Advanced Paediatric Occupational Therapist

NHS; Ealing; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

The NHS is seeking a Band 7 Advanced Paediatric Occupational Therapist in Ealing. This role involves providing specialized assessments and interventions for children and young people with diverse needs within a dynamic team environment, aimed at enhancing occupational participation. The position emphasizes evidence-based family-centered care and facilitates inter-agency collaboration.

Benefits

In-house and external CPD opportunities

Formal supervision structure

Qualifications

• HCPC registration as an Occupational Therapist.
• Occupational Therapy degree or equivalent required.
• Evidence of continuous professional development in OT.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist assessment and intervention for children with complex needs.
• Co-lead the mainstream school service and manage clinic pathways.
• Work collaboratively with multi-agency professionals to develop comprehensive intervention packages.

Skills

Communication

Inter-agency collaboration

Clinical reasoning

Problem-solving

Teamwork

Education

Occupational Therapy degree

Registration with HCPC

MSc in OT

Job description

Go back Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Advanced Paediatric Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 08 June 2025

Band 7 Advanced Paediatric Occupational Therapist - Clinic, EarlyBird Programme and Mainstream Schools Lead

The Ealing Paediatric Occupational Therapy (OT) Service is looking for a motivated, flexible and innovative therapist to work with children and young people in Ealing. We are a friendly, dynamic and innovative team who are passionate about supporting children, young people and families in Ealing. We work with a diverse population group across health, education and social care. Our main base is at Carmelita House at Ealing Broadway and there is a high level of integration and collaboration between different health, education and social care services / colleagues.

The OT Service is responsible for the provision of the Occupational Therapy Service to children who lives in Ealing, have an Ealing GP and/or is attending an Ealing school that has a service level agreement with the OT service. The OT service covers a wide range of settings including Special Schools, Children's Centres, Mainstream Schools, Ealing Primary Behaviour Service and client's homes as well as OT assessment clinics, intervention clinics and parent workshop sessions in local health centres. The service delivery model requires full face-to-face working with a small element of adhoc remote working.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and highly committed individual to work within this unique and vibrant OT team. Other than working closely together, we also have fun and bond through the many team social activities! This is a permanent role with full-time hours.

We are looking for a team player who has a substantive amount as well as a good range of clinical experience. Candidates will need to have excellent communication skills and any experience in working within an inter-disciplinary team and interagency collaboration will be an advantage. Regular supervision and support will be provided by a Band 8a supervisor. Are you the person we are looking for?

This post will involve mainly working in clinics, schools and the delivery of the local National Autistic Society's EarlyBird Programme (depending on commissioning arrangements). As a senior staff member of the team, the post holder will also have leadership and management responsibilities.

Our service is keen to focus on evidence based family-centred care principles, and applying best practice guidelines to enable occupational participation. We are open to new ideas and constantly reviewing and modifying the way we work.

About us

The team has been highly successful in getting funding from different agencies, and have a team of more than 21.0 WTE staff. We have a strong professional structure with Clinical Leads (Band 8a) and Advanced Therapists (Band 7), each leading on different aspects of service delivery. There are also Band 6 & 5 Therapists and Band 3 Technicians. We have regular in-house and external CPD opportunities, and formal supervision structure in place.

This role is an Ealing Community Partners role through Central North West London (CNWL) Trust. Please note that the post does not meet the application criteria for the trust's Golden Hello and Relocation package.

Job responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. To co-lead the mainstream school service and manage the clinic pathways within the Paediatric OT Service. She/he will contribute to the development of these specialist services in relation to other clinical pathways and related policies.

2. To work as an autonomous practitioner and provide highly specialist assessment and intervention for children and young people (CYP) with complex special educational needs (including global developmental delay, autism, social communication disorders, developmental coordination disorder etc.) in the following areas according to the CYPs stage of development and specific needs with consideration of the social and cultural needs of the CYP and family:

a. Within individual and/or in groups, as part of multi-disciplinary team, in a variety of health, educational and community settings.

b. To use sound clinical reasoning and appropriate outcome measurement.

c. To actively contribute to the overall diagnostic process within the multi-disciplinary team for children with highly complex needs.

d. To demonstrate specialist knowledge in clinical specialism underpinned by current evidence-based practice.

e. To facilitate optimal and increased independence of CYP in -

i. Participation in self-care and activities of daily living, e.g. feeding, toileting, dressing, personal hygiene etc.

ii. Participation in productive activities, e.g. school-based tasks, regulation of attention, organisation of behaviour, fine manipulation of tools etc.

iii. Participation in play and leisure activities, e.g. joint engagement, turn-taking, gross motor task performance, motor-coordination.

3. To manage own caseload independently and prioritise according to the CYPs needs and departmental policies on service delivery, and to ensure that intervention is meeting the needs of CYP, families and / or carers. Access to support and supervision will be provided as necessary.

4. To coordinate and deliver the National Autistic Societys EarlyBird Programme jointly with the Speech and Language Therapist in Ealing (if commissioned). This would include:

a. Maintaining the record keeping system to track referrals.

b. Liaison with other professionals and agencies as appropriate.

5. To carry out community visits (e.g. home, school etc.) to provide specialist advice, recommendations and training to parents/carers/other professionals on home safety adaptations, intervention and/or handling activities as necessary. To also provide minor and / or major adaptation recommendations for environmental modification if required.

6. To recommend special seating/positioning systems and/or splinting to support functional use of upperlimb as necessary.

7. To contribute specialist advice towards Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) as part of the Code of Practice for statutory assessment of Education, Health and Social Care needs in line with national and local policies and procedures when requested.

8. To provide advice and support families and other professionals involved with the CYPs care in order to implement strategies.

9. To work collaboratively with multi-agency professionals and parents/carers to develop and implement comprehensive specialist intervention packages for CYP, including planning and delivering specialist training to other OTs, professionals and parents/carers.

10. To use specialist knowledge to refer children and families to other services / professionals as necessary after getting appropriate consent e.g. CAMHS etc.

11. To act as the main contact and spoke person for the OT service in the designated specialist area and / or clinical setting.

12. Take a lead role in clinical audit, research and service development related to the specialist areas or clinical settings at least once a year.

13. To supervise other junior staff working in own specialist area.

14. To provide one clinical education placement to Occupational Therapy student as lead educator at least once a year.

15. To contribute to the management of physical and on-line resources, in line with contractual and professional standards.

Person Specification

Education & Qualifications

• oRegistration with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as an Occupational Therapist and has professional indemnity arranged.
• oRecognised Occupational Therapy degree qualification or equivalent, i.e. DipCOT/BSc OT.
• oEvidence of continuous professional development (e.g. attendance of journal clubs, conferences, professional specialist interest activities) in the field of OT.
• oRegistered member with relevant professional bodies e.g. RCOT, RCOT CYPFSS.
• oMSc in OT.
• oEvidence of successful completion of specialist training courses e.g. CO-OP, Sensory Integration Foundation Module, working with autism, Bobath Foundation Course, seating assessment, School AMPS, leadership, change management, team development, staff supervision etc.

Knowledge & Experience

• oHas significant post graduate working experience in Occupational Therapy, with high level of specialist clinical experience and knowledge in paediatric occupational therapy including working with different neuro-developmental disabilities including autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, DCD etc.
• oHave high level of clinical skills and experience in assessing and providing intervention to children with complex special education needs (e.g. contribution for appeals or tribunals etc.).
• oSubstantial experience in working within a multidisciplinary team and also working across different agencies by using different models of practice and frames of reference, e.g. education and social services.
• oPostgraduate experience of developing and delivering training.
• oPostgraduate experience of developing and delivering group interventions.
• oIn-depth and working knowledge of national policies, legislation and procedures relevant to the paediatric practice.
• oIn-depth knowledge of principles of clinical governance and experience in service development in different clinical governance activities, e.g. clinical audit.
• oExperience in providing consistent supervision and support to staff members who may have different ways of working and/or who may require capability management.
• oBand 7 working experience within a related field.
• oBand 6 working experience within paediatric OT.
• oKnowledge and experience in the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process.

Skills, Abilities & Attributes

• oAbility to be a good team member, assume leadership responsibilities and facilitate team working within the team and across disciplines or agencies.
• oDemonstrate flexibility and adaptability when leading team and supervising others.
• oExcellent interpersonal and communication skills including observation, listening and empathy skills using various modes e.g. face-to-face, emails, phone calls, record keeping, documentation, report writing etc.
• oExcellent presentation skills, both written and verbal.
• oDemonstrate advanced negotiation, conflict resolution and problem solving skills with confidence.
• oDemonstrate good personal organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise effectively, manage time efficiently and work under pressure.
• oDemonstrate independent analytical and reflection skills to evaluate own practice.
• oDemonstrate resilience to manage stress and well-being of own self and others.
• oHas competent IT skills e.g. managing data on spreadsheet, presentation of information etc.
• oAbility to attend work in person.
• oAbility to act as spokesperson for the team or service.
• oExperience of deputising or providing cover for team or service lead.
• oAbility to speak up or act appropriately when encountering incivility in the work place.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

£51,883 to £58,544 a yearper annum incl. Outer HCAS