An exciting opportunity has arisen to lead the Occupational Therapy Team covering within general medicine. Working closely with our MDT colleagues this team provides Occupational Therapy input to a wide range of clinical areas including respiratory, cardiac, elderly care, general medicine and surgery.

We are thrilled to provide the opportunity to also expand this post as a developmental opportunity. For the right candidate, we may consider offering a 12 month band 6 developmental post for the role. This would allow for supervision and support to nurturing your leadership and team management skills - with the aim that you are competent to begin working at a band 7 team lead position within a year of employment.

The role of Occupational Therapy in the acute setting is fundamental in ensuring our patients have smooth and positive experience on their inpatient journey and beyond. We are seeking a motivated individual who can lead the OT service within Epsom Hospital and guide the Occupational Therapy team to achieve even more positive outcomes.

Main duties of the job

A Team Lead is expected:

To clinically lead a small team of Occupational Therapists within the area of expertise, be responsible for their learning and development, provide clinical support and guidance and ensure the development of this team in line with the department's strategy.

To assist the manager in the development of the Occupational Therapy service.

To develop and provide highly specialised Occupational Therapy to patients in the clinical area working autonomously, and being accountable for own professional actions.

To provide highly specialised Occupational Therapy advice in relation to the care of patients who have a range of psycho-social, physical and emotional problems working in an acute setting.

About us

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust provides a range of medical services to approximately 490,000 people living across southwest London and northeast Surrey. In addition, we provide more specialist services, in particular renal and neonatal intensive care, to a wider area, covering parts of Sussex and Hampshire.

We serve an area that is rich in diversity, with a mix of urban and rural areas, and differing levels of quality of life. We cover some of the most prosperous postcodes in the country, as well as some poorer areas. Together with our colleagues at NHS Surreyand NHS Sutton and Merton, we work to make sure that we deliver the best possible care to the communities we serve.

The Trust employs approximately 5,000 staff across its hospitals and issupported by over 500 volunteers.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Some of the main responsibilities of this role are:

• To be responsible for the development, implementation, and delivery of Occupational Therapy as a specialist clinician, including assessment, treatment planning, carrying out treatment and discharge planning of own client caseload.
• To develop and implement specialist treatment programmes and initiate discharge planning. To be highly skilled in assessing and interpreting a range of complex factors relating to the patients condition, including diagnosis and prognosis.
• To lead and support the OT team in prioritising referrals including delegation of work to ensure equity of provision for patients referred.
• To provide a positive check and challenge ability to reinforce strong clinical reasoning within the team.
• To provide awareness and education of the role of OT within the greater hospital site and promote flow positive decision making where appropriate.
• To create an environment that promotes effective communication to patients, carers, colleagues and the multidisciplinary team by establishing effective communication networks and demonstrating skills in empathy, reassurance and the ability to motivate others.
• To liaise and establish communication networks with the multidisciplinary teams, external voluntary and statutory organisations as appropriate in planning for clients treatment, discharge and resettlement.
• To assess, recommend and where appropriate provide and fit a range of specialist equipment and or aids in the clients home, to facilitate patients rehabilitation and reduce risk around discharge.
• To be aware of changing trends in treatment and promote evidence-based/best practice within own team and interpret this into own specialist area of work, in order to provide the highest standard of care to clients.
• To conduct and/or actively participate in the in-service training, tutorials, individual training sessions, external courses and peer review. To participate in and contribute to the department and own teams training programme, demonstrating a willingness to learn.
• To maintain good working relationships with patients, family/carers, colleagues, multidisciplinary teams and personnel from other external agencies.
• To contribute to the service, develop and provide an overview of the different specialties offered within the service, keeping up-to-date with developments and the expectations of patients, carers and colleagues.
• As a supervisor, provide individual performance reviews and contribute to the performance assessment and appraisal of qualified and non-qualified staff in line with departmental competencies.
• To be responsible for and facilitate a safe environment, recognising patient requirements for privacy and dignity.
• To have a good knowledge of and to abide by the departments and Trusts policies and procedures, and to comment and contribute to the development of these policies and procedures within the defined clinical area.
• To participate in the process of recruitment and selection.

Please see full job description and person specification outline in attachment.

If an applicant was to be hired in a developmental role, we would support in meeting the competencies for this over a period of 12 months in order to achieve a band 7 progression.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree in OT
• HCPC Registration
• Evidence of continued CPD

Desirable

• Post Grad Education
• Leadership Specific Training

Clinical Skills

Essential

• Experience in medicine/the acute setting
• Understanding of discharge/flow pressures
• Strong prioritisation and delegation skills
• Understanding of equipment

Desirable

• Amputee experience
• Rapid (A& E/AMU) experience

Leadership

Essential

• Evidence of having had a student
• Evidence of having leadership skills

Desirable

• Awareness of leadership styles
• Evidence of strong communication in team

Employer details

Employer name

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Epsom Hospital / St Helier Hospital

Epsom

KT18 7EG

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

343-NN-6473020-AHP-AG