Highly Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist

A Vacancy at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. Ready for a new challenge? Want the opportunity to make your mark? Want to work somewhere your clinical expertise is valued, your ideas are welcomed and your development is genuinely supported? Then we'd love to meet you! We are looking for aBand 7 Paediatric Occupational Therapistto join our Children's Integrated Therapies Service (CITS) in Hillingdon. This is an exciting time to join us. As our service develops, you'll have an opportunity to bring your ideas, challenge existing ways of working and help shape what comes next. You'll influence clinical practice, support colleagues and contribute to our OT service. You'll work with children and young people aged 0-19 with a range of needs, helping them overcome barriers to participation and achieve the things that matter to them. You'll work closely with families, schools, SEND colleagues and our wider MDT. We're looking for someone who is passionate about paediatric OT, confident in their clinical decision-making, collaborative, open to new ideas and committed to developing themselves and others. We offer a robust CPD programme, internal and external training. This post attracts a Recruitment and Retention premium of up to 10% of basic salary. Whether you're an experienced Band 7 or an ambitious Band 6 ready to take the next step, this is an opportunity to Bring your expertise. Bring your ideas. Help us shape what comes next. As a Band 7 Paediatric OT, you will use your specialist clinical knowledge & experience to deliver high-quality, evidence-based assessment & intervention to children & young people across a range of settings & needs. You will work autonomously across schools, children's centres, nurseries, homes & clinics, often as a lone worker. Confidence in autonomous practice, safe lone working & managing a varied caseload is therefore essential. You will use your clinical reasoning to develop & deliver clear, goal-focused care plans, with concise & comprehensive documentation demonstrating your assessment, clinical reasoning & decision-making. You will have a strong interest in working with children & young people & a sound understanding of statutory assessment for Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCPs), SEND guidance & how these apply to OT practice. Working collaboratively is central to this role. You will work alongside children, young people & their families, education & social care colleagues, & a broad multidisciplinary team to provide a joined-up approach around the child and family. Safeguarding will remain central to all aspects of your practice. As a Band 7, you will lead, support & develop others, providing supervision, training & guidance to junior staff & contributing to the quality of care delivered. You will also contribute proactively to service development, identifying opportunities to improve practice & support the continued development of the OT service. We are a dynamic OT service, passionate about supporting children, young people & families across Hillingdon, while also supporting our staff to develop and thrive. We strongly encourage staff input & influence to help shape our OT service & the wider multidisciplinary team. We value personal development & offer an established internal training programme alongside regular opportunities for external training. CNWL OT has a long-established professional structure, including an AHP Director, Trust-wide Professional Head of OT, borough & specialist Head OTs. This provides strong representation of our profession at all levels, both strategically & operationally. Personal & professional development is a high priority for the profession & is underpinned by our OT R&D strategy, R&D specialist groups & OT clinical networks. This enables us to invest in the development of our staff through excellent internal training, specialised external training & quality supervision. Our commitment to research, audit & evidence-based practice is supported by strong links with local universities. We recognise that Band 7s play an important role in providing clinical leadership within our teams, supporting leadership and management activities alongside their clinical responsibilities. We will support your development both clinically and managerially, with opportunities to supervise staff, contribute to education and training, support management and access both internal and external training As a member of the Children's Integrated Therapies Service, you will:

• Provide specialist, evidence-based occupational therapy assessment and intervention to children and young people aged 0-19 across a range of needs and community settings.
• Manage a complex caseload autonomously, prioritising effectively and maintaining high standards of clinical documentation, risk management and safeguarding.
• Develop and deliver clear, outcome-focused care plans that enable children and young people to participate in the occupations and activities that matter to them.
• Use specialist clinical reasoning and knowledge to support assessment, intervention and decision-making in complex cases.
• Work collaboratively with children, young people, families, schools, education and social care colleagues, and the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Provide supervision, training, guidance and clinical support to less experienced staff and students.
• Contribute to the development of colleagues through shared learning, joint working and clinical support.
• Contribute to the day-to-day leadership of the Occupational Therapy team and deputise for the team leader when required.
• Take an active role in service development, audit, quality improvement and the development of effective pathways and ways of working.
• Contribute to maintaining high standards of clinical governance, record keeping and evidence-based practice.