Occupational TherapistNHS

Job summary

Would you like to play a key role in maximising the independence, safety and wellbeing of people in North Yorkshire with social care needs?

If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you.

We are looking for a highly motivated Occupational Therapist to join our Intermediate Care OT Team based in Scarborough. The Occupational Therapist will be responsible for assessing adults, older people and people with physical, sensory and mental health conditions. We are looking for people like you to help us to deliver an effective holistic service. We are a key part of our Health and Adult service, which is an exciting and friendly place of work, committed to delivering services to its local community and providing opportunities for our local residents.

Main duties of the job

As an Occupational Therapist you will support the needs of people establishing person centred goals, assessing eligible needs, conducting timely reviews and progressing people within the service where required. You will work to increase the persons independence and quality of life, maximising function to empower and enable them to remain in the community for as long as possible. You will work closely in partnership with a variety of teams and agencies, including health colleagues, stronger communities and prevention teams, voluntary and independent sector, mental health, housing and public health colleagues. Our ethos is to promote health and wellbeing, preventing, reducing and delaying need, in line with the Care Act.

A key part of your role will involve undertaking a range of strength based assessments and interventions to ensure that adults with care and support needs and their carers achieve their desired outcomes and wellbeing to live independent lives. You will determine eligibility for adults with care and support needs against the national eligibility criteria and ensure that they are safe from harm but where harm or abuse is identified ensure the safety of the person and undertake the relevant safeguarding enquiries.

As an Occupational Therapist the candidate must have a degree or diploma in Occupational Therapy and be registered with HCPC.

Job description

Job Context

Occupational Therapists prioritise prevention and early intervention, supporting people to manage their health and reduce the frequency and need for crisis interventions and care services. The Occupational Therapy service delivers person centred, goal focussed assessment and support planning to enable people to live their best lives.

Occupational Therapists in North Yorkshire Council could work within the Prevention and Access team, community based locality teams or within the Intermediate Care Hubs. You may work with people in a variety of settings including peoples homes, VCSO settings, health and care home settings etc.

The Prevention and Access team is made up of Social Care staff who are the first point of contact for Adult Social Care. The aim of this service is to provide a better opportunity to ensure people get the right help at the right time, including diverting many people to other more appropriate solutions for their care needs, thus reducing demand for formal social care services through effective screening and triage to universal services and existing community resources. Occupational Therapy is delivered by a county wide service, with locality based teams who will respond to requests for Occupational Therapy assessments, supported and managed by an OT qualified manager.

Occupational Therapists will also work alongside MDT colleagues within Intermediate Care hubs to facilitate hospital discharges and supporting admission avoidance.

The specific requirements regarding operational working hours will be determined by service and operational team requirements.

Ability to travel across a large geographical area within North Yorkshire is essential.

Job Specifics

• To provide a professional OT assessment within the Customer Contact Centre and or the Locality Occupational Therapy Team or Intermediate Care Hub.
• To maintain professional skills and knowledge, it is expected that Occupational Therapists may rotate across all 3 services areas.
• To support people contacting the CSC for equipment advice to complete online self assessment tools
• To provide effective information, advice and guidance on equipment within the Prevention and Access Team.
• To provide a timely resolution to equipment enquiries within the Prevention and Access team in the CSC.
• To work creatively with people and their carers, family and friends throughout the Occupational Therapy process.
• To work collaboratively with partners in Intermediate Care Hubs, Community Social Care, Health, VCSO, housing and care providers (and any services required to support the person) to ensure that adults and or their carers outcomes are achieved.
• Use core Occupational Therapy skills to support people and or their carers to achieve their identified goals, through person centred and occupation focussed therapeutic interventions.
• Co-create therapy plans within a multi-disciplinary team, to meet the principles of the Care Act 2014. Using a person centred and strength based approach, the aim is to prevent, reduce and delay needs and to improve the persons wellbeing and quality of life.

*Note: Occupational Therapists will be expected to undertake Best Interest Assessor training as part of their career progression and statutory duty of working for a Local Authority.

Job Purpose

The core focus of the Occupational Therapist role is to support people to live their best lives.

Operational Management

• Undertake Occupational Therapy assessments with people and or their carers.
• Assess for and arrange equipment, assistive technology, where appropriate Direct Payments and minor, major adaptations to maintain and improve the persons independence.
• Undertake moving and handling assessments, risk assessments and create moving and handling plans when appropriate to support the person, formal and informal carers.
• Work as part of a team around the person to facilitate timely assessment, access to equipment and major adaptation solutions, including making recommendations for Disabled Facilities Grants.
• Determine eligibility under the Care Act where required.
• Co-produce and review support intervention plans to meet identified outcomes.
• Promote positive health and wellbeing, providing advice on healthy lifestyles and supporting people to access health improvement initiatives.
• Offer advice and guidance to people, carers and appropriate colleagues, care workers in the correct use of equipment and or techniques to facilitate achieving outcomes.
• Undertake or contribute to re-assessments, review of services as required.
• Represent the Directorate in court proceedings and with other agencies as required.
• Undertake a practice education role with students.
• Contribute to practice and service development.

Communications

• Maintain clear, concise and timely records in line with the Directorate's policies on file maintenance and HCPC, RCOT requirements.
• Maintain clear communication with people and carers in line with the Directorate's policies and HCPC, RCOT requirements.
• Effectively negotiate and manage conversations in difficult situations.
• Communicate appropriately and professionally at all times.

Resource Management

• Provide day-to-day advice and support and act as Professional Practice Educator to students.
• Contribute to team, directorate and organisational performance targets.
• Support people and or their carers to meet their assessed needs within the indicative budget.
• Consider best value equipment and adaptations to meet a persons needs.

Systems and Information

• Ensure that you utilise the current business processes to support the Adult Social Care function in relation to case recording, financial monitoring, ICT. Assisting in the collection of data and making appropriate use of IT systems.
• Assist in the timely and accurate collection of performance data using appropriate IT systems and processes.
• Contribute to the on-going improvement and development of Adult Social Care processes and systems.
• Assist in the collection of performance data using the appropriate IT systems.

About us

In return we can offer you we offer you a range of benefits including; flexible working, generous leave entitlement, a local government pension scheme, salary sacrifice and employee discount benefits as well as plentiful training and development opportunities.

Our diversity also allows us to offer some flexibility in terms of office location, centred on the needs of our customers and the achievement of visible leadership. So, dont delay join our fantastic OT team today!