Job summary

Ready to be part of something extraordinary? Where the smallest steps for our patients and their families can be their biggest moments. We have an exciting opportunity for a Specialist Occupational Therapist (OT) with neonatal experience to develop an integrated AHP service on the neonatal unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. Working alongside the nursing and medical staff and sharing knowledge and experience will be a key part of this role. As a neonatal team we work together, to provide comprehensive, compassionate, individualised care and support to our babies and their families, which are then realised in the outstanding outcomes we achieve for our babies (NNAP 2022).The NICU is a busy tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with 18 intensive care/high dependency cots and 13 special care cots.

Our neonatal unit has 7 full time Consultant Neonatologists and outcomes remain excellent with survival rates well in excess of the Epicure 2 rates for infants
If you are a team player and want to work in a friendly and established therapy team,with 100% commitment to training and staff support, consider applying for this position now. Prearranged visits to the department are welcomed and encouraged.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and appropriately trained Occupational Therapist with a positive attitude to team working.

You must have a degree or equivalent in OT and current HCPC registration. Ideally you will have attended relevant specialist training courses and completed some neonatal competencies. Training will be available for extending and developing competencies if required. Ability to travel to the Isle of Wight is essential.

You will be expected to provide highly specialist clinical expertise in the assessment and management of premature and term babies working closely with other members of the team.

You will be able to evidence that you have delivered specialist training to MDT as well as educating and supporting parents.

We know that the secret to our success is through investment in our team, and so in return for your commitment and enthusiasm, we promise you:

• Fully supported Induction and Orientation programme tailored to your needs.
• Advanced Leadership and Management training programmes with coaching or mentoring support.
• A focus on staff wellbeing and emotional support, including access to our on-site wellness centre and training, including emotional resilience.
• Relocation package for those moving from out of area (subject to suitability).
• Flexible working opportunities, NHS benefits, including Pension and Discount Schemes.

About us

The Trust is committed to driving excellence in care for our patients and communities and was rated good by the Care Quality Commission report published 2020 and became a University Hospital. We are ranked as the third in the country for research; embedding education and training across the organisation and we continuously strive to achieve our core values which are at the heart of everything we do. The Trusts main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, starting life as a military hospital over a century ago and now one of the largest hospitals on the south coast and you may have seen us on the TV series Nurses on the Ward. The Trust provides comprehensive secondary care and specialist services to a local population of 675,000 people across South East Hampshire. The Trust employs over 8,000 staff and are #ProudtobePHU; our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because its the right thing to do, but because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for providing outstanding care and support for patients, colleagues and our community you will find a home at PHU. In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veterans status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.

Job description

Job responsibilities

• To provide clinical and professional leadership which includes delivering an advanced specialist service to the Neonatal Unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth.
• To provide highly specialist clinical expertise and specialist knowledge in assessment, differential diagnosis, treatment, and management of premature babies and occasional term babies on the unit.
• Support more junior staff in the above where appropriate.
• To provide additional support to Isle of Wight neonatal unit, St Marys Hospital.
• To work closely with other AHPs and MDT members, senior operational leads, team leads and clinical specialists to deliver a newly funded service.
• Ensure the delivery of high quality multi-disciplinary care and positive experience for new-born babies and parents of new-born babies.
• To deliver high quality and evidence-based training.
• To report directly to the 8a on team performance, operational implementation of work streams and service delivery issues including contingency planning.
• To work closely with team, and senior therapy leads to develop and transform services and be responsible for implementing change at team level in line with the Trusts strategic aims.
• May involve occasional bank holiday working.

Key Responsibilities:

Professional Responsibilities & Leadership

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your own work.
• To work autonomously and without direct supervision.
• To maintain own professional competence to practice.
• To assess parents understanding of therapy interventions, taking into consideration barriers to parent participation.
• To hold a caseload at a highly specialist level and using advanced clinical reasoning, skills and involving parents, carers and the MDT as required.
• To use advanced skills and expert knowledge to ensure that care is based on best available evidence to improve health outcomes and promote health and wellbeing of patients.
• Evaluate patient and parent progress, reassess, and alter treatment programmes of own caseload and team if required.
• To keep accurate, legible records of patient care in line with service guidelines.
• Provide a source of expertise and support to colleagues across the therapy services and work with other statutory and independent agencies.
• Represent your profession and the therapy service at multi-disciplinary meetings to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to patient care including discharge planning.
• Represent the profession across PHUT.
• To demonstrate and implement National Codes of Professional Conduct and Professional Standards of Clinical Practice (e.g., HCPC, RCOT).
• To actively participate in the trust appraisal process as appraisee and appraiser.

Operational Management & Clinical Leadership

• To provide operational management to the team on a daily basis, seeking support and guidance from 8a Leads as required.
• To manage operational processes (including recruitment, ESR, Health Roster, responding to escalation,) when required.
• To line manage allocated staff to include, recruitment process, sickness and absence monitoring and disciplinary/ performance issues.
• To manage performance of individuals through the appraisal and supervision process and work closely with senior therapy leads to manage capability/performance issues in line with Trust policy when required.
• To report, investigate and manage incidents, sharing learning from incidents and risk with the team and wider organisation as appropriate.
• To investigate and manage complaints in accordance with Trust policy, share and implement learning across the team.
• To work closely with the Therapy 8a Leads and Head of Therapies to ensure services are delivered efficiently and within budgetary constraints including monitoring of demand and capacity within designated area, to ensure efficient resources are available to maintain service delivery.
• To be responsible for ensuring effective induction for all staff within the area of responsibility and relevant students.
• To ensure all staff attend statutory and mandatory training.
• To work with senior therapy leads to monitor performance and analyse data to provide performance information to service managers to support the delivery of KPIs, management of demand and capacity and to inform future workforce, skill mix requirements and service development.
• To work with clinical specialists to ensure the delivery of evidenced base practice and effective governance for staff working within your defined clinical area.
• To work with the Therapy 8a Lead and Head of Therapies to ensure staff are clinically competent, services are clinically effective and safe, and an excellent patient experience is delivered.
• To embed the principles of integrated working across therapies and the wider multi-disciplinary team as required.
• To advise the Therapy 8a Lead and Head of Therapies on professional issues relating to the provision and development of your defined clinical area including an awareness of the impact of national/regional/local strategy within your defined clinical area.
• Propose, produce, interpret, and implement policies, procedures, standards of service, clinical guidelines within your defined clinical area.
• Responsible for the safe and competent use of equipment within your defined clinical as appropriate and that that you attain competency prior to use and that equipment defects or accidents are reported.
• Undertake risk assessments in a variety of complex situations for self, patients, colleagues, and relatives.
• Responsible for maintaining stock of equipment or materials used within specific clinical areas.
• Plan and organise non-clinical activities pertaining to your specialist area, meetings, training activities and conferences.
• To set up procedures to evaluate service delivery by encouraging patients feedback.
• To take delegated responsibility from line manager as required.

Communication

• Provide and receive complex, sensitive, or contentious information to parents, carers, and other staff.
• Use highly developed interpersonal verbal and non-verbal skills to overcome significant barriers to communication, acceptance or understanding.
• Communicate sensitively and effectively with parents, carers, relatives, or other professionals in situations that may be hostile, antagonistic, or highly emotive.
• Establish robust communication networks with other professionals to optimise continuum of care, therapy intervention and discharge planning to ensure a consistent MDT approach to care.
• Responsible for recording personally generated information regarding patients e.g., written, and electronic records, reports, and activity data in accordance with professional and local standards including maintaining confidentiality.
• Concentrate while undertaking work that is not always predictable. With competing demands for attention, prioritise workload and manage interruptions relating to patient care.
• Work with a number of patients and parents who may be challenging and emotionally demanding, parents who may have communication, psychological, cognitive, or mental health issues with frequent exposure to distressing and emotional circumstances.
• To provide regular support to staff members who may have been exposed to emotional and stressful situations.
• To attend and actively participate in specialty, peer group and departmental staff meetings.
• To ensure timely and effective communication to senior therapy staff on all professional matters.

Education & Training

• Participation in CPD activity including teaching on specific subjects and delivering core training programmes to team members, other professionals, and students.
• Provide and conduct specialist training for a range of individuals and groups including parents and carers, other health professionals, public, external agencies, and national specialist interest groups.
• Provide clinical practice placements for preregistration students and apprentices and support other staff within your team to supervise students.
• To ensure that new members of staff, locums, students, and visitors receive appropriate orientation and induction programmes.
• To keep updated with new developments within your specialist area and attend relevant training as appropriate.

Research & Development

• To lead on clinical audit within your area of work and participate in research as appropriate to inform future service development.
• Demonstrate regular development activities and contribute to audits or other projects to support clinical judgements and decisions.

Working Conditions

• To carry out assessments / treatments of babies with complex conditions with frequent moderate physical effort on a daily basis.
• Frequent therapeutic handling of vulnerable babies. Will involve always complying with Trust Manual Handling Policy and local therapeutic handling guidance.
• The job will involve exposure to unpleasant working conditions on a regular daily basis involving exp
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