Job summary
- Main area
- Occupational Therapist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 220-WHT-3079
- Employer
- Whittington Health NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- The bridge Schools ( Samuel Rhodes and The Bridge Schools)
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £51,883 - £58,544 pro rata per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 05/06/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Band 7 Occupational Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 7
Covid-19 Vaccination
Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support staff to get COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible.
Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.
For our current apprenticeship vacancies, please go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship and use Keyword ‘Whittington’
By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.
Job overview
Islington Additional Needs and Disability Team is a multidisciplinary service for children and young people 0-19.
We are seeking a dynamic and highly motivated Occupational Therapist to join our team. The successful applicant will work across two outstanding special schools in Islington. Samuel Rhodes school caters for pupils with moderate learning needs and a range of different diagnosis including Autism. The Bridge is a special school for children and young people with complex needs including Autism and Learning disability..
The postholder will support the schools at a universal, targeted and specialist level: through workforce training and development, class and curriculum support and joint target setting.
We will offer you excellent training opportunities with a strong emphasis on individual performance appraisal and supervision, both from within the team and from the Occupational Therapy service. External training is also fully supported and encouraged.
We are a friendly and relaxed service who promotes equal opportunities and access for all. We support flexible working hours and applicants interested in part time working are also encouraged to apply.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be responsible for an allocated caseload, providing high quality Occupational Therapy and effective case management to children attending Samuel Rhodes and Bridge Schools . The post holder will demonstrate a high standard of clinical practice as Paediatric Occupational Therapist.
The post holder also provides support and training for both parents and other professionals. They will liaise with educational colleagues in order to undertake joint planning of IEP targets, and staff training as appropriate.
They will provide clinical supervision and support to less experienced colleagues, trainees, unqualified staff and staff from other disciplines and agencies when required, both within the team and the wider service.
The post holder will have excellent communication skills, active listening skills and the ability to empathise. They will be able to communicate complex information effectively, taking into account the barriers to communication presented by the diverse caseload.
They will be skilled in working in and liaising within a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment and be able to reassure and instil confidence in clients, carers and other professionals. They will demonstrate excellent negotiation skills in working with other team members, parents/carers or other professionals.
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Band 7 OT
CLINICAL
- To manage an allocated caseload of children with additional needs. To take a clinical lead in this specialised area for the paediatric special and complex needs service area.
- To demonstrate specialist expertise in managing children with the complex special needs who may present with one or more of the following: learning difficulties, mental health problems, autism, sensory impairments and behaviour that challenges.
- Be highly skilled in selecting and apply OT assessments (standardised and non-standardised) for a designated case load, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits, and enabling the child in the areas of self maintenance, productivity and leisure.
- To set treatment goals with children and/or their parents/carers that are functional and child centred
- Identify and select, with children and/or their carers, appropriate interventions which balance the complex interaction of risk, safety, client choice, independence, areas of conflict and eligibility for services.
- To successfully monitor, evaluate and review Occupational Therapy treatment/interventions within a multidisciplinary framework and to modify as necessary, taking a lead professional case management role as required.
- To use advanced clinical reasoning to adapt practice to meet individual patient/client circumstances.
- Demonstrate highly specialist clinical knowledge in the areas of Specific Learning Difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder and neurological conditions such as Cerebral Palsy and Hemiplegia
- To provide highly specialist support and training for parents, school staff and other professionals, adapting as required.
- To use knowledge of other multidisciplinary roles and external agencies to ensure effective management and timely onward referrals in order to achieve the best care for the child.
- To coordinate input with the other members of the team and professionals involved with the child and family, organising joint visits and developing multidisciplinary therapy plans.
- To work closely with Education and contribute to Education, Health and Care Plans.
- To be involved in the specialist assessment for and selection of specialist equipment for children at home and in school, taking responsibility for review of its safety and appropriateness.
- To have the ability, knowledge and skills required for moving and handling children in clinic, education and community environments, including families’ homes
- To assess and manage clinical risk concerning the treatment of clients on the caseload and ensure that other staff comply e.g. Manual Handling risk assessment and Trust lone working policy.
- To be familiar with the re-housing process and home adaptation pathways, liaising with appropriate services as required.
- To communicate effectively and sensitively with colleagues, service users and other services, demonstrating empathy
- To demonstrate excellent negotiation skills across a range of issues and situations, recognising and resolving potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs. To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible.
- Demonstrate highly effective personal coordination of day-to-day activities including prioritising case loads, decision-making and problem solving and assist MDT team with prioritisation.
- To assist junior staff, multi-disciplinary therapy assistants/technical instructors and other professionals in the management of complex cases.
- To prescribe, delegate and monitor the work of less experienced colleagues/Occupational Therapy Assistants/Students
- To be involved in projects reflecting specialist skills.
- To be actively involved in the development and implementation of Children’s Occupational Therapy Service Clinical Policies and Clinical Governance Action Plan.
- To support the supervision of less experienced colleagues, therapy assistants and students as appropriate
- To support the planning, monitoring and implementation of clinical service policies, patient care pathways and outcome measures, and with support from the OT clinical lead and Team lead
- To assist with reporting and interpretation of data related to Occupational Therapy service provision at Samuel Rhodes including qualitative and quantitative data
- To lead on creation of resources and online training as part of the IANDS universal offer relevant to client group at Samuel Rhodes
- To participate in the collection of statistics and audit programmes as required by the Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service and take a lead for relevant areas.
- To collaborate with colleagues in departmental research and clinical governance/audit projects.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy and current HCPC Registration
- Evidence of CPD and attendance at relevant post graduate courses/training e.g. journal clubs, CO-OP, Zones of Regulation, Coaching etc.
skills
Essential criteria
- Skills in delivering presentations and training, including basic adaptations and presentation/ training style for a range of audiences and co-production where appropriate
- Specialist knowledge of a broad range of clinical conditions impacting children e.g. Autism, learning disabilities, genetic conditions, DCD etc.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with children with additional needs.
- Experience of developing and delivering training to others.
Skills
Desirable criteria
- Specialist skills in managing children’ and young people’s behaviour that challenges, or with high levels of distress
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Kirsty Hammond
- Job title
- Team Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 7619 1000
- Additional information
You may also contact Christine Hale ([email protected]), Team Lead for Samuel Rhodes Schools regarding the role
If you have problems applying, contact
- Address
-
WHT
- Telephone
- If you have any queries, please contact NLPSS Recruitment Helpdesk tel. 020 3758 2060
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