Occupational Therapy Assistant | East London NHS Foundation Trust

East London NHS Foundation Trust; Luton; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

East London NHS Foundation Trust in Luton is seeking an Occupational Therapy Assistant to work within our inpatient OT service, providing targeted interventions under the guidance of a qualified Occupational Therapist.

You will join a well-established multidisciplinary team, delivering one-to-one sessions, group activities, and facilitating access to local community resources to support discharge planning and ongoing care.

Skills

OT interventions

One-on-one support

Group work

Job description

Occupational Therapy Assistant | East London NHS Foundation Trust

The Occupational Therapy (OT) inpatient service is a dynamic and forward-thinking team that actively encourages and supports professional and service development. As an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) you will work within this team to provide specialized Occupational Therapy interventions under the guidance of a qualified Occupational Therapist.

You will work within an already well-established multi-disciplinary team to promote and facilitate the OT program, both on the ward and in the community. This will involve providing one-on-one interventions, conducting group work, and helping clients access relevant local community resources to support their discharge.

You will receive regular supervision from an experienced Occupational Therapist, as well as peer support from colleagues within the inpatient service. There will be regular ward meetings and Trust-wide Occupational Therapy meetings, along with opportunities for personal development, supervision, annual appraisals, and additional support from an experienced Band 7 Occupational Therapist, the Head of Occupational Therapy, the ward manager, and the matron.

As an ELFT employee within Luton and Bedfordshire, you may need to be allocated to different locations within the service based on service need.

Support the Occupational Therapy Service in its’ provision of assessment, treatment, maintenance and resettlement of service users within the Mental service for Bedfordshire on the wards, in the OT department and in the community.

Contribute to the planning, provision and evaluation of the OT service.

To develop specialist knowledge and skills in acute mental health, and to train and educate others in their practice.

To assist the OT service in establishing work placements within the Trust and with partner organisations.

To maintain positive key relationships with the following:

• Lead Occupational Therapist
• Occupational Therapy colleagues
• Modern Matron, Clinical Practice Lead and nursing staff on aligned ward
• Multi-Disciplinary Teams working to aligned ward
• Service users and their families/ carers.
• Links with external agencies and other appropriate community services

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

• To ensure clients are provided with treatment and rehabilitation programs based on individual assessment of need.
• To develop and maintain a client-centered treatment approach sensitive to the personal and cultural needs of individual service users.
• To assist with developing opportunities for clients to engage in education and work projects.
• To support and collaborate with service users in care planning within the framework of the Care Planning Approach.
• To display the physical skills required to facilitate a wide range of physical activities with clients, including moving and using equipment as required.
• To display the ability to manage frequent highly distressing clinical interactions with clients who have serious mental health problems.
• To display the ability to assess and manage exposure to potential hazards, including frequent verbal aggression and risk of physical aggression in hospital and community settings (e.g. clients’ homes, community venues, public transport etc.), whilst ensuring the safety of self, clients and members of the public.
• To assist other team members in the assessment and observation of service users.
• To carry out interventions under the guidance of professionally qualified staff members.
• Under the supervision of an Occupational Therapist or other professionally qualified team member, to implement agreed occupational therapy treatment plans by carrying out practical individual and group activities with service users.
• To work and liaise as required with the multi-disciplinary team, including attendance at client-related meetings.
• To maintain records and report observations of clients’ progress and performance verbally and in writing.
• To ensure that all clinical contact carried out incorporates risk assessment and appropriate management of risk.
• To participate in the development of evidence-based delivery of therapeutic interventions, as directed by qualified staff members.
• To ensure that documentation and patient records are recorded and countersigned and adequately stored in line with Trust and COT guidelines.
• To maintain required statistical information.
• To provide accurate and current information on the service to service users and carers as required.
• To carry out administrative tasks as required for the smooth running of the department.
• To co-ordinate the day-to-day running of occupational therapy programmes, to ensure robust delivery of the clinical service.
• To provide regular clinical and professional supervision for other members of the OT team.
• To assist the Service Head OT in the planning, provision and evaluation of the inpatient occupational therapy service and countywide.
• To assist with the review and implementation of local policies and procedures.
• To implement Trust and Service policies and procedures.
• To ensure staff attendance at clinical and administrative meetings.
• To provide student placements, as well as supporting with the planning and monitoring of placements within the service.
• To actively promote interest in and understanding of the profession by others.
• To actively seek out and participate in own supervision.
• To participate in regular clinical and managerial supervision and to engage in self-development through appraisal and individual performance review.
• To participate in in-service and external training, as agreed with Line Manager and Supervisor, and to feedback and reflect on training attended.
• To assist team members in providing training to students placed with the clinical team.
• To participate in the induction of new members of staff under guidance from senior colleagues.
• To observe and adhere to College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
• To be aware of and adhere to Department, Unit and Trust-wide policies and procedures, including Risk Management procedures.
• To attend departmental and administrative meetings as required.
• To identify relevant resources and develop partnerships to enable clients to integrate into the community.
• To actively encourage user involvement in service development.
• To assist with the development of culturally sensitive OT services.
• To prepare and order stock and equipment as appropriate and participate in the processing of deliveries as required.
• To maintain equipment and materials in a condition compliant with Health and Safety requirements.
• To be responsible for accurately completing petty cash vouchers related to purchases made for individual client service provision.