Senior Occupational Therapist

TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE Professional knowledge/skills acquired through degree or diploma and extended through experience and continuing professional development. Provide specialist advice, teaching and training to Occupational Therapy colleagues, other members of the multi disciplinary team and multi-agency team (education, social services, voluntary sector), regarding the management of patients with complex Occupational Therapy needs and specialist equipment/adaptation requirements. Keep up to date with current evidence based practice underpinning area of work and be able to utilise a wide range of treatment skills and options to formulate specialised programmes for clients/carers and other professionals involved. Undertake post registration training at an advanced level in relation to specific duties Involvement with in-service training by attending and delivering presentations, training sessions at staff meetings and tutorials. Attend mandatory training, including Moving and Handling, Basic Life Support, Consent, Fire, Equality & Diversity, Child Protection Awareness etc. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of relevant legislation, eligibility criteria, policies & procedures relating to provision of Occupational Therapy Service. Undertake evaluation of work and current practices through use of audit, reflective practice and outcome measures and make and implement recommendations for change. Actively involved in research activities including literature searching. Facilitate/participate in working parties developing policy changes which will impact on all service users. CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES Manage a varied and complex caseload effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time. Use clinical reasoning to prioritise, allocate and delegate cases to other occupational therapy staff on a daily basis. Use analytical skills and specialist assessment tools to undertake comprehensive assessment of patients with complex needs. Formulate individualised treatment plans using advanced clinical reasoning and a wide range of treatment mediums. Implement treatment plans, moving, handling and positioning of patients to enable them to participate in treatment episodes and carry out activities of daily living. Develop and demonstrate specialist skills related to acute medicine which are underpinned by theory and practical experience. Interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts and be able to administer standardised assessments in order to assist the multidisciplinary team with diagnosis and prognosis in a wide range of highly complex conditions and recommend appropriate intervention. Provide guidance and support on highly complex and complex cases to same grade staff, junior Occupational Therapy staff, support staff and other professionals (Health, Education, Social Services). Provide planned advice, teaching and instructions to relatives and carers to enable understanding of the aims of the prescribed Occupational Therapy treatment, ensuring that there is a consistent approach to patient care. Assess and prescribe standard and specialist equipment for use in a variety of hospital and community settings. To advise, instruct and educate carers and other professionals on the use of specialist equipment and moving and handling techniques. Has responsibility for the delivery of the occupational therapy service within acute medicine at Blackpool Victoria Hospital ensuring its effectiveness. Responsible for autonomous assessment, clinical decision making, treatment selection, evaluation of treatment and outcomes and arranging reviews as required. Guided by agreed protocols/procedures, with the ability to vary treatment without gaining consent from the Clinical Lead OT. Maximise therapy potential and intervention, through effective communication to patients, carers and other professionals. Work as a lone practitioner in a variety of community settings where there is a requirement to make decisions spontaneously, within Primary Care Trust policies and guidelines. Use technical and creative skills to assist in the provision of therapeutic activities for individual and groups of patient. ADMINISTRATION AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS Communicate effectively and work collaboratively with medical, nursing, therapy, education and social services staff in order to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary and multi-agency service, to facilitate and maintain good working relationships. As a senior member of the team will establish and maintain effective communication networks with the wider multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams. Work across multi-agency boundaries and has a working knowledge and understanding of their systemsg. Care and Repair Agency, Social Services. Liaise/co-ordinate and facilitate multidisciplinary and multi-agency referrals for patients with complex conditions and their families/carers. Communicate highly complex and/or sensitive information, in an empathetic and reassuring manner, to patients, families/carers, and other multi agency professionals in a language understandable to them. Facilitate the communication of sensitive and/or distressing information to patients/families/carers, regarding the patients complex condition, diagnosis/prognosis and the intervention required. Communicate effectively with patients with complex communication difficulties and/or cognitive problems by utilising a variety of communication mediums. Maintain two way communication with the Head Occupational Therapist to ensure appropriate development of Service wide policies, procedures and standards. Responsible for documenting and maintaining records for episodes of care within the designated caseload. Write complex Occupational Therapy reports which involve clinical reasoning/calculating risk and safety issues. Produce and present detailed Occupational Therapy reports which are vital to other agencies to assist in decision making e.g. Adaptation Priority Panel, Hospital Discharge Team, Education Statements. Responsible for collecting clinical statistics. Have basic IT skills, including internet and e-mail. Undertake service reviews and audit in accordance with clinical governance. Maintain the ability to communicate effectively when faced with situations of conflict or high emotion from patients/carers/family and other staff members. RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HUMAN RESOURCES Responsible for the supervision and support of Occupational Therapy staff as outlined in the Occupational Therapy supervision policy and assist with the day-to-day caseload management of junior and support staff. Participate in the departmental appraisal system as both appraiser and appraisee. Utilise supervision sessions offered by Clinical Lead OT. Oversee and implement induction of new staff members. Support the Clinical Lead OT in the recruitment and selection of less senior staff. Responsible for the education of junior occupational therapy staff in developing competencies and occupational therapy students in gaining professional qualification. Offer opportunities for learning to other disciplines through tutorials, presentations, shadowing e.g. student nurses, work experience students. Provide fieldwork education on placements for Occupational Therapy students, taking responsibility for their teaching, supervision and written assessment.

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