Come and Join our friendly and supportive Community Hospital Team!

We have a vacancy in our team for a qualified and experienced community occupational therapist.

You will be part of a friendly and supportive integrated team delivering a locally driven needs led service. Our ward provides Intermediate Care rehabilitation services, for adults 18+ who require rehabilitation following illness, injury / surgery. The unit also incorporates some sub- acute care and complex discharge planning functions.

We also provide in-patient rehabilitation to patients admitted from the acute hospitals and from home to prevent admission to the acute services, supporting discharge from hospital and maximising independence.

A seven day working pattern will be required.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will:o Be an excellent communicator, with the assessment and treatment skills needed for a variety of conditions including care of the elderly, general medical conditions, orthopaedics, neurology, plus size and amputees.o Provide excellent clinical reasoning skills and give expert advice, guidance and information to patients, health and social care professionals, carers and relatives and other non-professionals, to facilitate safe and timely discharges.o The post holder will deputise for the Lead Therapist when needed, and will provide supervision for junior staff, therapy support workers and students.o Work in partnership with Hertfordshire equipment serviceso Will have access to regular restorative and safeguarding supervision sessions to support your practiceo Will have experience in using electronic records and be able to be a mobile workero Have a full valid driving licence and access to a car to use regularly for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010)

Interview date: 13th July 2022

About us

o A big thank you for considering joining us at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trusto You'll find it a great place to work with many benefits offered to you as a member of our staffo We put our patients, their families and carers at the centre of our vision - Outstanding Services and Healthier Communities o Our staff are proud to be Innovative, Caring and Agile in their work to help achieve the Trust visiono We welcome diversity in our workforce and are interested in applicants from all backgrounds o We don't want you to miss out so we'd like you to know that if we have a high level of interest in this role, the vacancy may close prior to the advertised closing date, so please make your application as soon as possible - Apply nowo You've made a great decision to apply to join to HCT - we're looking forward to taking the next steps of the journey with you

Job description
Job responsibilities

• To deliver a complex package of high quality healthcare including assessment, diagnosis, treatment and advice to patients with various needs orthopaedic, care of the elderly, neurology (new stroke patients) and post covid recovery.
• To provide expert advice, guidance and information to health and social care professionals, carers, and relatives
• To deputise for the Lead Therapist as necessary
• To carry out accompanied home visits and unaccompanied access visits to assess the patients functioning in their own environment, and communicate with relatives and carers regarding further care and/or treatment at home
• To participate in departmental audit and research as required
• To formulate soundly reasoned prognoses and recommend best course of intervention, developing patient centered goals to address occupational performance and skill deficits, enabling patients in the areas of self-maintenance, productivity and leisure
• To be actively involved in patient discharge planning
• To undertake evidence based audit and research projects to develop and enhance clinical practice for the clinical team and yourself
• To make recommendations to the clinical lead for changes to practice, to implement changes to practice, and to contribute to service protocols
• To be aware of the Health and Safety aspects of your work and implement any policies which may be required to improve the safety of your work area, including the prompt recording and reporting of accidents
• To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients / carers and the multi-disciplinary team in order to gain an understanding of the patients problems and agree goals to deliver effective patient care. This may include education, negotiation, motivation, persuasion and empowerment and may involve imparting unwelcome/ unpleasant information that may conflict with expectations. This will include patients/carers who may or may not have barriers to communication through cognitive or physical impairment e.g. pain, anxiety, fear, confusion, visual/cognitive impairment and depression and who may be unable to accept their diagnosis
• To ensure a good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor quality as appropriate
• To actively participate in the staff appraisal system and Trust Performance Development Programme and be responsible for complying with your agreed personal development programmes

Whilst it is not a legal requirement, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust encourages and supports all its staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID-19.

Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential

• Occupational Therapy degree or equivalent
• HCPC registration
• Documented evidence of professional development

Experience and Knowledge
Essential

• Post-qualifying experience in a range of areas including; acute, elderly care and neurology
• A clear understanding of current NHS issues, professional standards, CPD, clinical governance.
• Ability to assess patient conditions, establish the patient's problem, formulate and implement a treatment plan.
• Experience in supervising support workers and students
• Experience of participating in investigation/management of complaints.

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Ability to communicate complex and/or sensitive information requiring empathy and reassurance
• Knowledge of barriers to communication and strategies to overcome them
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, other health professionals, patients and their relatives/carers
• Ability to present information accurately, written and oral, in English
• Ability to search and review the evidence base for an occupational therapy technique
• Clinical problem solving ability in complex cases
• Ability to prioritise patient workload and delegate work to other team members
• Ability to deal with challenging behaviour and patients with life limiting illnesses

Personal qualities
Essential

• Demonstrating flexibility to meet service delivery and individual patient needs
• Good listening skills

Other requirements
Essential

• Ability to work at weekend (approximately one in four)
• Willingness to uphold the Trust's values
• Eligible to live and work in the UK
• Hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010)

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

812-22-CB-QVM-01-B