We are looking to recruit a highly motivated individual who enjoys working in a cafe‑based environment.
We are offering a rewarding career experience as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. This role is primarily a Cafe‑Occupational Therapy assistant position within a forensic mental health setting at Langdon Hospital in our existing cafe services working with technical instructors and café / occupational therapy assistant in the day to day running of this highly valuable resource.
The post holder supports both catering operations and patient rehabilitation, combining practical café duties with therapeutic engagement. Your compassionate and collaborative approach will play a key part in people's recovery, assisting qualified to with the assessment and implementation of occupational therapy interventions through through access to the vocational opportunities that the café offers people at Langdon.
Main duties of the job
* Supporting the running of the café with food and hot drink preparation and purchasing, sales, cleaning, stock rotation, and ordering, as appropriate.
* Collaborating with the occupational therapy team to deliver vocation‑based occupational therapy interventions that support a range of skills development, feedback, electronic note recording, use of appropriate assessment tools and collaboration with people in the service.
* Compassionate delivery of care to people in the service and support to manage complex mental health conditions.
* Engagement with the occupational therapy and physical therapies team for supervision, reflective practice, training, and service delivery.
Job responsibilities
The post holder will be required to carry out assigned tasks from the Cafe Technical Instructor mainly including; receiving and preparing small lunch time orders and delivering them across site to staff members. The post holder may also be required to support with making buffets for onsite training events.
To undertake individual or group work with patients e.g. preparing food, while working without direct supervision.
The post holder is required to work closely with patients to support their development as well as encouraging them to be as independent as possible, while being mindful of risks associated with catering tasks.
To undertake some of the organisational tasks that facilitates the smooth running of a busy lunch time café.
To contribute to the development of the Occupational Therapy service at Langdon Hospital, as directed by the Occupational Therapy Leadership.
Duties and Responsibilities
Communication and Working Relationship Skills
* Establish and maintain effective communication between clinical areas, the clinical teams, Clinical Team Leaders, Senior Nurse Managers, Hotel Services, and all other staff.
* Communicate with a range of people from patients to Directors of the Trust.
* Deal with direct enquiries from patients using tact and negotiating skills; barriers to understanding are regular due to nature of the Forensic mental health patients- demonstrate patience sensitivity and tolerance.
* To establish supportive and respectful relationships with people using mental health services.
* To sign‑post to various resources, opportunities and activities within the Trust and in communities to promote choice and informed decision making.
* To support service users to identify and overcome fears within a relationship of empathy and trust.
* To support the team in promoting a recovery orientated environment by identifying recovery‑focused activities and imparting information and education as required.
Analytical and Judgemental Skills
* Assisting in the teaching of catering skills and delivery of food.
* Feedback to supervisor on the wellbeing of patients whilst undertaking catering duties.
Planning and Organisational Skills
* Plan own day to day work activities including lunch orders, ensuring they are delivered on time.
* Liaise with colleagues in relation to the delivery of food and the preparation of food orders.
* To provide organisational and prioritising skills to support the management and delivery of up to 40 lunch time orders per day.
* To attend meetings and any other formal/informal communication events linked to the work of the team, as directed by the team leader.
Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy
* To model personal responsibility, self‑awareness, self‑belief, self‑advocacy and hopefulness.
* To accompany service users in the kitchen and with the delivery of food orders, performing a range of practical tasks, aligned to recovery goals.
* To feedback to supervisor on the wellbeing of patients whilst undertaking catering duties.
* Assist the Occupational Therapy team to provide an effective and efficient service to service users and staff across site.
* Promote safe moving and handling practices according to service users needs and within Trust Manual Handling Policy.
* Ensure all service users are treated with respect, paying attention to their comfort, wellbeing and safety.
* To deal sensitively with patients who are anxious or aggressive.
* Ensure confidentiality at all times in accordance with Trust and Occupational Therapy Service Policy.
Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation
* Implement Local and DPT policies and procedures.
* Comply with universal Infection Control and food preparation precautions and procedures.
Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources
* Assist in maintaining safety and security of the environment.
* Helping to maintain cleanliness and tidiness of the environment (including equipment).
* The post holder will have no direct responsibility for finance, but they will need to adhere to relevant Trust policies on financial issues.
* To use Trust NHS resources in a sustainable way.
Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management
* Demonstrate own activities to new or less qualified employees.
* To participate in and support patients and staff with learning in a catering environment.
Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties
* Maintain up to date electronic records in a timely and accurate manner.
* To regularly access email and other information through the Trusts intranet.
* Maintain confidentiality of information being aware of Trust policies and local protocols and keeping up‑to‑date with changes.
* Work in accordance with lone working policy.
Responsibility for Research and Development
* Carry out audits as part of everyday activity.
Freedom to Act
* Work within Forensic Service Policy and Procedures.
* Work is managed rather than supervised.
* Works within the standard operational procedures of the team. Uses own initiative in delivering patient care whilst receiving supervision from the team.
Any Other Specific Tasks Required
* Ability to alter timetable at short notice as other priorities occur.
* Participate in Breakaway training.
Person Specification
Experience
* Health and Safety risk awareness in the kitchen environment from previous experience of working in catering.
* Ability to assist people in the preparation of food.
* Willingness to support people with a range of needs to meet their goals.
Qualifications
* QCF L3 in Food Safety or equivalent level of knowledge training and experience.
Skills & Abilities
* Skills or experience that would support running a café based activity. Provide an example demonstrating those skills or experience to show how you would involve patients in tasks such as food preparation customer service or stock management.
* Demonstrate your experience of supporting individuals to develop vocational skills or engage in meaningful activity.
* Demonstrate how you have previously supported others by adapting your approach to meet their individual needs.
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.
Occupational and Physical Therapies Lead
£25,760 to £27,476 a year pro rata (18.75 hours per week)
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