff, undertaking and recording line management meetings and appraisals, supporting the attainment of competencies, knowledge and achieving objectives set out in their personal development plan.
To take responsibility and assist the Clinical Team Manager and Clinical Team Lead with the recruitment process of Occupational Therapy/support staff e.g. taking part in interview panels, induction process and engaging with preceptorship programmes.
To support Occupational Therapist/support staff and other Livewell SW health and social care professionals, to develop their knowledge, experience, providing advice, guidance, and signposting where appropriate.
To regularly provide learning opportunities to Occupational Therapy staff and colleagues. This includes facilitating and providing instruction, training to supporting their development, attainment of skills, and ability to reflect on professional and ethical issues.
To attend student educator training and regularly supervise OT students on practice placement, in line with Livewell SWs Placement Guidance for Non-Medical Undergraduate Learners and Students policy.
To support colleagues as a practice supervisor or supporting those completing the Preceptorship programme, including acting as a Preceptor in line with Livewell SWs Preceptorship Guidance document.
To participate in providing instruction, learning opportunities, experience and training to health and social care staff and students, including those from other Livewell services, professional disciplines and colleagues as agreed with Clinical Team Manager and Clinical Team Lead.
To plan, organise and lead when delegated, both formal and informal interventions and health education groups for both service users and formal/informal carers.
To educate service users and both formal/informal carers regarding the impact of cognitive, perceptual, and physical deficits that affect service user safety and independence in the hospital and home, leisure, and workplace.
To support team lead with complaint management and responses, assisting with addressing and resolving complaints.
5.2Responsibility for financial and/or physical resources.
On the rare occasion you may handle service users valuables as part of a home visit or community assessment, that you follow Livewell SWs policy Cash & Cheque Handling Procedures, section 6 Patient Money, section 7 Patient Travel
To assess, prescribe and authorise both general and specialist aids and adaptive equipment in line with the organisations and the Community Equipment Services policy and procedures.
To make recommendations for minor adaptations to increase / enable or compensate for independent function, teaching compensatory techniques as required.
To assess seating and positioning needs and treat as appropriate including assessment for and prescription of standard wheelchairs and accessories when accredited referring on to the wheelchair services as required for assessment of complex and specialist mobility and seating needs.
To assess for splinting and positioning to prevent, treat and manage deformity and improve function for the upper limb, fabricating splints which may be complex in nature.
To ensure all equipment and relevant clinical stock is accounted for, maintained, used effectively and efficiently with risk assessments and appropriate training completed.
To ensure new or replacement equipment is not used by self or staff until it has been commissioned in accordance with Livewell SW policy. Defective equipment is reported and made safe without delay in accordance with Livewell SW procedures.
To utilise Livewell SW resources responsibly, following policy and guidance around the security, useability, decontamination, and maintenance of assessment equipment utilised in the clinical setting.
Authorise spend on services within operational and financial limits as designated by role and banding.
To take responsibility for ensuring solutions are at all times cost effective and to work within financial delegated limits.
To have a working knowledge of statutory and non-statutory funding and the legislation/guidance that underpins these funding streams, ensuring service users meet the eligibility criteria when advocating for/ utilising services on the service users behalf (e.g. Care Act eligibility, Housing legislation ...
