Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Band 6 - Senior Community Occupational Therapist
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Job Overview
Are you passionate about helping others live meaningful lives?
Join CNWL as a Band 6 Senior Community Occupational Therapist at the St John’s Wood Community Mental Health Hub, where we promote a supportive, inclusive and reflective workplace.
As part of a multidisciplinary team, you will deliver recovery-focused, person-centred care to adults with a range of mental health needs. You will manage a caseload, providing occupational therapy assessments, interventions and psychosocial support, while working closely with service users, carers and partner agencies to promote recovery, reduce risk and support independent living.
We are committed to staff wellbeing and professional development, offering flexible working, regular supervision and protected time for reflection and learning. Occupational Therapists have access to role-specific training, including psychosocial interventions, leadership development opportunities and pathways to broaden or specialise their practice in community mental health.
This is an excellent opportunity to work in a forward-thinking service that values clinical autonomy, multidisciplinary collaboration and high-quality care. You will play a key role in supporting people on their recovery journey while developing your own skills and career within a supportive organisation.
The service operates Monday to Friday, from 9:00am to 5:00pm.
Main duties of the job
Job Summary
As a Band 6 Senior Community Occupational Therapist, you will provide specialist occupational therapy assessment, intervention and advice within a multidisciplinary community mental health team. Using evidence-based and recovery-focused practice, you will support individuals to improve their occupational performance, independence, wellbeing and self-management skills.
You will manage a caseload of service users with identified occupational needs, delivering both individual and group interventions, conducting functional assessments and developing person-centred care plans. You will work collaboratively with service users, carers, partner agencies and community organisations to promote recovery and support people to achieve their goals.
The role requires a strong understanding of the impact of mental and physical health conditions on daily functioning, including providing advice on lifestyle adaptations, environmental modifications and equipment where appropriate. You will contribute to the wider function of the team, including duty responsibilities, and play an active role in service development.
In addition, you will support the learning and development of others through supervision of junior staff, appraisal processes and practice educator for occupational therapy students on placement. You will integrate evidence-based practice with recovery principles to deliver high-quality, person-centred care that enhances quality of life and community participation.
Working for our organisation
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust offers its staff ongoing career progression through:
- Monthly supervision
- Annual personal development plans/appraisals
- Access to exciting internal and external training opportunities.
- In House OT to OT Training
Excellent progression through various career pathway opportunities such as but not limited to:
- Preceptorship Programme
- Band 6 Development Programme
- Hidden Gem and Annual Award Ceremonies
Excellent staff benefits, our benefit packages are amongst the best in London and include:
- Health and wellbeing services
- Season ticket loans
- Cycle to work scheme
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Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
Please see attached JD&PS for full details of duties and responsibilities
Clinical
- To manage a caseload of service users with multiple, enduring and complex mental health needs through provision of therapeutic care and treatment in the individual’s own home and other community venues.
- To provide specialist, culturally appropriate, evidence based occupational therapy assessments for service users within the hub in order to establish and meet their occupational needs.
- To provide full vocational needs assessment, advice and on-going intervention related to an individual’s vocational needs.
- To select and use validated standardised assessment tools routinely and in practice, exhibiting clinical reasoning skills; to include the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) assessments.
- To apply specialist clinical knowledge and skills to carry out evidence based occupational therapy interventions, both individual and in groups, which are underpinned by relevant theoretical approaches and in line with the Trust’s Research and Development Strategy.
- To lead and supervise junior staff in this practice as required.
- To plan, implement and review individually tailored program of intervention using individual and group work approaches.
- To develop, implement and review care plans using DIALOG + as a framework to complete collaborative care plans.
- To support service users and colleagues to ensure that care plans are developed in partnership with the individual and their support network and that they reflect ‘recovery goals’. These should be strengths-based and oriented towards reinforcing a positive identity and developing valued social roles.
- To be the allocated named worker for service users who have identified occupational performance needs or when occupational therapy is the main intervention.
- To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions against clear aims, objectives and outcome measures in line with evidence-based practice and in conjunction with service users, carers/support network and other professionals.
- To identify opportunities and needs for group work in the community and to plan, implement, facilitate and evaluate community groups which promote social inclusion for service users.
- To apply a high level of understanding of the effects of mental illness and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the service user’s social and physical environment.
- To determine the impact of mental and physical conditions on service user’s functional ability and undertake assessment/make recommendations with regards to the provision of equipment/aids and adaptations.
- To provide monitoring of medication, for all service users on caseload, in line with the CNWL OT Medication Management Guidelines.
- To follow local protocol and obtain recommended equipment and/or liaise with local providers of equipment to ensure provision as appropriate.
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Person specification
Education And Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
- Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) registered Occupational Therapist.
- Practice Educator training
Desirable criteria
- Post qualification training in relevant mental health therapeutic skills.
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive post qualification experience working in mental health settings as an Occupational Therapist.
- Experience of working with service users presenting with a wide range of complex mental health conditions.
- Experience of delivering healthy lifestyle interventions.
- Experience in assessment and interventions related to physical healthcare needs.
- Experience in using a range of standardised OT assessments.
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team.
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment.
- Experience of drafting group protocols and setting up / facilitating groups / group programme.
- Supervision of OT students / non-qualified staff.
- Experience of partnership working in promoting socially inclusive opportunities for patients.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in adult mental health community team.
- Experience in audit / research projects
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Clear concept of Occupational Therapy and models of practice.
- Good communication skills written, verbal, listening and use of up to date systems of communication i.e. IT systems, e-mail, telephone etc.
- Ability to work autonomously, as well as part of an MDT.
- Individual/group work skills.
- Ability to prioritise workload and use initiative.
- Able to work creatively to engage patients.
- Timely reporting and record keeping.
- To actively supervise both OT students and unqualified staff.
- Regularly identify and undertake appropriate learning opportunities as part of ongoing CPD.
- Recovery focused approach to service delivery.
- Ability to treat service users with respect and dignity at all times, adopting a culturally sensitive approach that considers the needs of the whole person.
- Able to build constructive relationships with warmth and empathy, using good communication skills.
- To determine the impact of mental and physical conditions on service user’s functional ability and undertake assessment/make recommendations with regards to the provision of equipment/aids and adaptations.
- Good understanding of the application of risk assessment and risk management strategies which facilitates a patient’s recovery.
- Good awareness of the principles of safeguarding and how to implement this in practice.
Desirable criteria
- Research and development at graduate level.
- Knowledge of the theory underpinning the Model of Human Occupation.
- To have completed practice placement educators’ course.
Attitudes, aptitudes and personal characteristics
Essential criteria
- High level of personal motivation.
- Ability to work in a team setting i.e. collaborating/facilitating/directing and understanding diversity.
- Good organisational skills and ability to delegate effectively.
- Ability to encourage patient participation and ensure a high delivery of customer service.
- Flexible in approach.
- Demonstrate self-awareness and an ability to use initiative.
- Ability to manage conflict constructively
- Demonstrate a willingness to develop knowledge and skills.
- Ability to take on responsibility.
- To act as a positive role model for junior staff.
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