Stroke Specialist Occupational Therapist

The Integrated Stroke Therapy Team is a SSNAP rated service which provides specialist stroke services to adults within the acute & rehabilitation setting at both Royal Blackburn Hospital and Pendle Community Hospital. While the East Lancashire Community Stroke Service provides rehabilitation to patients within a range of settings including outpatient departments, patients' homes, and care home settings. The integrated therapy team consists of a whole MDT team including Occupational Therapists, Speech & Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Clinical Psychology, AHP Professor in Neurorehabilitation and Stroke along with Therapy Assistant Practitioners. As a service we are actively involved in research developments and keen to encourage staff to participate in service improvement projects. We also have a robust training and supervision structure in place to support staff to clinically develop in this specialist field. Both internal and external training opportunities are available to staff as part of your continued development.Working for our organisation The Integrated Stroke Therapy Team is a SSNAP rated service providing specialist stroke care for adults in both acute and rehabilitation settings at Royal Blackburn Hospital and Pendle Community Hospital. The East Lancashire Community Stroke Service complements this by offering rehabilitation across outpatient departments, patients' homes, and care homes. The team is fully multidisciplinary, comprising Occupational Therapists, Speech & Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Clinical Psychologists, an AHP Professor in Neurorehabilitation and Stroke, and Therapy Assistant Practitioners. We are actively engaged in research and encourage staff to participate in service improvement projects. A robust training and supervision framework supports clinical development within this specialist field, with a range of internal and external training opportunities available to foster continued professional growth.Detailed job description and main responsibilities Undertake a comprehensive Occupational Therapy assessment working towards a specialist level with patients, allocated to your caseload. This may involve the selection and application of standardised and non-standardised assessments addressing occupational performance. Interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical factors including physical, environmental, psychosocial, mental, spiritual, political and cultural aspects of the patient's life, in order to identify occupational performance deficits, and provide specialist advice and intervention for the facilitation of optimum level of occupational functioning. Formulate goals in partnership with the patient, clearly communicating your clinical reasoning, in order to justify your recommendations, and utilising most appropriate treatment/intervention for the patients' needs. Implement a variety of evidence based Occupational Therapy interventions to a specialist level according to the needs of the individual patient. Evaluate and modify the treatment programme as appropriate. Independently manage a varied and complex caseload on a day to day basis, organising your time effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities; ensuring good use of skills within the team by delegating and allocating work to junior staff as appropriate. Advise, support, and educate patients, carers and other professionals in the self management of patient's condition. Initiate and organise case reviews involving multi disciplinary and multi agency staff. The post holder may be required to take the key worker role. Develop, maintain and demonstrate specialist clinical skills related to clinical area, which are underpinned by theory, research and practical experience. Assess for and provide standard and specialist assistance technology for patients in accordance with local criteria and pathways for provision. Advise, instruct, and educate patients, carers and other professionals in the use of standard and specialist assistive technology, and environmental adaptation where appropriate. Undertake risk assessments, and manage and document risk. Work as an autonomous practitioner in a variety of settings (clinic, patient's own home, school, care home, hospital, etc.) where there is a requirement to make decisions spontaneously. Understand and demonstrate a working knowledge of national guidelines and legislation relating to Health and Social Care relevant to Occupational Therapy. Record patient contact statistics. Delegate, monitor, organise, and supervise the work of junior staff as appropriate.

The job focus will be to work as part of the occupational therapy team and wider MDT providing responsive and high-quality stroke rehabilitation across the pathway. You will be a HCPC registered therapist with sound knowledge and previous experience of specialist neurological assessment and treatment procedures for this client group/ or have a special interest in working in stroke rehab. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are required together with good organisational and time management skills. Access to transport is essential as you will be required to travel between ELHT clinical sites as part of the role.,

• Profession specific Degree/ Diploma
• Registration with Health and Care Professions Council
• Evidence of CPD maintained in a portfolio including attendance at recent postgraduate courses relevant to the clinical field
• Member of relevant professional body, Individual and group treatment skills
• Post grad clinical experience in a range of clinical settings
• Experience of undergraduate student and/or support staff supervision
• Ability to manage risk in relationship to patient care
• Ability to work effectively alone as well as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Use of a range of treatment methods relevant to stroke or neuro, You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
  
  At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area. We employ over 9,500 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work., The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. In addition, our aim is to help protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first-class service to the recruitment of people into positions of trust.
We aim to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability or social background. We especially welcome applications from members of our black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, as we have identified that ELHT has an under-representation of BAME employees. Appointments will be made on merit.

It is important you are made aware of the following as regards your application to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
• Please note that the salary advertised is for full time hours. If this post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro-rata. For posts on Agenda for Change pay-scales, new entrants to the NHS will normally commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
• This vacancy may close before the closing date if the recruiting manager deems sufficient applications have been received. Therefore it is advised to complete your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
• Please note that shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post. Therefore only applicants, who can clearly demonstrate how they meet our person specification criteria in their application, will be short-listed.
Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) If the role you are applying for is identified as either controlled or regulated activity as defined in in the Safeguarding vulnerable Groups Act (2006) any offer of employment is provisional upon a satisfactory DBS check being obtained. The healthcare sector is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. In line with other NHS organisations in the North West Region, the Trust is now passing the charge for undertaking a DBS check on to candidates in the event they are successfully appointed into the post for which they have applied. Candidates can choose whether to pay this over 1-3 months as a deduction from the monthly salary. However, if you are applying for a post as a BANK worker, the payment must be made in full at the time of employment checks. By applying for this vacancy you are agreeing to this undertaking in the event you are successfully appointed. The cost of an Enhanced Disclosure will be £55.38 and for a Standard Disclosure will be £27.38.