Specialist Occupational Therapist

Sussexcommunity; Brighton; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Brighton is seeking a dedicated Occupational Therapist to join their Children's Occupational Therapy service. This full-time permanent role requires expertise in paediatric care, particularly for children with complex physical needs. Ideal candidates will possess strong organisational skills and a commitment to high-quality patient care, while also having the ability to educate and supervise junior staff and students. Flexible working options and in-service training opportunities are offered.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Excellent training and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Substantial relevant post-qualification experience in paediatrics.
• Experience with multidisciplinary teams and children with complex physical needs.

Responsibilities

• Manage caseload of patients with diverse conditions.
• Formulate and deliver specialized treatment programs.

Skills

Anatomy knowledge

Physiology knowledge

Pathology knowledge

Advanced negotiation skills

Problem-solving skills

Conflict management skills

Organisational skills

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

Registered with HCPC

Post Graduate training in a relevant specialist area

Masters Degree or equivalent

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dedicated and passionate clinician to join the Children's Occupational Therapy service within Brighton and Hove Child Development Services.

This role is ideally suited to an Occupational Therapist with a strong background in paediatrics. Applicants must demonstrate clinical expertise gained through previous OT experience, particularly in supporting children with complex physical needs, including those requiring specialist equipment.

The successful candidate will have the ability to work independently in the community, possess excellent organisational and time management skills, and be committed to upholding high standards of clinical governance.

Main duties of the job

The team are very committed to Sussex Community Trust's values of "Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence and Compassionate Care", and aspire to deliver a service of 'compassionate patient centred care, promoting independence and empowering families'.

We offer excellent in-service training, supervision and clinical support from the Countywide Paediatric Professional Lead.

The ability to travel is essential as you will need to visit nurseries, schools and children's homes.

To work as a band 6 registered professional within a Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust service, you will need:

• To manage a caseload of patients with a variety of conditions.
• To formulate and deliver generic and specialised treatment programmes based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options using clinical assessment and reasoning skills.
• To treat all patients with respect and courtesy, maintaining dignity and respecting individual needs and differences, both physical and cultural.
• To be involved in the support and supervision of staff at Band 3 to 5 level.
• To act as a clinical educator for undergraduate students within own professional area.
• To receive and deliver internal training and keep your own Personal Development plans up to date.
• To take on an audit and evaluation role of the service in which you work.
• To assist the team with service development initiatives, including implementation of competency frameworks.

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?o Positive 2023 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trusto Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast

Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Job responsibilities

The main tasks you will spend your time doing are:

• To work effectively as a team member in providing and facilitating a high standard of care, social and rehabilitative support across various settings.
• To plan therapy, social and rehabilitative pathways taking account of the fluctuating needs of the patient and assist in evaluating the outcomes.
• To report and document variances in a patients condition or planned pathway of care.
• To offer advice and support and education on healthcare to both patients and carers.
• To take referrals for all services using the criteria specified in their operational policies.
• To undertake a holistic assessment of all the patients needs and understand the routes for escalating issues that are not directly resolved by own professional practice.
• Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment options using specific clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills.
• To evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes as required.
• Assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• To manage clinical risk within own patient case load and recognise potential risks to others, complying at all times with the requirements of health and safety regulations.
• Work in line with the SCFT lone worker policy where lone working is integral to the role.
• To be responsible for maintaining personal accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records in accordance with SCFT Information Governance and professional bodies.
• To be responsible for maintaining and developing own competency to practice through CPD activities and maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development.
• To clinically supervise, support and teach other staff, including Band 5 therapists, assistants and students.
• To support the operational lead with annual appraisals for staff at Band 3 to 5 level and assist them with their career development.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree in Occupational Therapy
• Registered with HCPC
• Post Graduate training in a relevant specialist area
• Masters Degree or equivalent

Experience

• Substantial relevant post-qualification experience covering a broad range
• Experience of working within the specialist area of children with complex physical needs
• Experience of working with schools and educational settings, including report writing for SEN
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team and high-level understanding of team dynamics.
• Experience of providing training and presenting information to colleagues in a transdisciplinary team.
• Contributions to audit and evaluation within a clinical governance framework.
• Excellent knowledge of specialist equipment for use within paediatrics

Skills

• Excellent working knowledge of informing sciences such as anatomy, physiology and pathology of paediatric conditions applicable to specialism
• Excellent knowledge of assessment and treatment tools and specialist treatment approaches
• Demonstrates working knowledge of relevant legislation such as Manual Handling, Health and Safety
• Competency and ability to assess and treat wide range of complex conditions within paediatrics
• Advanced negotiation and problem-solving skills. Excellent conflict management skills.
• Critical appraisal and reflection skills
• Excellent organisational skills.

Other

• Ability to travel for home visits, school visits, etc

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.

Seaside View Child Development Centre, Brighton General Hospital

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

150-MM1754-PC

Job locations

Seaside View Child Development Centre, Brighton General Hospital