Occupational Therapist

North Yorkshire Council; Northallerton; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in North Yorkshire is seeking a dedicated Occupational Therapist to enhance the wellbeing and independence of vulnerable individuals. You will conduct assessments, recommend necessary equipment, and collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to develop personalized support plans. This role involves proactive engagement with clients and their carers, ensuring they receive comprehensive support and interventions. Ideal candidates will hold a degree in Occupational Therapy and possess strong communication and problem-solving skills. This position offers flexible working options and a commitment to staff development.

Benefits

Generous leave entitlement

Retail discounts

Access to professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Qualified Occupational Therapist with HCPC registration is essential.
• Passion for early intervention and prevention is required.
• Knowledge of relevant social care legislation.

Responsibilities

• Conduct comprehensive assessments with clients and their carers.
• Work collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams.
• Develop personalized support plans for clients.

Skills

Strong communication skills

Problem-solving abilities

Ability to travel across North Yorkshire

Manual handling assessment skills

Team collaboration

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

HCPC registration

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Best Interest Assessor Qualification

Job description

Make a real difference to peopleslives. Join our team as an Occupational Therapist and help individuals livetheir best lives.

This role can also be based atHarrogate, Skipton or Selby.

AtNorth Yorkshire Council, ourOccupational Therapy service focuses on prevention and early intervention,empowering people to manage their health and reduce the need for crisis care.We deliverperson centred, goal focused assessments and supportplanningto enable independence and wellbeing.

Main duties of the job

As an Occupational Therapist withNorth Yorkshire Council, you will carry out comprehensiveassessmentswith people and their carers, identifying needs and arranging appropriateequipment, assistive technology, adaptations, and, where suitable, DirectPayments to promote independence.

You will complete moving and handlingand risk assessments, creating safe handling plans, and work collaborativelywithin multi-disciplinary teams to ensure timely access to solutions, includingrecommendations for Disabled Facilities Grants. Your role will involvepromoting health and wellbeing through advice on healthy lifestyles,co-producing and reviewing support plans to achieve outcomes, and representingthe Directorate in court proceedings and with external agencies when required.Additionally, you will act as a Practice Educator for students and contributeto ongoing service development.

About us

What were looking for

• A qualifiedOccupational Therapistwith HCPC registration.
• Passion forearly intervention and prevention.
• Ability to travel across North Yorkshire (essential).
• Enhanced DBS clearance.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Flexible working practices including working from other locations and from home.
• Generous leave entitlement
• Retail, travel and leisure discounts and salary sacrifice discount schemes through our Everybody Benefits offer.
• Commitment to staff development and continuous learning
• Progression and career-enhancement opportunities
• Access to modern technologies to aid flexible working practices.
• In addition to in-house occupational health services, preferential rates on a private health scheme are available through payroll deductions.
• Staff who use a computer as a regular part of their job are entitled to a free eye test.
• Be part of acountywide servicewith supportive OT managers.
• Work in a role that truly impacts lives and promotes independence.
• Access toprofessional development, flexible working options, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Job responsibilities

Job specifics:

• Provide a professional OTassessment within the Customer Resolution Centre and or the Locality OccupationalTherapy Team
• Maintain professionals skills and knowledge itis expected that Occupational Therapists will rotate across all 3 servicesareas
• Provide a speedy resolution toequipment enquiries within the Care and Support Team in the CRC
• Support people contacting the CRCfor equipment advice to complete online self-assessment tools
• Provide effective information,advice and guidance on equipment within the Care and Support Team in the CRC
• Work creatively with adults withcare and support needs and their carers, family and friends when planningreablement interventions
• Work collaboratively with staff inDischarge Hubs, Community Social Care, Reablement and Recovery delivery arm toensure that an adult with care and support needs and or their carers outcomesare achieved
• Work proactively with care andsupport workers to ensure a graded approach to facilitate maximisation of apersons ability is achieved.
• Analyse a persons activity andidentify a graded approach to promote their independence.
• Support care and support workers inoptimising a persons ability and enabling functional achievement,
• Developrehabilitation plans with people which help rebuild lost skills and restore confidence.
• Regularly review the reablementplan
• Where the adult with care and supportneeds and or their carers outcomes cannot be achieved within the service ensurethat care is co-ordinated and transferred to Community Social Care.
• For those who are over 12 monthsqualified and following the appropriate training and experience, undertakesafeguarding adult investigations as Lead Investigator where required by theLine manager or Service Manager.
• For those in the first year ofqualification and or new to a qualified Occupational Therapy post, assist withSafeguarding Adults Investigations as required by the relevant Line manager orCare Service Manager.
• For those who are Deprivation ofLiberty Best Interest Assessor qualified (see note above*) the BIA will beexpected to undertake the statutory assessments and maintain their BIAqualification or be successfully completing the re-approval requirements.

JobPurpose

The core focus of the Occupational Therapist (OT)role is to maximise the independence and safety of vulnerable people in NorthYorkshire who have social care needs.The post holder will do this by undertaking assessments with vulnerable peopleusing the Directorates procedures. The post holder will support people andcarers who have been assessed as being in need through the provision of advice,support equipment and adaptations to develop appropriate support plans to meettheir preferred outcomes within specified resources.

Operational Management

• Undertake occupational therapyassessments with adults with care and support needs and or their carers andwhere requested to undertake assessments of need with carers in any setting.
• Assess for and arrange equipment andadaptations to maintain/improve the persons independence in daily livingactivities.
• Undertake manual handling assessments,risk assessments and the production of a manual handling plan when appropriate.
• Work with Discharge Hubs and CommunitySocial Care teams to facilitate appropriate assessment access to more complexequipment and major adaptation solutions to individuals, including the processingof applications for disabled facilities grants.
• Following assessments, identifywhether or not people and carers fall within the eligibility criteria andcommunicate this to the adult with care and support needs or a carer, and workcreatively and innovatively with them to develop an agreed support orintervention plan to achieve the identified outcomes.
• Produce agreed support interventionplans or reablement intervention plans.
• Undertake financial assessmentsrelating to Top-Up Grants for adaptations.
• Provide support and advice to peopleand carers on how their needs could be partly or wholly met by access touniversal and other non-care services.
• Avoid unnecessary hand-offs when theOT is the only worker involved, by arranging simple services to meet thepersons or carers needs.
• Demonstrate and educate people, carersand appropriate colleagues, care workers in the correct use of equipment and ortechniques to enable the person to achieve optimal independence in activities ofdaily living.
• Provide training, assessment andsign-off of competencies in the provision of an agreed range of simpleequipment and minor adaptations to assessment and reablement staff.
• Provide appropriate day to dayconsultation, advice and support to other staff.
• Undertake or contribute tore-assessments or review of services as required.
• Maintain regular contact with peopleand carers during an active involvement or reablement to monitor and respond tochanges in their situation.
• Represent the Directorate in courtproceedings and with other agencies as required.
• Undertake a practice education rolewith students as required.
• Assist in proactively working towardsthe increased uptake of direct payments and other service developmentinitiatives including (but not limited to) reablement, personalisation,individual budgets, self-assessment and self-directed care.

Resource Management

• Provide day to day advice and support(as required) and act as Professional Practice Educator to students who areplaced in or visiting the team as agreed.
• As appropriate contribute to widerteam and organisational performance targets.
• Support the adult with care andsupport needs and or their carer to meet their assessed needs within theindicative budget and in a way which maximises resources, where this is not thecase you will seek advice from your Line manager at the earliest opportunity.
• Research or select most cost-effectiveequipment to meet a persons needs.

Partnerships

• Participate in training anddevelopment and project activity including multi-disciplinary and multi-agency activity.
• Contribute to the development of thelocal community to enable the empowerment of vulnerable people, includingliaising with local, universal and other services to promote vulnerablepeoples access to them.
• Work with colleagues and otheragencies including health partners, district and borough councils, housingorganisations and private and voluntary sector to ensure maximising ofresources and opportunities for people.
• Liaise with colleagues and otheragencies to ensure the development and provision of coordinated and effectiveservices.

Communications

• Maintain clear, concise and timelyrecords of cases, care packages and actions in line with the Directorate'spolicies on file maintenance, this includes electronic and paper records.
• Communicate to the adults with careand support needs and carers in an appropriate manner.
• Effectively negotiate and manageconversations where there is a disagreement.
• Engage with a range of other agenciesto maximise choice and resources.
• Communicate effectively and in amanner and timescale appropriate for the level of urgency, to your manager,other colleagues and professionals.

Systems and Information

• Ensure that you utilise the currentbusiness processes to support the Adult Social Care function in relation tocase recording, financial monitoring, ICT.Assisting in the collection of data and making appropriate use of ITsystems.
• Assist in the timely and accuratecollection of performance data using appropriate IT systems and processes.
• Contribute to the ongoing improvementand development of Adult Social Care processes and systems.
• Assist in the collectionperformance data using the appropriate IT systems.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree or diploma in Occupational Therapy and
• Professional skills and registration in line with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Best Interest Assessor Qualification (or its successor).
• Practice Educator or a commitment to undertake the Practice Educator post graduate programme

Occupational Skills

• A person-centred approach to working with adults.
• Manual handling assessment and practical skills.
• Demonstration, teaching skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills. Able to use persuasion, influencing and or negotiation techniques to influence others.
• The ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.
• Effective written communication skills, communicates effectively in writing to produce documents in a range of formats and styles to suit a range of audiences. Excellent case recording and report writing skills.
• Resilience skills. Works productively in a pressurised environment and supports others to do so. Ability to act calmly during difficult circumstances and recover quickly from setbacks.
• Effective time management and planning skills, meets deadlines.
• Good IT skills including use of email, intranet, internet, word, excel and inputting data.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Decision making skills, can make decisions within own area of responsibility which may involve considering risks.
• Problem solving skills, uses creativity and innovation to generate solutions to problems.
• Able to undertake Mental Capacity Assessments, including complex decision making for those who are over 12 months qualified
• Able to present evidence for continuing health care assessments.

Experience

• Knowledge of relevant social care legislation and associated guidance, for example the Care Act
• Knowledge and understanding of the impact of physical and sensory impairments and learning disability on independence and activities of daily living for all age groups.
• Understanding and application of the social model of disability.
• Knowledge of the basic framework of community care legislation and regulations.
• Knowledge of basic health and social care policy.
• Knowledge of statutory requirements, including requirements in respect of carers, equality and anti-discrimination legislation, maintaining a safe working environment, data protection and confidentiality.
• Knowledge of childrens safeguarding procedures
• Knowledge of Direct Payments
• Knowledge of Mental Capacity Act
• Post qualification experience of occupational therapy practice in a community setting. (Desirable for newly qualified OTs).
• Experience of undertaking assessments and interventions with people of all ages.
• Experience of inter-agency working
• Experience of working positively in a changing environment.
• Knowledge of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards legislation
• Knowledge of Mental Health Act
• Knowledge of relevant legislation in relation to children and young people.
• Demonstrable experience of contributing to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults.

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.

Full-time,Flexible working,Home or remote working