Substance Misuse Outreach Occupational Therapist

Substance Misuse Outreach Occupational Therapist

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a well-established drug and alcohol team operating in the community across the London Borough of Hillingdon.

We are seeking an Occupational Therapist to support a multidisciplinary team to help engage with the homeless population who struggle with substance use within the borough of Hillingdon. The team uses holistic assertive outreach techniques to support service users to access community-based drug and alcohol treatment and to secure long-term accommodation.

Main duties of the job

• To undertake specialised assessment and provide interventions to adults in the community who present with complex and diverse problems developing negotiated goals and addressing impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions.
• To advise, instruct and teach patients, relatives, carers, and other professionals to promote understanding of the aims of therapy interventions and to empower patients and carers to self-manage the condition and optimise potential.
• To manage a delegated caseload and work as an autonomous practitioner in the assessment and treatment of patients within their place of residence and or ward, evaluating clinical practice and managing clinical time effectively by caseload prioritisation to meet service and patient needs and balancing other professional demands.
• To communicate information of a complex and sensitive nature and deal with highly stressful, emotional or hostile situations with empathy and professionalism.
• To organise group activities for service users that would empower them to build on their independence skills by enabling them to access local services.
• To use a trauma-informed approach in helping service users to overcome the stigma attached to mental and substance use by increasing their confidence in accessing meaningful activities, such as work or education.

About us

Come and join us and be one of the friendly and supportive 1500 Therapists / AHP's in CNWL. We work in many different teams in both physical and mental health, as well as a number of specialist areas. You could have a career for life with us and maintain your dual skills.

CNWL is very fortunate in having a long-established professional structure, including a Head of Therapies, an AHP associate director, Trust-wide Professional Leads for all professional groups, and borough and specialist professional leadership. This ensures representation of our profession and therapies as a whole at all levels - both strategically and operationally.

Personal and professional development is a high priority for the profession, enabling us to invest in the development of our staff by providing excellent internal training as well as commissioning specialised external training and providing quality supervision. This ensures all our therapists / AHP's reach their full potential at every stage of their career. Our commitment to research, audit and evidence-based practice is made possible by our strong links with local universities and our CNWL AHP Research Network.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are a priority for us in CNWL, and we expect staff to be culturally competent, reflective, and open to culturally diverse CPD opportunities.

Job responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY:

To provide the multidisciplinary team (MDT) with an occupational therapy service and expertise.

To manage a caseload of service users/patients to assess, plan, implement and evaluate treatment.

To liaise and work collaboratively with carers/families, and statutory and 3rd sector partners when required.

To provide leadership for junior/unqualified staff through supervision and appraisal as required.

To act as fieldwork educator to students on practice placement.

To contribute to service development of local & Trust-wide OT services.

• Clinical

1.1 To provide occupational therapy assessments for service users/patients in order to establish and meet their occupational needs.

1.2 To apply specialist clinical knowledge and skills to carry out evidence-based occupational therapy interventions, both individually and in groups to support rehabilitation and recovery.

1.3 To assess the impact of mental and/or physical conditions on an individual's functional ability with regards to the provision of equipment/aids and adaptations.

1.4 To work in partnership with carers/families when required.

1.5 To be aware of the safeguarding needs of children and adults in their work and refer if required.

1.6 To provide OT consultation to other professionals within the team.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
• Registered with HCPC.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development.

Experience

• Postgraduate occupational therapy experience.
• Experience in group facilitation.
• Experience of ADL assessments and provision of equipment.
• Experience of working in a multicultural environment.
• Experience of MDT working.
• Experience in interfacing with primary care and 3rd sector organisations.
• Previous experience in relevant clinical area.

Skills and Knowledge

• Can demonstrate an application of OT process.
• Is able to undertake caseload management.
• Clear understanding of the assessment process and use of OT assessment tools.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the physical health agenda in mental health (if relevant).
• Demonstrates reflective practice.
• Demonstrates service user/patient centred practice.
• Ability to prioritise workload/use own initiative.
• Ability to treat service users/patients with respect and dignity at all times, adopting a culturally sensitive approach, which considers the needs of the whole person.
• Ability to build constructive working relationships (colleagues, service users/patients, families and carers).
• Demonstrates effective communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Teaching skills.

Specialist Knowledge

• Has knowledge of OT theory related to practice.
• Can demonstrate clear clinical reasoning skills.
• Knowledge of specialist conditions.
• Awareness of local and national issues and relevant legislation.
• Has a clear concept of clinical models of practice and up-to-date knowledge of developments relevant to the service.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
• Experience of supervising/supporting junior staff/students.
• Evidence of additional relevant training.

Research & Development

• Experience of use of standardised assessments and outcome measures.
• Experience of Integration of models of practice.
• Research experience.

Professional Conduct

• Is able to take responsibility.
• Has good team skills.
• Has excellent time management and organisational skills.

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.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

£42,939 to £50,697 a year pro rata inc. Outer HCAS