Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CLINICAL

• To be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of own professional activities.  To adhere to and apply The College of Occupational Therapists’ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (College of Occupational Therapists 2015)
• To independently manage a caseload of complex cases, providing specialist occupational therapy assessment and interventions to clients with complex physical, cognitive and psycho-social needs arising from their medical conditions. To provide this service in the most appropriate setting to the client, e.g. clients’ homes, workplace and other community settings, working closely with the client, his/her family/carer and other professionals in doing this.
• To be responsible for prioritising the occupational therapy referrals within the service to ensure that clients with urgent needs are seen within appropriate timescales.
• To establish excellent therapeutic relationships with clients/family/carers to gain their participation in the therapeutic process by employing advanced interpersonal skills (e.g. communication, reasoning, negotiation skills, motivational tactics) and overcoming any barriers to communication (e.g. different languages, lack of understanding of the spoken word, visual or hearing impairments, fear, anxiety).
• To assess for and diagnose any functional, physical, cognitive, perceptual, psychological and sensory deficits using functional assessments together with specialised standardised and non-standardised assessment batteries.
• Based on the analysis of the assessment and a risk analysis, to determine occupational therapy aims and treatment goals as part of the overall care plan, and then to formulate intervention options which reduce the impact of disability.
• To attend MDT clinical meetings and have close liaison with the acute stroke services (NMH, RFH and the Homerton) and the hyper acute service (HASU).
• To work closely with the client/family/carers to encourage participation in the therapeutic process.  To negotiate and agree decisions relevant to the client’s management whilst respecting their diversity.  To identify and select with the client/family/carers the most appropriate intervention options, which balance the complex interactions of risk, safety, client choice, independence, areas of conflict, eligibility for services and cost effectiveness.
• To develop specialised occupational therapy treatment programmes in collaboration with clients, carers and other involved professionals (e.g. physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, district nurses, clinical lead professionals, home care agencies) to be carried out in the client’s home or community as appropriate.
• To plan, coordinate and deliver client-centred interventions on either an individual or group basis, using the principles of graded activity and a wide range of treatment techniques e.g. functional and remedial activities, splinting, equipment provision, education and health promotion.
• To use specialised therapeutic moving and handling skills in the assessment for complex neurological conditions, recommending appropriate equipment in line with national and local guidelines; including providing advice and training to client/family/carers on correct handling techniques, having undertaken specialised manual handling risk assessments.
• To provide specialist assessment for and provision of adaptive equipment such as specialist seating in line with national and local guidelines.
• To provide assessments for and where indicated the construction of upper limb splinting for clients in order to promote joint integrity or facilitate function.
• To challenge and improve current practice where appropriate, ensuring practice is evidence based.
• To provide specialist advice on lifestyles, role, functional abilities, self care and the physical environment after taking account of the effects of any medical conditions on the individual and his/her family/carers, e.g. energy conservation, fatigue management.
• To prescribe and coordinate interventions to be carried out by others, such as rehabilitation support workers or home carers, and to train them to carry out the therapeutic programmes as appropriate to the home or community environment.
• To use advanced clinical reasoning, critical thinking and reflection to monitor, evaluate and modify treatment, evaluate outcomes and thus ensure effectiveness of interventions.
• To provide verbal and written information to support the client’s discharge from the service which informs health and social care providers of the outcomes of interventions and of ongoing health and social care requirements.
• To produce accurate and detailed reports, therapy programmes, care plans, advice and information as necessary in a timely manner, reflecting clinical expertise.
• To identify and manage the potential difficulties and risks involved in working alone in a variety of community settings (e.g. verbal or physical aggression, challenging behaviour, working in unhygienic environments) and to do this for staff to whom work is delegated.  To complete incident forms as necessary.

Please see Job description and personal specification for full outline of main role and responsibilities