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Children's Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 30 July 2025
An desirable opportunity is available for Band 6Occupational Therapist to join our dynamic team - working in the sought afterspeciality of Paediatric Occupational Therapy. Our service prides itself onproviding high quality assessment and interventions to children and youngpeople -supporting families and carers to promote independence and improving functional skillsfor children and young people with a wide range of needs. You will deliver anintegrated model of health and social care OT interventions for children, youngpeople and families residing across County Durham and Darlington supported by awell-established team with a wealth of clinical expertise and knowledge.
The service offers excellent clinical support andopportunities for continued professional development, with robust appraisal andsupervision systems in place.
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is one ofthe largest integrated care providers in England, with a population of around600,000 people. We are a high performing organisation with a track record of success.
The post will be based within the Children'sCentre at Chester-le-Street Community Hospital.
Main duties of the job
Within this role, the successful candidate will be expectedto:
- provide high quality Occupational Therapy assessments andintervention programmes to children and young people referred into the service.
- assess for and provide recommendations for major and minorhome adaptations as part of the social care remit of the service
-work in collaboration with children, young people, parentsand carers as well as other professionals and colleagues across a wide varietyof sectors, including health, education and social care.
- work as an autonomous practitioner in managing a variedand often complex caseload with the supervision and support of the locality OTteam
- take an active part in the development and delivery oftraining packages to parents, carers and colleagues, as well as activleyparticipate in their own continued professional development, appraisal andsupervision
- take an active part in service development and qualityimprovement initiatives
- demonstrate a high level of skill in clinicaldocumentation including accurate case records and compilation of professionalreports
- participate in the supervision of studentoccupational therapists and therapy assistants
About us
If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager
You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks
We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.
We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented
Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents
Over reliance onAI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances ofsuccess
For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.
From April 9th 2025 - Healthcare assistants - You must have a minimum of two yearsof experience working within the NHS as a HCA for the Trust to considersponsorship (we will only consider sponsorship if you meet this criteria andhave a current visa expiring within 3 months)
Job responsibilities
Clinical Requirements
To be professionally and legally accountable for allaspects of your own work, including the management of children in your care.
To undertake skilled assessment of children and youngpeople, including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi-pathologies.
To formulate and deliver outcome focused, individualtherapy treatment programmes, based on evidence based practice using clinicalassessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills.
To take delegated responsibility from Team LeadOccupational Therapists for managing children with particular conditions and beresponsible for providing specialist therapy assessment and treatment plans.
To formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best courseof intervention.
To use effective communication skills, verbal andnon-verbal to communicate treatment programmes to children who may havebarriers to understanding or communicatione.g. children with developmental delays, visual impairment, hearingimpairment, impairments of cognition and difficulties with verbal communicationetc.
To evaluate and review the progress of OccupationalTherapy interventions, making changes to treatment programmes as required.
To work as an autonomous practitioner with regularsupervision and support from supervising therapists.
* To prioritise the health and wellbeing of children andyoung people at all times and immediately raise any Safeguarding concernsthrough the correct channels and processes.
To supervise assistant and student therapists in line withProfessional and Service standards.
To represent the Occupational Therapy Service and/orindividual children at the multi-agency team meetings, to ensure the deliveryof a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary service, and integrate therapy into the treatmentprogramme.
To be responsible for the safe and competent use of allequipment, appliances and aids used by children and young people, ensuring thatassistants and students are competent in their use.
To maintain comprehensive contemporaneous clinical andstatistical records in line with professional and service standards.
* To contribute to multi-agency assessments includingEducation, Health and Care Plans, Child Safeguarding reports etc
Professional
To be responsible for maintaining own competency topractice through CPD activities, and maintain a portfolio which reflectspersonal development.
To teach, assess and contribute to the performanceassessment and appraisal of therapy assistant staff.
Participate in the staff appraisal scheme as an appraiseeand be responsible for complying with your agreed personal developmentprogramme to meet set knowledge and competencies.
Undertake measurement and evaluation of your work andcurrent practices through the use of evidence based practice projects, auditand outcome measures, as required, under the direction of senior therapists.
Be an active member of in-service training by attendanceat, and participation in events such as in-Service programmes, tutorials,training sessions, external courses and peer review.
Be actively involved in professional clinical groups, suchas Children Young People and their Families, Occupational Therapy specialinterest group, Peer Review Groups and other professional developmentactivities.
Organisational
Ensure that your own practice meets the requiredprofessional standards of therapy practice.
Deputise for other Occupational Therapy staff in theirabsence, taking responsibility for caseload management, allocating andorganising the work of assistant staff to meet service priorities on dailybasis.
To be responsible for organising and planning your owncaseload to meet service and patient priorities. Readjusting plans at short notice assituations change/arise.
Work safely at all times and report all untoward incidentsvia the quality and safety reporting systems within the Trust.
Any other duties commensurate with role andresponsibilities of the post.
Ensure the corporate identity guidelines forthe Trust are implemented and adhered to at all times.
Person Specification
Special Requirements
* Ability to travel independently across the County to fulfil the requirements of the post.
Statutory Registration
* Qualified Occupational Therapist registered with H.C.P.C.
* Member of relevant Specialist Sections of RCOT / participation in Special Interest Groups in a related field
Special Skills & Knowledge
* Proven ability to communicate effectively about a client's health and social care needs - on a formal and informal basis. Professional expereince of providing written and verbal reports and feedback to a wide range of people
* Demonstrates excellence in presentation skills
* Proven ability to prioritise workload and work within timescales
* Specialist skills in related fields of Occupational Therapy such as postural management, fine and gross motor skills, handwriting skills development, skills related to provision of aids and adaptations
* Skills and knowledge related to Sensory Development and related difficulties in Children and Young People
Experience
* Post registration clinical experience as a Band 5 or Band 6 Occupational Therapist in a health or community based setting
* Working experience and knowledge related to delivery of Social Care OT interventions eg specialist aids and environmental advice/adaptations.
* OT Clinical experience with children and young people with additional and/or complex needs
* Experience of delivering training sessions / presentations to groups of service users / other professionals
Qualifications
* Diploma, BSc or MSc in Occupational Therapy
* Specialist post graduate clinical experience in Occupational Therapy practice, linked to a related field e.g. Neurology, Paediatrics, Learning Disabilities, Social Care
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.
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
£37,338 to £44,962 a yearper annum, pro rata
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