Community Occupational Therapist- Specialist Palliative Care

Job summary

Phyllis Tuckwellprovides supportive and end of life care for people living with an advanced orterminal illness. Based in Farnham and Guildford, we serve a population of550,000 across West Surrey and North East Hampshire.

Community Occupational Therapist SpecialistPalliative Care

Salary: £43,232 per annum WTE based on hours

1-year Fixed Term Contract Full/Parttime

Based at The Beacon, however flexibilityto work at Headway House (Farnham) and across the geographical area.

Are you ahighly motivated Occupational Therapist looking to make a real differencewithin the specialism of palliative and end of life care?

Are you enthusiastic about supportingpeople with complex needs to remain in their own home or be cared for in the place of their choice?

An opportunity has arisenfor a proactive Occupational Therapist to join our Phyllis Tuckwellmulti-professional team. They will have strong skills in community working and will support patientsand their families living with advanced and terminal illness with complex andoften rapidly changing needs.

Main duties of the job

The rolerequires holistic assessment, problem solving, prioritisation anddecision-making skills, working within the multi-professional responsive teamto identify and meet initial needs. Central to the role, is supporting patientsand their families to adapt to change and uncertainty; setting meaningful goalsto support participation in occupations, manage symptoms and optimise qualityof life.

We are looking for someone who can demonstrateregular, patient facing clinical assessment and intervention in Occupational Therapywithin the last 12 months and works well in a team, has excellentcommunication and interpersonal skills, and utilises these to rapidly buildtrust, provide support and education, particularly around complex moving andhandling techniques and use of adaptive equipment.

Regular clinicalsupervision and support is provided by Phyllis Tuckwell, and team members areencouraged to develop their skills and ensure evidence-based practice toprovide best quality patient care.

Thepostholder and will be able to work flexibly, covering the inpatient unit,outpatient, or group work according to patient needs,

About us

In return we offer:

6 weeks paid holiday plus public holidays. (pro rated) Continuation of NHS Pension or PT Group PersonalPension Plan (matched contributions to Employee Assistance Programme Health Cash Plan Scheme Staff Benefit Scheme Opportunity for flexible/hybrid hours Excellent education and training Clinical supervision and support A motivated and compassionate team whosepassion is to make a difference. Multi-disciplinary working within aforward thinking and supportive organisation Job description

Job responsibilities

Phyllis Tuckwell

JOB DESCRIPTION

POST: Specialist Occupational Therapist

ACCOUNTABLE TO: Lead Occupational Therapist

JOB PURPOSE:

The Occupational Therapist (OT)will work alongside other team members to provide a specialist palliative care OTservice to Phyllis Tuckwell patients (PT). They will work across a range ofsettings including the inpatient unit, living well and the community, includingthe recently established responsive service to community patients who are in anunstable phase of illness with rapidly changing needs. This role will assessthe patients immediate palliative and end of life care needs, provide feedbackto the broader team, develop a plan and work with patients and their familiesto optimise the patients level of functional independence, facilitateadaptation to change, and enhancequality of life. The role will involve identifying what is important to thatperson and enabling them to live according to their choice and goals.

The OT will enable timelyaccess to assessment, intervention and equipment, enabling patients to safelyremain in their own homes and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. It willalso involve out-patient and group work for our living well with illnessservice. The OT will work as a member of the Phyllis Tuckwellmulti-professional team across the localitiesor Northeast Hants and Farnham (NEHF), Surrey Heath, Guildford and Waverley.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Clinical

To assess, plan, implement, evaluate and modify OT interventions with afocus of palliative rehabilitation.

To have the knowledge and skills to provide holistic OT Care to palliativecare patients and their families referred to Phyllis Tuckwell (PT).

To hold clinical responsibility for managing own caseload, accessing regularsupervision, and mentoring.

To prioritise and respond to referrals in a timely manner.

To work with PT colleagues and community services responding to familyand patient change and deterioration.

To be a resource to others by maintaining current theoretical OT knowledgebase and clinical reasoning for patients with palliative and end of life careneeds.

To be able to prioritise conflicting demands on own time.

To be able to analyse and interpret clinical and social informationfrom a range of sources, communicating in a detailed timely and accurate way usingsuitable verbal and written communication.

To assess, prescribe and review equipment to enable safety andindependence in activities of daily living, especially where there are manualhandling difficulties.

Use a range of therapeutic interventions and approaches withindividuals and groups to promote management of symptoms fatigue, anxiety,breathlessness, sleep difficulties, pain.

To engagepatients and their families enabling them to adjust to their physical, cognitive, psychological, and sociallosses and plan for future changesin their functional ability.

To be able to communicate complex, sensitive, distressing orcontentious information to patients and families who may be highly emotionaland distressed, adapting your communication style to the situation.

To assess patients mental capacity, acting in the patients bestinterests where they lack capacity and identifying any safeguarding issues.

To assess and manage clinical, physical, and environmental risks.

To be the patients key worker or professional contact where it isappropriate.

To evaluate interventions using appropriate outcome measures.

To provide education and support to carers, actively involving them inthe treatment plan.

To develop a rehabilitative palliative care culture and symptommanagement programs in order to maximise patients rehabilitation potential.

To support therapeutic group work.

To facilitate patients, discharge from the IPU, liaising with themulti-professional team at Phyllis Tuckwell and in the Community.

To communicate clearly and work closely with members of the multiprofessional team, and volunteers, actively engaging in multi professionalmeetings.

To maintain effective relationships with our external colleagues andstakeholders.

Professional

To be registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) topractise using the title Occupational Therapist.

To engage in activities at PT as a member of the multi-professionalteam sharing knowledge and skills.

To evidence and comply with the Royal College of Occupational Therapy(RCOT), Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and Professional Standards.

To maintain clear, concise timely records.

To act within legal and statutory regulations.

To maintain current knowledge and awareness of opinion through forexample membership of the RCOT,Specialist Section Major Health Conditions, attending relevant HOTNET andSurrey OPC training and meetings.

To respect the ethnicity, culture and religious beliefs of others.

To promote awareness of the philosophy of holistic palliative care andthe role of Occupational Therapy, within PT and other palliative care services.

To have effective IT skills, utilising, Word, Outlook, Excel,PowerPoint and have sufficient abilities to be able to or to work towards useof TCES, EMIS, Accurx.

To be a carowner/driver to enable community visits, and work between both of our sites.

Training and Development

a) Personal

To maintain competence to practice by pursuing a range of professionaldevelopment opportunities.

To take responsibility to review and reflect on own occupational practiseand performance, maintaining a professional portfolio recording learningoutcomes.

To engage with PT performance review system, setting realisticobjectives for personal and professional growth.

To participate in regular clinical supervision.

To cascade Occupational Therapy skills to colleagues followingattendance on courses and training.

b) Team

To participate in the induction and training of new PT staff.

To mentor new Occupational Therapy team members.

To train, delegate and fully utilise the skills of health careassistants, rehabilitation assistant and volunteers.

To provide training and education opportunities to internal andexternal HCPs, on a range of Occupational Therapy specialisms, includingfatigue management, management of anxiety and breathlessness, communicationstrategies, sleep management and specialist equipment.

To provide education and training to PT clinical colleagues includingcompetencies in equipment provision, manual handling, bed rails assessment andfalls prevention, to ensure patient safety and that registered andnon-registered staff time and skills are utilised efficiently and effectively.

Managerial

To have skills to triage new referrals to Occupational Therapy,prioritising appropriately and allocating to a suitable therapist.

To adhere to Phyllis Tuckwell policies and procedures, especially thoserelating to health and safety, fire, lone worker, and moving and handling.

To recognise the value and contribution of volunteers activelysupporting and developing their skills.

To play an active role in developing and reviewing PT policies relatedto the work of occupational therapy and Rehabilitative Palliative Care.

To play an active part in the development and maintenance of goodrelationships with our stakeholders and colleagues.

Quality and Research

To have skills in clinical governance and to provide a quality servicethat is person centred, timely, safe, effective, efficient and equitable.

To participate in audit and service evaluations as part of PT qualityassurance initiatives.

To maintain a culture of learning, research and development and beaware of current research.

Equalityopportunities/diversity

Role holders are required to understand yourresponsibilities in the safeguarding context, ensuring that Phyllis Tuckwellreduces the risk of harm or abuse of adults and children at risk.

Role Holders must:

adhere to Phyllis Tuckwells Safeguarding Policy (held on the NEST),which supports the local authoritys multi agency safeguarding policy, the law(Care Act 2014) and Mental Capacity Act 2005 (including Deprivation of LibertySafeguards).

inform the appropriate Phyllis Tuckwell professional where there isconcern that an adult or child may be at risk of harm, abuse, or neglect.

Phyllis Tuckwell is committed to an Equal Opportunitiesapproach, valuing, and respecting everyone as individuals, with diverseopinions, cultures, lifestyles, and circumstances.

Thisjob description is underpinned by Phyllis Tuckwells philosophy, culture, andcore values, which actively embrace diversity and inclusion and promotes totalteam spirit.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Significant post graduate experience with broad range of skills Excellent knowledge of Occupational Therapy Experience in palliative care and able to demonstrate skills. Experience in oncology Demonstrates regular, patient-facing clinical assessment and intervention in Occupational Therapy within the last 12 months

Desirable

Experience in neurology Experience of respiratory conditions Experience of rehabilitation Experience of working with people with multiple co- morbidities Experience in mental health Experience of group work Experience Community working Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team Experience of teaching, and formal presentations Experience of working with students, occupational therapy assistants and volunteers Experience of symptom management of fatigue, anxiety, breathlessness, and sleep

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

Able to provide clinical supervision to students rehabilitation assistants and volunteers. Able to triage new referrals to the service prioritising and allocating appropriately. Able to work as an autonomous practitioner making sound clinical judgements and decisions. To be able to walk alongside a person and their family enabling choice, working in partnership and sharing decision making. Strong skills of assessment and treatment of patients with complex conditions using a variety of approaches. Physically able to assist patients using equipment Excellent knowledge of the range of manual handling, and therapeutic handling skills and equipment. Car driver/owner with a current clean UK driving license, able to assess people in their own homes.

Desirable

Able to mentor Occupational Therapists. Able to provide teaching and education to colleagues including nurses, HCAs, families and carers. Able to plan and evaluate Occupational Therapy student education programme. To be able to work effectively and efficiently with individuals and groups. High level of intellectual flexibility in clinical reasoning and problem solving. Ability to reflect and adapt practice to suit situation To be self-aware and have resilience and good self-care strategies. Evidence of knowledge of palliative care initiatives. Evidence of understanding the rehabilitative palliative care approach Evidence of ability to challenge current practice and instigate change. Proficient in use of IT including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and willingness to learn EMIS, Accurx Effective organisational, prioritisation and risk management skills. Knowledge of audit and research methods

Qualifications

Essential

Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy Evidence of ongoing CPD relevant to role Registered with the HCPC Membership of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists

Desirable

Evidence of further qualifications in palliative care Wheelchair accreditation Member of the RCOT Specialist Section Major Health conditions

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