Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist inSwindon inSwindon PUBLISHED 14 DEC 2023

Clinical Responsibilities

1. To use specialist clinical assessment and reasoning skills to provide autonomous specialist assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of patients presenting with a combination of high risk, chronic and acute problems and medical conditions
2. To formulate and develop specialised and individually tailored therapy treatment programmes/goals based on knowledge of evidence-based practice and sound clinical reasoning and treatment skills.
3. To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.
4. Leading by example and providing knowledgeable, responsive advice to support complex care.
5. To be responsible for the identification and prescription of complex manual handling equipment and completion of the appropriate risk assessments.
6. To train members of patients families, carers and nursing staff in correct manual handling procedures in relation to specific patients in your care.
7. To work closely and communicate effectively with the MDT and Partner organisations to ensure the delivery of high-quality services to patients and facilitate timely discharges and appropriate referrals.
8. To maintain accurate paper and electronic records in accordance with the professional and organisational standards.
9. To promote and communicate the role of Occupational Therapy and service priorities to the MDT.
10. To lead on and support staff to communicate sensitive or emotive information regarding a patients treatment, goals, progress and potential for recovery, recommending appropriate pathways for discharge to patients, relatives, carers, associated agencies and other professionals.
11. You will frequently be exposed to distressing and emotional circumstances involving patients and relatives and occasionally have to deal with patients and relatives following a serious, traumatic or terminal incident.
12. You may need to treat patients in environments with limited space and privacy, adjusting your assessment as needed to still maintain patient dignity.
13. You will be required to work alone in some environments and manage both the clinical and personal risk.
14. To understand and adhere to national guidelines and legislation relating to health and social care and their impact on service provision.
15. To comply with HCPC and the College of Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, national guidelines and Trust procedures.

Development of Service and Team members

1. To lead on the implementation of local and National guidelines to meet local clinical governance standards.
2. To ensure the achievement of National, local and Trust performance indicators, to deliver a high quality, effective service, where patient experience and safety is central.
3. Support the Team Lead to ensure Trust clinical and non-clinical policies, procedures and guidelines are strictly adhered to at all times.
4. Make recommendations for changes to practice and lead the implementation in partnership with the Team Lead.
5. To be competent to lead and train the team to support the development of clinical competency assessment within clinical area, or to support other areas as needed.
6. Contribute to the Trusts clinical governance and quality agenda, supporting Team Lead to provide evidence from the CQC Action Plan.
7. Assisting team leads with supervision of band 6s and below investing, encouraging and supporting the development of all staff to ensure the highest possible standard of OT provision across the Acute setting and aid retention.
8. To support team leads in the delivery of the appraisal scheme for the staff you supervise and to ensure all the staffs in your team have had appraisal and personal development plans.
9. To support local universities by providing clinical placements, accessing Practice Educator training and supporting staff to supervise Occupational Therapy students.
10. Undertake regular continued professional development to develop own clinical knowledge and professional skills, supporting the Team Lead in developing the service in line with Evidence Based Practice.
11. To participate in local and Trust wide service development and projects, representing for Acute OT, delegating to team members where appropriate.
12. Lead on research, clinical audits and evidence based service pilots/projects to support the development of evidence based practice in collaboration with the professional lead and the clinical team lead.

Day to day Team Management

1. To lead daily caseload meetings and team meetings with the Acute OT team to cascade information, seek opinions and facilitate team support.
2. To provide effective support to team leads in delivery of the day-to-day organisation of the team prioritising workloads, responding to changing hospital demands, ensuring an accessible, responsive and flexible service.
3. To prioritise own and others clinical work, and balance other patient related and professional activities as the department requires.
4. To provide information and updates for Team Leads during periods of high escalation, supporting the team to identify areas of pressure and urgent priorities.
5. To support the Team Leads to manage the departmental budget, equipment and resources in a responsible and justified way with clear benefits to the team and organisation.
6. To participate and contribute to workforce planning and recruitment for the team.
7. To be aware of the performance and absence management processes, monitoring staff, utilising policies and seeking support from Team Lead as required.
8. To contribute to the coordination and participate as part of the team weekend working rotas.

The Great Western Hospital are seeking a Band 7 Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist to come and join our Acute Occupational Therapy Team.

This will be an opportunity to develop yourself within specialist areas such as Palliative Care, Frailty, Cardiology and Respiratory. In this role you will be working within an acute setting on Medical and Surgical Wards. The Acute OT team here at the Great Western Hospital has a workforce of 22 Qualified OT's, Assistants and Apprentices which creates a fantastic working environment with continued support.

Our Clinical Specialist Therapists are an integral part of our Leadership Teams and are vital to the development of our Band 6, Band 5, student, apprentice and assistant workforce. Through our Improving Together methodology our staff can drive their continuous improvement ideas forward to completion and have the autonomy to implement change.

The Great Western support our staff to access training and development opportunities via our Academy with opportunities to complete higher education.

If you would like to find out more information about this opportunity or to arrange a brief department walk around, please get in touch with Michaela Kirby ) or Briony Howard ) on .

The post holder will be required to take every opportunity to update and to develop clinical and professional skills and knowledge. In addition, they will be an expert in the acute setting, providing clinical support to the team and wider MDT and partner organisations.

The post requires a flexible approach to working as it involves working across professional boundaries.