Occupational Therapist / Community Practitioner

Maudsley Learning; London; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in mental health services is seeking a passionate Occupational Therapist to join their Community Perinatal Teams. This role involves providing high-quality care to women experiencing mental health challenges during the perinatal period. You will coordinate care, lead planning meetings, and work alongside a dedicated team to ensure comprehensive support for families. With a commitment to diversity and inclusion, this organization values the unique contributions of all staff. If you are eager to make a meaningful impact in the community and support women's mental health, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of clinical experience in Mental Health settings.
• Experience in community mental health services and perinatal care.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload in the perinatal community team.
• Coordinate care and communicate with other professionals.
• Lead pre-birth planning meetings for comprehensive care.

Skills

Community Care coordination

Clinical assessment

Risk assessment and management

Supervision skills

Interpersonal skills

Education

Current registration (NMC / OT / SW)

Job description

Occupational Therapist / Community Practitioner

NHS AfC: Band 6

Main area: Community Perinatal Care Coordinator

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 6

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday 09:00 - 17:00)

Job ref: 334-CLI-6804624

Site: Larkbarrow House

Town: Beckenham

Salary: £42,939 - £50,697 per annum Incl. of HCAs

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 02/01/2025 23:59

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to providing high-quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for the care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

About the role:

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic, energetic and clinically confident Community Practitioner to join our Community Perinatal Teams across the Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark teams due to further expansion of the Perinatal Community services.

You will have experience of general adult inpatient, Mother and Baby inpatient unit, community mental health services or Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). You will also have experience of working with women who suffer from moderate to severe mental illness in the perinatal period.

Main duties of the job

You will be familiar with Perinatal community standards, governance and performance structures and confident in partnership work with other agencies such as Children and Family Social Services, Midwifery and Obstetric teams, CMHTs, Health Visitors and the Voluntary sector.

You will display excellent clinical knowledge and skilled practice in women with mental health disorders in the perinatal period. You will provide consistently skilled judgments in clinical work. You need to have experience of working in a richly diverse inner-city Borough and have an understanding of the opportunities and challenges that this brings.

Working for our organisation

About the team:

The Croydon Perinatal Service provides a Monday to Friday, 9-5 service to service users residing within the Borough of Croydon offering assessment, intervention and treatment to women who suffer from moderate to severe mental health disorders in the perinatal period.

Working closely with your colleagues in PMHT’s, you will receive support and be part of the ongoing Perinatal workforce training within SLaM and London wide. This is a great opportunity to supervise junior staff as well as implementing new ways of working using best practice and NICE guidelines.

About the location

You will be based at Larkbarrow House, Bethlem Royal Hospital.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To be personally responsible and professionally accountable for a caseload as part of the perinatal community team and support/supervise the work of others as required.
2. Coordinating care, communicating with other professionals involved in the care and ensuring regular CPA reviews are held as required.
3. Independently carrying out assessment, care planning and care coordination with excellent interpersonal skills, ability to listen to others’ views, respect and value individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds.
4. Leading pre-birth planning meetings when necessary, with community team members, midwives, health visitors and social care to coordinate, in order to provide coordinated, comprehensive and supportive care plans for women and their families in the antenatal and postnatal period.
5. Recognising and addressing concerns about the physical health needs of service users with long-term conditions (e.g. diabetes, asthma etc.); escalating these concerns as necessary to senior members of the multi-disciplinary team.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Current registration (NMC / OT / SW)

Experience/Knowledge

• Community Care coordination experience
• Understanding and ability to use supervision to reflect on skills, attitude and knowledge and develop these by using evidence-based practice.
• Significant relevant clinical experience – 2 years minimum working in Mental Health settings.
• An interest in working in the Community Perinatal Mental Health Team
• Experience as a preceptor / mentor / supervisor
• Awareness/knowledge of the issues surrounding social inclusion for women with mental health issues during the perinatal period
• Knowledge of how mental health problems impact on their babies/child development
• Experience of working with children and/or families

Skills/Abilities

• Able to provide quality care that is responsive to service user’s needs, without close supervision
• Skills in clinical assessment/baseline mental health assessment
• Skills in risk assessment and risk management and crisis management
• Self-aware, self-confident and intrinsically motivated to do a good job and to motivate others
• Skilled in supervision of others, and in providing critical and constructive feedback.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights.

Please note:

• All applications for this post will need to be made online.
• Read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria.
• The closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible.
• Once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.
• If you have not heard from us within three weeks from the closing date, your application has not been successful.
• Priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees.
• If you are successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process.
• We are a smoke-free Trust.

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion.

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.