Senior Occupational Therapist

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Occupational Therapist will:

Professional / Clinical

• Be responsible for the maintenance of standards of practice of self and staff within the department.

• Be responsible for managing own caseload and for assessment, planning, implementation and review of interventions for children and young people according to service standards.

• Be responsible for the day-to-day running of the Occupational Therapy department by supervising staff, prioritising and allocating work and promoting positive staff morale and team working in conjunction with the Occupational Therapy Manager.

• Collaborate with young people, staff members, external stakeholders and management in intervention planning and in the provision of support and advice.

• Document all assessments, intervention plans, progress notes, reports and discharge summaries in accordance with local service and professional standards.

• In conjunction with the Occupational Therapy Manager, lead service planning by anticipating the changing needs of the service.

• Ensure the quality of documentation of all assessments, intervention plans, progress notes, reports and discharge summaries are in accordance with local service, professional and legislative standards.

• Communicate verbally and / or in writing the results of assessments, interventions and recommendations to the team and relevant others in accordance with service policy.

• Participate in teams, communicating and working in co-operation with other team members.

• Attend regular review meetings, team meetings, case conferences, as designated by Occupational Therapy Team Lead / Director of Therapeutic Services.

• Ensure that all staff arrange and carry out duties in a timely manner within settings appropriate to children and young people’s needs and in line with local policy / guidelines.

• Be responsible for adhering to existing standards and protocols and for leading out on the development and maintenance of standards / strategies for quality improvement and outcome measurement.

• Seek advice and assistance from Occupational Therapy Manager / Clinical Supervisor with any assigned cases or issues that prove to be beyond the scope of his / her professional competence in line with principles of best practice and clinical governance.

• Ensure the maintenance of professional standards in relation to confidentiality, ethics and legislation.

• Operate within the scope of Occupational Therapy practice as per CORU requirements and in accordance with local guidelines.

Education and Training

• Participate in mandatory training programmes.

• Participate in continuing professional development including in-service training, attending and presenting at conferences / courses relevant to practice, promoting and contributing to research etc. as agreed with the Occupational Therapy Manager.

• Engage in support / supervision with Occupational Therapy Manager and participate in performance review.

• Engage in professional clinical Occupational Therapist supervision

• Manage, participate and play a key role in the practice education of student therapists. Actively participate in teaching / training / supervision of other Occupational Therapy and non-Occupational Therapy staff / students and attend practice educator courses as appropriate.

• Ensure newly qualified therapists have adequate induction and clinical supervision and assist in implementing annual staff development and performance review.

Health & Safety

• Work in a safe manner with due care and attention to the safety of self and others.

• Implement agreed policies, procedures and safe professional practice by adhering to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.

• Actively participate in risk management issues, identify risks and take appropriate action.

• Document appropriately and report any near misses, hazards and accidents and bring them to the attention of the relevant person(s).

Administrative

• Be responsible for the planning and development of the Occupational Therapy Service and participate in service improvements.

• Keep up-to-date statistics and other administrative records as required within the Occupational Therapy department.

• Be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of standards for quality improvement and adhere to existing standards and policies.

• Be responsible for the organisation, maintenance and / or ordering of equipment and materials used in assessment and intervention.

• Carry out audits / outcome measurement of intervention as directed by the Occupational Therapy Manager.

• Represent the department at meetings and conferences as required by the Occupational Therapy Manager.

The above Job Specification is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.