Occupational Therapy Assistant

Job Introduction
An exciting and rare 12 month fixed term or secondment opportunity has arisen in our small and friendly team for a full time Occupational Therapy Assistant within the Children’s Disability Service. We are a countywide service and have several bases within Staffordshire including Burton on Trent, Cannock, Stafford, Newcastle and support a flexible approach with smart working opportunities.

The service provides specialist services for children and young people with complex disabilities. The Countywide Occupational Therapy Team supports the Disabled Children’s Service (social work colleagues) to ensure we reach the best outcomes for our Disabled children in a timely manner, enabling them to live their lives to the full.

Main Responsibilities
In this role you will have an active caseload which will consist of but not be limited to: completing assessments, reviews, advice/signposting, low level equipment provision, minor/low level adaptations, supporting occupational therapists, working collaboratively with social work teams and safeguarding. The role also includes completing duty cover on a rota basis which is the initial point of contact to the team and involves the answering of general queries, telephone reviews and completing screening questionnaires with families to support screening of referrals. This role will include face to face visits with children and families within their home, schools or care settings.

We are looking for a passionate, motivated person with experience of working with children with disabilities preferably within a health or social care setting. The ability to engage and communicate with disabled children is essential and the successful applicant will be committed to ensuring the children on their case load receive the best quality service.

Staff are provided with high quality regular 1:1 supervision from a qualified and experienced member of the team, monthly peer supervision and a second to none training offer which equips staff to have the tools to do their job both confidently and competently alongside excellent line management support.

Making sure you are well supported and given the opportunity to develop and progress is a high priority at Staffordshire and is very important to us as a team.

About Staffordshire County Council
**We are no ordinary county council**:
**Our Values**:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

**Our benefits**:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

**Our recruitment process**:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.