Senior Children's Specialist OT inWakefield inWakefield PUBLISHED THU 19 DEC 2024

An opportunity has arisen to recruit a full-time Band 6 Children's Occupational Therapist to join our friendly and supportive, multi-disciplinary team.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust Children's Therapy Team offers evidenced based interventions for children and young people from birth to 19 with additional needs impacting on their development or ability to engage in childhood occupations. We provide input into a range of health, community, and educational settings. We also offer assessments into diagnostic pathways associated with autism and developmental coordination disorder. Our team provides services into the local special educational needs support service and short,based breaks teams and the successful applicant will also have the opportunity to work into Wakefield Short Based breaks service one day a week.

We are keen to develop the service to provide the best experience of Children's Occupational Therapy.

The team has a base at Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals and cross site working will be required.

Ideally you would have experience in neurodevelopmental treatment approaches and have worked as an Occupational Therapist with children with both physical and sensory processing needs.

The role involves supervision and mentorship of junior colleagues with opportunity to be involved in the development of our service. The successful applicant will be required to have access to a vehicle to support work into the community

You will deliver a specialised Occupational Therapy service within the Children's Therapy Service utilising in-depth theoretical and technical skills.

You will manage a caseload of children with complex needs using evidence based, client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions to minimise disability and maximise independence. .

You will provide leadership, supervision, and appraisal for junior staff and students.

You will participate in the planning, development and evaluation of Children's OT Services , holding responsibility for defined projects

You will work within a job plan.

We provide care and support to children and young people with occupational therapy needs in the Wakefield and Pontefract area. in their homes, educational and community settings and across our hospital sites.

We offer standardised and observational assessments. to support evidence based care

We invest in teaching and the development of our workforce.

We live by our values of caring, improving, being respectful and maintaining high standards. We listen and learn because we aim to make Mid Yorkshire the best place to work and the best place to receive care.

We have a clear vision, and you could be part of this! If you share our values and you want to make a difference to the lives children, young people ando their families and carers, we would love to hear from you.

About us

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own practice, including the management of individuals in your care.

To understand and apply the Occupational Therapy process in the effective self-management of a caseload within the Childrens Therapy Service, assessing and mitigating risk, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits to enable service users in components of self-care, productivity and leisure.

To work within the scope of MY Childrens Therapy service when prioritising need, assessing, and delivering interventions.

To work within agreed service delivery model and pathways

To know the professional and personal scope of own practice and make referrals to other agencies.

To demonstrate specialist knowledge and understanding of the key concepts of biological, physical, social, psychological, and clinical sciences in relation to occupational performance relevant to Childrens Therapy Service.

To utilise and advise others on the range of standard and non-standardised Occupational Therapy assessments and techniques in areas of occupational performance (education, leisure, personal, domestic, environment) and skill deficits relevant to Childrens Occupational Therapy.

To be responsible for the assessment, prescription and evaluation of specialist equipment and adaptations for children with multiple and complex needs.

To demonstrate a detailed working knowledge of conditions affecting children and childhood occupations and current Occupational Therapy approaches to their treatment and apply a high level of knowledge of the effect of disability and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the individuals social and physical environment.

To be able to use research, clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills including activity analysis to identify the therapeutic benefit of client centred interventions and make professional judgements with individuals with diverse or complex needs, or multiple problems according to outcome, changes in patient needs and environmental influences.

To use specialist knowledge, training, and experience to plan and implement client centred individual and/or group treatment programmes for children with complex physical, mental health and social needs.

To be able to formulate specific and appropriate management plans including the setting of time scales to accurately prioritise needs with individuals and the multi-disciplinary team, in relation to available resources and professional demands.

To monitor, analyse, evaluate, and modify the Occupational Therapy process and treatment in order to measure progress and ensure the effectiveness of intervention.

Using highly specialised knowledge, carry out and supervise a variety of physical interventions that require a high level of physical and manual dexterity.

To apply a high level of knowledge of the effect of disability and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the individuals social and physical environment.

To work alone in a variety of environments, including home and school, this may include confined and unhygienic spaces that could present a risk to personal health and safety.

When necessary, to be responsible for the co-ordination of the individuals clinical care package.

To deliver Occupational Therapy interventions to the childrens ward to facilitate safer discharges.

To comply with all MY safeguarding processes and procedures and where necessary be responsible for initiating and maintaining communication and onward referrals to safeguarding bodies.

To follow MY policy and processes/ procedures.