Occupational Therapist

North West Borough Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Knowsley; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is inviting applications for an Occupational Therapist to develop clinical experience within an acute mental health setting. The post involves working with patients, carers, the MDT, and wider agencies, applying evidence-based OT processes to assess, plan, deliver interventions, and evaluate outcomes.

You will receive supervision from a senior Occupational Therapist and have opportunities for training and professional development, with flexible working options

Qualifications

• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
• Occupational Therapy Diploma / Degree (BSc/MSc).
• Enhanced DBS Disclosure.
• Experience of relevant Occupational Therapy functional assessment.
• Experience of liaison with internal and external services and agencies.
• Knowledge of the Occupational Therapy process including formulation of intervention plans grounded in clinical reasoning.
• Experience of supervision and collaboration with the MDT.

Responsibilities

• Undertake a comprehensive holistic Occupational Therapy assessment and devise treatment plans individualized to patient needs.
• Gain consent through engaging patients during their therapy journey and enable them to experience choice.
• Plan and implement patient-centred interventions, using graded activity to achieve therapeutic goals within ward settings.
• Monitor, evaluate and modify treatment to measure progress and ensure effectiveness.
• Liaise with family members, carers and other professionals when completing assessments and developing care plans.
• Provide supervision and support to team members regarding caseloads and working practices.

Skills

Best practice

Therapeutic outcomes

Group interventions

Individual interventions

Risk assessment

IT literate

Mentorship and supervision

Education

Occupational Therapy Diploma / Degree (BSc/MSc)

Tools

Electronic Patient Records

Job description

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Using AI to support your application

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a helpful tool when preparing your application, supporting you to organise and structure your application and present your experiences clearly. However, we want to hear about your experiences and achievements. Please ensure everything you submit is truthful, accurate, and reflects your own work and experience. Your authentic story is the best way to help us understand who you are and what you can bring to the role. If content appears to be copied or misrepresented, it may impact the outcome of your application. We encourage you to use AI responsibly as a support tool, not a substitute for your own voice.

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for an Occupational Therapist seeking to develop their clinical experience and knowledge within an acute mental health setting. We are looking for a dedicated Occupational Therapist to join our enthusiastic, innovative, and expanding mental health division occupational therapy team.

The post holder will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with patients, carers, the multidisciplinary team, and wider agencies, and will have the opportunity to work closely with colleagues following an evidence-based OT process.

The post holder will be responsible for providing high quality assessment, delivering treatment interventions plans, and evaluating outcomes for individuals with complex needs.

Supervision will be provided by a senior Occupational Therapist onsite during which you will have the opportunity to explore further training and qualifications to develop both personally and professionally.

Main duties of the job

To undertake a comprehensive holistic Occupational Therapy assessment, devise treatment plans individualised to patient needs, reviewing and adapting during patient journey from initial assessment through to discharge.

To gain consent through engaging patients / clients through their therapy journey, enabling them to experience choice and as part of their recovery.

To plan and implement patient centred individual and/or group interventions, using graded activity to achieve therapeutic goals within ward setting.

To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.

To monitor and offer professional advice to all team members with regards to their caseloads and working practices.

To ensure that the service users care plan is developed to meet the assessed need of the individual. To monitor, via performance management, the care plans developed for service users by all sector members to ensure that they are appropriate and of a high standard.

To liaise with family members, carers and other professionals as necessary when completing the assessment and developing a care plan.

Working for our organisation

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To support the delivery of high quality specialist assessment and intervention in the development of effective clinical services within a female acute environment.

To meet the complex needs of people with consideration given to forensic histories, the management and mitigation of risk, and to reducing restrictive practice.

See Job Description and Person Specification for further information.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Occupational Therapy Diploma / Degree (BSc/MSc)
• Enhanced DBS Disclosure

Desirable criteria

• Membership of professional Body

Knowledge/Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of relevant Occupational Therapy functional assessment
• Experience of successful team working
• Knowledge and ability to express an understanding of the Occupational Therapy process including formulation of intervention plans grounded in clinical reasoning
• General knowledge of the principles of clinical governance
• Have an understanding of clinical and environmental risk assessment
• Evidence of CPD/Short courses
• Experience of liaison with internal and external services and agencies

Desirable criteria

• Experience of service development audit and research practice relevant to the clinical area
• Experience of planning and facilitating therapeutic groups for patients / clients
• Familiar with Electronic Patient Records
• A basic understanding of Relevant legislation including The Mental Capacity Act
• Experience of service Development
• Experience of being involved in clinical audit and/or research
• Management and clinical leadership

Skills

Essential criteria

• Up to date knowledge and application of current best practice in relevant area of practice
• Application of therapeutic Outcome measures and Models of practice
• Application of the process of standard setting, audit, evaluation and review
• A sound knowledge of the core Occupational Therapy skills and their application in this field
• Be able to communicate effectively with service users within the specific client group
• Demonstrates a good knowledge of the Health and Care Profession Councils standards of Proficiency and the therapeutic responsibility to identify gaps in their knowledge base
• Demonstrate knowledge of the concepts of mentorship, and supervision
• Evidence of active participation in supervision and the appraisal process
• Experience of group and individual interventions with the specific client group
• Experience working in a collaborative way with the MDT and service users/carers.
• Good time management skills
• Apply and promote therapeutic skills, to include carrying out assessments, setting clear reablement goals and facilitating a wide variety of therapeutic interventions.
• Able to apply Person Centred Approaches
• Apply clinical skills and able to reflect on own and others practice.
• Self-management and motivation skills
• Risk assessment skills.
• IT literate
• Awareness of factors contributing to good health and the importance of promoting these in line with organisational public health policy
• Understanding of partnership working
• Awareness of local agenda in health and social care

Desirable criteria

• Demonstrate leadership skills to be able to initiate, monitor and implement change and fully
• Apply Professional skills to enable MDT working partnerships and liaise with external agencies

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.