Go back Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Specialist Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 05 September 2025
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and committed Occupational Therapist with experience in Rheumatology to join our friendly and established Rheumatology Therapy Team, based in St Helens Hospital.
We provide specialist assessment and treatment for patients with a variety of Rheumatological conditions namely Rheumatoid Arthritis, Inflammatory Arthritis, Connective Tissue Disorders and Axial Spondyloarthropathy. Patient centred care is essential and is underpinned by our Trust values to ensure that an effective, safe, inclusive, and compassionate service is provided for patients who have long-term conditions. You will also work indirectly with and have access to the wider Rheumatology team, including consultants and specialist nurses.
Experience in the specialist assessment and management of rheumatic conditions, encompassing both the physical and psychological aspects of long-term conditions, is desirable. A willingness to learn and develop competence in specialist upper limb and hand assessments, including the autonomous fabrication and provision of splints, is essential, as is the ability to provide advice on activity modification to promote independence. In addition to these specialist assessment skills, experience in fatigue management and the ability to identify when onwards referrals are required are also desirable.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change
Main duties of the job
The successful applicant will be part of a team which thrives on developing and maintaining a high-quality Occupational Therapy service. Your knowledge and experience will contribute to clinical audits and service reviews that demonstrate standards expected form the Care Quality Commission, RCOT and HCPC professional standards. The Rheumatology team is dedicated to research and supporting students.
There will be opportunities for you to develop and engage in leadership and managerial activities, supervision, and appraisals of junior staff within the speciality.
As a Trust, we are committed to continuing professional and personal development and will therefore provide support with regular supervision and training. We are keen to promote collaborative practice and to develop staff within a supportive and friendly environment. You will participate in delivering training to other staff to facilitate their development.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
* Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
* Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
* National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Job responsibilities
KEY DUTIES
* To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients/clients in your care
* To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients/clients under your care, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
* To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients/clients including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi pathologies; use specialist clinical reasoning skills and appropriate assessment techniques to provide an accurate diagnosis of their condition
* Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme using assessment, reasoning skills and treatment skills based on a sound knowledge of evidence based practice and treatment options. Formulate an initial diagnosis and prognoses in order to recommend best course of intervention and develop comprehensive discharge plans
* To take delegated responsibility from the Band 7 clinician for managing patients/clients with particular conditions and be responsible for providing specialist assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.
* Evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes as required
* To have the ability to undertake self-directed/lone working in a variety of locations
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
* To maintain Professional Registration
* To work within Trust clinical guidelines, HCPC and Registrant Body guidelines and to have a working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practise against these
* To be responsible for a designated area of work, as delegated by a senior clinician. Plan and organise efficiently and effectively patient/client caseload, and use of time for self and more junior staff
* To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out clinical duties, and to adhere to policy, including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training and supervision of practice
* To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals to promote understanding of the aims of treatment and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care
* To provide specialist clinical advice to colleagues working within other clinical areas
* To provide specialist clinical advice, teaching and training to other members of the MDT regarding the management of patients
* To train, supervise and performance manage more junior staff and students. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation
* To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise potential and to ensure understanding of their condition
* To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients/clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment
* To communicate highly sensitive information effectively with all patient groups/clients/carers where there may be difficulties in accepting or understanding information
* To maintain tact and diplomacy and use highly developed communication skills when working in situations which may become hostile/antagonistic including potential complaints as per Trust Policy
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
* To maintain accurate, comprehensive and up to date documentation, in line with legal and local requirements, and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of reports and letter
* To undertake as directed the collection of appropriate data and statistics for the use of the department
* To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service. This will include participating in a variety of MDT, internal and external agency meetings and forums plus other forms of verbal/written communication as necessary including report writing and referrals to other agencies
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES
* To maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments, and incorporate them as appropriate into your work. To support junior staff to do likewis
* To be an active member of relevant training programmes attending and delivering presentations and training sessions at staff meetings, tutorials, and by attending external courses and being a reflective practitioner
* To participate in the supervision scheme as supervisor and supervisee
LINE MANAGEMENT/SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
* To demonstrate leadership by means of:
* Delivering change within sphere of practice, when and where indicated, to improve service delivery.
* Influencing, motivating, supporting and enabling others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the Therapy Team
* To provide specialist advice and guidance in working with colleagues locally to ensure best practice across all disciplines in the assessment, treatment and long term management of patients/ clients within sphere of practice.
* To deputise for the band 7 in terms of operational issues
* To take responsibility for their own specialist and complex decision making and the decisions of their team which effect service delivery
* To undertake any other duties that might be considered appropriate by senior staff
* To participate in working parties developing policy changes within speciality which will impact on all service users
CLINICAL GOVERNANCE, RESEARCH & AUDIT
* To adhere to the appropriate Registrant Body code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and facilitate compliance of staff with local and national standards of practic
* Implement policy and service development changes as directed
* To demonstrate a sound understanding of clinical governance and risk management and apply to work situation
* To undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of evidence based practice projects, audit and outcome measures under the guidance of senior staff. Make recommendations for change and to implement change
* To comply with the organisational and departmental policies and procedures and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate
* To support research activity within the Service
* To engage actively in practice development, evaluation, audit and research activities relevant to service to promote evidence based practice
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Degree in Occupational Therapist
* HCPC registration
* Clinical Educators Certificate
* Post Grad accredited study e.g. MSc in relevant health studies
Knowledge & Experience
* Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
* Awareness of own strengths and limitations
* Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
* Experience of line managing a team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and co-ordination
* Evidence of effective working within an MDT
* Experience of Service development
* Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
* Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
* Audit and research in a clinical area
Skills
* Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
* Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
* Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
* Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
* Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
Other
* Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
£38,682 to £46,580 a yearPer Annum, Pro Rata
#J-18808-Ljbffr