Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist - Acute Stroke

Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn; King's Lynn; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 53,000; Part time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking healthcare organization as a Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist in the Acute Stroke unit. This role offers the opportunity to work within a dynamic multidisciplinary team, providing advanced assessments and treatments to patients with complex needs. You will lead the Occupational Therapy team, ensuring high-quality rehabilitation services while also contributing to the development of processes for patient care. With a commitment to kindness and compassion, this position is perfect for those looking to make a significant impact in a supportive environment. Embrace the chance to grow professionally while enjoying the benefits of rural life and a collaborative team atmosphere.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Free counselling service

Access to Wagestream

Support for staff affected by menopause

Qualifications

• B.Sc. in Occupational Therapy or equivalent required.
• Health and Care Professions Council registration is mandatory.

Responsibilities

• Lead Occupational Therapist for the Acute Stroke unit.
• Advanced assessment and treatment of acute stroke patients.
• Supervise and train junior staff in occupational therapy.

Skills

OT assessments and interventions

Clinical reasoning

Management of neurological caseload

Knowledge of National Stroke Guidelines

Ability to manage distressing situations

Education

B.Sc. or Diploma in Occupational Therapy

M.Sc. in Occupational Therapy

Health and Care Professions Council registration

Job description

Looking for friendly, professional and supportive colleagues? So are we.

We're one of the most improved NHS organisations in the country, and kindness and compassion are at the heart of everything we do.

If you're after rewarding work and rural life, why not join us?

Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist - Acute Stroke

Band 7

Main area: Acute Stroke

Grade: Band 7

Contract: Permanent

Weekend working as part of an agreed rota

Hours: Part time - 22.5 hours per week (7 day working)

Job ref: 426-557-24TAM-A

Site: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Town: King's Lynn

Salary: £46,148 - £52,809 per annum pro rata

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 26/01/2025 23:59

Job overview

Our Rehabilitation Service has an exciting opportunity for a Band 7 Occupational Therapist to join our proactive and forward-thinking Acute Stroke Therapy team.

As the successful post holder, you will work in an integrated team of PT's, OT's and unregistered staff on West Raynham Stroke Unit, which includes the whole inpatient stroke pathway of hyper-acute, acute and rehabilitation areas. You will also work closely alongside the multidisciplinary team including Speech & Language Therapists, Dieticians, Clinical Psychologists, medical and nursing teams. It is highly expected that this will be a predominantly clinical role – working with patients and alongside junior colleagues. You will be expected to provide and support junior staff in providing highly specialist occupational therapy assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients.

We are very fortunate to have a large therapy gym with various pieces of equipment, and areas we can adapt within this space moving forward. Our ongoing aim is to give our stroke patients the best possible assessment and treatment and to optimise their rehabilitation before being discharged to an appropriate environment depending on their needs.

You will also develop and undertake robust systems and processes to ensure the delivery of a high-quality rehabilitation across the registered and non-registered workforce within the ward environment; and take the lead in the development of processes to enable safe and timely flow of patients.

Main duties of the job

1. To be the lead Occupational Therapist with specific responsibility for the development and provision of the Occupational Therapy team within the acute stroke unit, including the training, supervision and appraisal of team members.
2. To lead in the advanced assessment and treatment of acute stroke patients, who will often have highly complex and/or chronic presentations, and often with barriers to communication.
3. To use advanced clinical reasoning skills to determine clinical diagnosis, treatment, onward referrals and to maintain records as an autonomous practitioner.
4. To plan, co-ordinate, deliver and evaluate Occupational Therapy input within the Acute Stroke Therapy team service, whilst working closely with the Team Lead, and delegating appropriately to the team as required.
5. You will be expected to contribute to a weekend working rota.

We would welcome any prospective applicant to come for a visit to see our working environment and meet the team prior to their application, if they would like to do so.

Working for our organisation

There’s never been a more exciting time to join TeamQEH. We’re working on a once in a generation opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art hospital to open in 2030 and we are also carrying out one of the biggest pieces of digital transformation work we’ve ever undertaken.

At The QEH we provide a comprehensive range of specialist, acute, obstetrics and community-based services to around 331,000 people across west and north Norfolk, North Cambs and South Lincs.

We are an ambitious organisation that upholds our values of kindness, wellness and fairness. We strive for continuous quality improvement, recently demonstrated in our 2024 CQC maternity inspection rating our services as ‘Good’, and we are proud to be a place to learn and grow through recognised learning and apprenticeships.

We recognize and reward our 4,000 staff and volunteers, priding ourselves on a community atmosphere and positive team spirit. We have approx. 530 beds across 33 wards and have newly built education and training facilities, a range of modern award-winning centres alongside a talented team of people ready to give you a warm welcome.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for further information about this job role.

Person specification

Qualifications/training and professional development

• B.Sc. or Diploma in Occupational Therapy (3 years) or M.Sc. in Occupational Therapy (2 years) (Fast-track qualification with previous degree)
• Health and Care Professions Council registration
• Car driving licence
• Evidence of post-qualification training relevant to specialist area
• Member of COT Specialist interest group - Neurology
• Member of BAOT/COT
• Foundation management course

Experience

• Extensive clinical experience as a Band 6 Occupational Therapist
• Specialised in the appropriate specialty for a minimum of one year
• Worked as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Covered a variety of specialties as a Band 5 Occupational Therapist
• Experience in Acute and Community NHS settings
• Experience in audit and service development

Skills, abilities and knowledge

• Specialist knowledge and application of OT assessments and interventions in a stroke setting, including standardised assessments and relevant outcome measures
• Management of a varied acute neurological caseload and patients with complex comorbidities and frailty
• Ability to cope with a pressurised working environment and positively manage distressing situations
• Detailed knowledge of legislation, policies and guidelines affecting current practice in OT, within the field of stroke rehabilitation
• Awareness and knowledge of National Stroke Guidelines and SSNAP
• Formal training in splinting for altered tone and experience in fabricating splints
• Formal training in postural management in the neurological patient

Applications are welcome from anyone who meets the criteria specified in the person specification regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, belief, sexual orientation or other personal circumstances. Only those applicants who demonstrate in the application form how they meet the criteria in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

Please be aware that if applying via NHS Jobs, your application will be imported into Trac. All subsequent information will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs & we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent via NHS Jobs. By applying for this post you are agreeing to the transfer of information in the application form to Trac jobs & if you are offered a job your personal information will be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records (ESR) system. Please check your email account regularly for communication regarding this vacancy.

We offer our staff a wide range of benefits and support including:

• Flexible working opportunities
• Free counselling service
• Access to Wagestream - an app-based service that provides instant earned wage access*
• Support and advice for staff affected by either Peri-Menopause or Menopause

Opportunity to join our Staff Networks which include: Armed Forces, REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Culture Heritage), Disability and LGBTQ+ networks.

We are committed to being a menopause friendly employer.

Please note due to high volume of applications for some posts, this post may close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.