Arts Therapist (Music or Dance Movement) East London NHS Foundation Trust in London inLondon PUBLISHED WED 12 MAR 2025 Jump to job information section

We have an exciting opportunity for an Arts Therapist (Music or Dance Movement) to join our team on a fixed term basis (maternity cover). The successful candidate will be responsible for planning, providing, and developing specialist therapeutic interventions, including assessment, treatment, and evaluation of individual and group work using their chosen Arts Therapies modality (Music or Dance Movement) across our tri-borough older adults inpatient services.

• To co-facilitate specialist Arts Therapies including assessment, treatment and evaluation of individual and group work on the wards, including involving family members where appropriate.
• To ensure specialist knowledge forms an integral part of peoples care plans.
• To evaluate work on an ongoing basis with an emphasis on using appropriate service user reported experience and outcome measures to measure and demonstrate effectiveness.
• To provide a range of teaching and training to multi-professional staff, service users and carers as required.
  
  

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Key responsibilities

Patient/service User Care

To develop and provide a specialist Arts Therapy assessment and treatment service to adults with complex needs and/or dementia employing the following specialist skills:

• To plan and prioritise a service user caseload as defined under supervision from a senior Arts Therapist.
• To develop skills to undertake specialised Arts Therapy assessments referring on, where appropriate.
• To be responsible for maintaining, on service users behalf, an appropriate, contained, creative therapeutic environment.
• To develop skills in managing difficult and demanding clinical situations including exploring complex and sensitive personal issues in both group and one to one contexts with service users with acute needs.
• To deal with conflict and resolve difficulties arising for service users in clinical interventions.
• To plan and deliver recovery focused interventions in conjunction with the MDT ensuring regular evaluation of service user care plans.
• To assess service users mental state and identify any significant risk factors and to collaboratively undertake risk assessments with other professionals.
• To attend clinical meetings/ CPA meetings, contribute clinical information on service users progress and arrange clinical review meetings, where necessary.
• To apply clinical knowledge and skills in one to one and group interventions with service users with complex needs, including brief, medium and long-term work.
• To ensure that all interventions are documented in the service users clinical record.
• To take up clinical group supervision/consultation.
• To produce clinical reports and disseminate to other involved professionals, agencies and the service user, as appropriate
• To evaluate effectiveness of interventions, in conjunction with service users/carers, other professionals.
• To apply evidence based practice and keep up to date with developments in one's specialist field of Arts Therapy in mental health and dementia care.
• To promote and apply equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory interventions that respect the service users customs, values and spiritual beliefs at all times.
• To ensure that any service user complaints or incidents are reported accurately and investigated appropriately, making clinical team members aware.
• To take a lead on designated projects with senior support.
  
  

Policy/Service Development/Implementation

• Adhere to Trust procedures and policies
• To develop and maintain links with relevant statutory and non-statutory agencies including Psychological Therapies services, day care services, user-led initiatives, voluntary bodies and work, training and education services.
• To follow Trust and Arts Therapies Service policies and procedures and professional body/regulation standards.
• To contribute to service development in line with local service policy and in consultation with relevant managers.
• To offer professional advice to other professionals and care groups within the service.
• To ensure the service provided to service users is culturally sensitive and responsive to the ethnic diversity within the locality.
• To actively encourage service user involvement in recovery focused service development including Arts in health partnerships.
• To participate in and contribute to service level discussions/plans on maintaining the treatment environment and services for service users.
• To actively participate in audits and quality improvement in relation to service evaluation and review.
• To attend relevant professional and service development meetings, e.g Arts therapies meetings, clinical meetings, handovers, Trust-wide Arts Therapies meetings.
• To maintain professional registration and be aware of and comply with policy and requirements of registration and professional bodies.
  
  

Financial/Physical Resources

• To monitor the levels of stock and equipment for the delivery of Arts Therapies.
• To implement policies and procedures for the safe use & secure storage of stock and equipment in line with health and safety requirements.
• To be responsible for accurately completing petty cash vouchers related to purchases made for individual service user service provision.
  
  

Human Resources

• To contribute to the training and development of Arts Therapists in own and other modalities and use expertise to provide advice and information to health professionals in other disciplines.
• To ensure own continued personal and professional development is met through training and educational opportunities, with support from senior Arts Therapists.
• To participate in yearly appraisals.
• To engage in management supervision.
  
  

Information Resources

• To collect statistics submitting the