Occupational Therapist

Posting date:	09 June 2025
Salary:	£46,148.00 to £52,809.00 per year
Additional salary information:	£46148.00 - £52809.00 a year
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	23 June 2025
Location:	Taunton, TA1 4DY
Company:	NHS Jobs
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	C9184-25-0943

Summary

Communication and Key Working Relationships Key Relationships Internal: *Clinical Lead and Service Manager for Therapeutic Education *Therapeutic Education MDT *CAMHS teams *Professional Head of Service *CAMHS Operational Managers External: *Children's Social Care *Homes and Horizons managers and care staff *High needs fostering service *Voluntary and private sector care organisations providing services for children and young people *Youth Criminal Justice services Responsibility for Patient / Client Care, Treatment & Therapy *To maintain an active clinical caseload *To provide advanced clinical skills and leadership in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients, through direct personal contact and via supervision of the practice of others. *To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients in your care. To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management and to support junior staff to do likewise. *To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients with diverse or complex presentations. *Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme based on advanced knowledge of evidence-based practice and treatment / therapeutic options, using expert clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills. *To use advanced theoretical and practical knowledge to refer on to other departments / medical colleagues within or outside the Trust as necessary relying on accurate clinical decision-making. *To accept responsibility for a designated caseload of patients, and to organise this effectively and efficiently regarding clinical priorities and use of time. *To clarify and explain the patient's condition to them to enable the formulation of realistic agreed treatment goals and plans. *To interpret and analyse complex clinical and non-clinical facts, which may be conflicting to provide advice and second opinions to health professionals and patients. *To deal sensitively with patients who have high levels of emotion as part of their complex presentation. *To deal sensitively with the relatives and carers of young people. *Integrate research evidence into practice via the process of expert clinical reasoning and decision making. *To be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient treatments records in line with Trust procedures and professional standards of practice. *To be responsible for ensuring that these standards are kept by the service/team. *To communicate effectively with young people and their parents, guardians or carers, to maximise recovery potential, and to ensure understanding of both conditions and treatment. Communication skills of motivation and encouragement to support young people to undertake their offered intervention. *To ensure that your own actions, and those of the staff that you supervise, support equality diversity and rights of our young people and their families. Policy, Service, Research & Development Responsibility Service Development *To advise the Service Manager and lead developments in the Occupational Therapy service Research and Development *To contribute to the design and management of clinical audit, service evaluation and research when appropriate. *To participate in clinical audit projects. *To encourage a culture of evidence-based practice within the service. *To keep abreast of developments in the practice of Occupational Therapy by study and by attendance at relevant CPD events as agreed with the Service Manager. Responsibility for Finance, Equipment & Other Resources *Where delegated, to investigate and manage incidents and complaints received and, where necessary, work with the Trust complaints manager and risk manager to resolve these. *To work in partnership with the trust risk manager to analyse and take action on reported incidents and near misses. *To be accountable for adherence of staff to clinical policies through audit, training and development. * To participate in clinical audit and research and to ensure the implementation of agreed bench marking. *To lead in development and implementation of evidence-based practice in order to set and monitor standards. *To ensure own professional competence and credibility, being aware of research findings, trends and developments in professional practice by maintaining a presence in clinical areas working with staff, patients, clients and carers in an advisory, teaching or support capacity. *To promote patient/client involvement and that of significant others and participate in the patient's journey and develop systems which promote active patient/client and relative feedback. *To develop and empower the team to resolve clinical and staffing issues providing an environment in which learning and service development can take place. *To develop and implement robust communication strategies to deliver and receive service related information. *To manage own workload on a day to day basis, delegating responsibilities for specific tasks to practitioners and managers as needed. *To write service-related reports and comment on policies/documents as required. Responsibility for Supervision, Leadership & Management Clinical Supervision, Teaching and Training *To provide clinical supervision for colleagues of equal or lower banding. *Where delegated, to provide line management to lower banded colleagues *Responsible for planning and undertaking teaching and training in relevant approaches and models. *To provide consultancy service to other teams and other agencies as appropriate. *To develop knowledge and skills in work with young people referred to the service and their families/carers and contribute to the on-going development of CAMHS Therapeutic Education. Information Resources & Administrative Duties Professional *To fully observe your professional code of conduct and professional practice guidelines. *To participate in clinical supervision and management supervision arrangements provided by the service. *Exercises delegated responsibility for the safe, appropriate and legitimate use of assessment tools and other equipment deployed in post holder's area of duty. *Advise manager on equipment and resources needed to maintain work undertaken and any shortcomings with these. *To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels for qualified occupational therapists. *To participate in service business and professional meetings. *To maintain and further develop high standards of practice through cooperative work with multi-disciplinary colleagues. *Be aware of and adhere to Trust Service policies and procedures. *To carry out such clinical and administrative duties as may be agreed with the Service Manager. Clinical Governance *To support the CAMHS Therapeutic Education service in the development and implementation of effective Clinical Governance. *To support and participate in multi-disciplinary clinical audits in the service. *To promote the use of effective interventions in the service Physical Effort *The work will involve sitting at a VDU for long periods of time. Frequently and regularly interrupted to speak to managers, applicants and staff. *The post-holder will be required to concentrate for long periods of time on a daily basis, e.g. when manipulating the database, writing letters, emailing, proof reading etc. *The post holder will regularly deal with difficult and distressed patients and carers, conveying complex, difficult and unwelcome information relating to both staff and clinical issues. This may include occasional exposure to verbal and physical aggression. *The post holder will be expected to complete physical intervention training. *The post holder will be expected to travel within and outside the Trust boundaries on a regular basis.