Children's Occupational Therapist

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for Band 6 Occupational Therapists to join our dynamic team - working in the sought after speciality of Paediatric Occupational Therapy. This role focusses on providing high quality assessment and interventions to children and young people -supporting families and carers to promote independence and improving functional skills for children and young people with a wide range of needs. You will provide a combination of health and social care OT interventions for children, young people and families residing across County Durham and Darlington and will be supported by a well-established team possessing a wealth of clinical expertise and knowledge.

The service offers high levels of support and opportunities for continued professional development, with robust appraisal and clinical supervision.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest integrated care providers in England, with a population of around 600,000 people. We are a high performing organisation with a track record of success.

The post will be community based at Chester-le-Street Community Hospital.

Main duties of the job

Within this role, the successful candidate will be expected to:

- provide high quality Occupational Therapy assessments and intervention programmes to children and young people referred into the service.

- assess for and provide recommendations for major and minor home adaptations as part of the social care remit of the service

-work in collaboration with children, young people, parents and carers as well as other professionals and colleagues across a wide variety of sectors, including health, education and social care.

- work as an autonomous practitioner in managing a varied and often complex caseload with the supervision and support of the locality OT team

- take an active part in the development and delivery of training packages to parents, carers and colleagues, as well as activley participate in their own continued professional development, appraisal and supervision

- take an active part in service development and quality improvement initiatives

- demonstrate a high level of skill in clinical documentation including accurate case records and compilation of professional reports

- participate in the supervision of student occupational therapists and therapy assistants

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented

From April 1 2024 we are unable to offer sponsorship for healthcare roles that do not meet the minimum salary £23,200, to apply you must have Right to Work in the United Kingdom. If you are in the UK on a VISA please ensure you have no restrictions that would prevent you from taking this post

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical Requirements

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your own work, including the management of children in your care.

To undertake skilled assessment of children and young people, including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi-pathologies.

To formulate and deliver outcome focused, individual therapy treatment programmes, based on evidence based practice using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills.

To take delegated responsibility from Team Lead Occupational Therapists for managing children with particular conditions and be responsible for providing specialist therapy assessment and treatment plans.

To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best course of intervention.

To use effective communication skills, verbal and non-verbal to communicate treatment programmes to children who may have barriers to understanding or communication children with developmental delays, visual impairment, hearing impairment, impairments of cognition and difficulties with verbal communication etc.

To evaluate and review the progress of Occupational Therapy interventions, making changes to treatment programmes as required.

To work as an autonomous practitioner with regular supervision and support from supervising therapists.

* To prioritise the health and wellbeing of children and young people at all times and immediately raise any Safeguarding concerns through the correct channels and processes.

To supervise assistant and student therapists in line with Professional and Service standards.

To represent the Occupational Therapy Service and/or individual children at the multi-agency team meetings, to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary service, and integrate therapy into the treatment programme.

To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all equipment, appliances and aids used by children and young people, ensuring that assistants and students are competent in their use.

To maintain comprehensive contemporaneous clinical and statistical records in line with professional and service standards.

* To contribute to multi-agency assessments including Education, Health and Care Plans, Child Safeguarding reports etc

Professional

To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through CPD activities, and maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development.

To teach, assess and contribute to the performance assessment and appraisal of therapy assistant staff.

Participate in the staff appraisal scheme as an appraisee and be responsible for complying with your agreed personal development programme to meet set knowledge and competencies.

Undertake measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of evidence based practice projects, audit and outcome measures, as required, under the direction of senior therapists.

Be an active member of in-service training by attendance at, and participation in events such as in-Service programmes, tutorials, training sessions, external courses and peer review.

Be actively involved in professional clinical groups, such as Children Young People and their Families, Occupational Therapy special interest group, Peer Review Groups and other professional development activities.

Organisational

Ensure that your own practice meets the required professional standards of therapy practice.

Deputise for other Occupational Therapy staff in their absence, taking responsibility for caseload management, allocating and organising the work of assistant staff to meet service priorities on daily basis.

To be responsible for organising and planning your own caseload to meet service and patient priorities. Readjusting plans at short notice as situations change/arise.

Work safely at all times and report all untoward incidents via the quality and safety reporting systems within the Trust.

Any other duties commensurate with role and responsibilities of the post.

Ensure the corporate identity guidelines for the Trust are implemented and adhered to at all times

Person Specification

Special Requirements

Essential

Ability to travel independently across the County to fulfil the requirements of the post

Qualifications

Essential

Diploma, BSc or MSc in Occupational Therapy

Desirable

Specialist post graduate clinical experience linked to related field Neurology, Paediatrics, Learning Disabilities, Social Care

Statutory Registration

Essential

Qualified Occupational Therapist registered with

Desirable

Member of relevant Specialist Sections of RCOT / participation in Special Interest Groups in a related field

Experience

Essential

Post registration clinical experience as a Band 5 or Band 6 Occupational Therapist in a hospital or community based setting

Desirable

Working experience and knowledge related to provision of Social Care OT eg specialist aids and environmental advice/adaptations. OT Clinical experience with children and young people with additional and/or complex needs Experience of delivering training sessions / presentations to service users / other professionals

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

Proven ability to communicate effectively - verbally and in writing with a wide range of people Excellent presentation skills Proven ability to prioritise workload and work within timescales

Desirable

Specialist skills in related fields such as in postural management, fine and gross motor skills, handwriting skills development, skills related to provision of aids and adaptations Skills and knowledge related to Sensory Development and related difficulties in Children and Young People

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