Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist- ITU, Respiratory & Surgery

Join our vibrant and supportive team of Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists at Ashford and St Peter's NHS Foundation Trust. We're looking for a passionate Band 7 Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist to manage a small, dynamic team and drive service development within Critical Care and the Cardiorespiratory and Surgical wards.

As the Band 7, you will oversee the day-to-day operational management of Occupational Therapy services across Cardiorespiratory, Critical Care and Surgery, providing clinical leadership and supervision to our OT team (2 x Band 6, 2 x Band 5 and 1 x Band 4). You will work autonomously with complex patients, leading advanced assessments and rehabilitation planning within a multidisciplinary team. You will also act as a clinical expert resource, contributing to service development, quality improvement, research and audit activity.

Working within a friendly, collaborative and well-established multidisciplinary team, you will play a key role in further developing and embedding Occupational Therapy within Critical Care, helping to shape rehabilitation pathways and improve outcomes for critically ill patients across their recovery journey.

Main duties of the job

• Provide specialist assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for patients with critical illness and complex post-operative needs, addressing physical, cognitive, psychological and functional recovery.
• Lead the day-to-day operational delivery and development of Occupational therapy services to critical care, respiratory and surgical wards.
• Work autonomously as an expert clinician and collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team to support shared decision-making, optimise patient outcomes and facilitate patient pathways from critical care through to discharge.
• Participate in critical care follow up clinic.
• Provide clinical leadership and supervision to occupational therapists, therapy assistants and students, contributing to workforce development.
• Lead and support education and training programmes, including competency development, student education and MDT learning opportunities.
• Drive service improvement, quality assurance, audit, research and innovation activities, contributing to clinical governance and the achievement of local and national strategic objectives.
• Support the Trust's move towards 7-day working by contributing to OT service provision on extended hours, weekends, and bank holidays.

Benefits

• The full range of NHS benefits & discounts.

Person Specification

• Qualifications: Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy, HCPC registration.
• Experience: Broad range of rotational experience including surgery, cardiorespiratory and neurology, complex physical, cognitive and functional rehabilitation management including patient-centred goal setting.
• Knowledge: Physiological principles underpinning critical illness, respiratory conditions and post-operative recovery, specialist knowledge of critical care rehabilitation principles.
• Skills: Highly developed skills in assessment, clinical reasoning and treatment in complex situations, complex risk assessment, discharge planning, problem-solving and individualised patient-centred rehabilitation.