Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner Lowestoft, England
Job description
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.
At any one time, around 23,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk are receiving care and attention from the Trust. We believe in whole life care - seeing people in the context of their whole lives, understanding the importance of good physical health, friends, family, spirituality, culture, home, work, education and a sense of purpose and achievement to experience good mental health.
Nearly 3,200 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 900+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, delivering supplies, ward administration, information technology, human resources and financial services.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience.
We are committed to delivering quality driven mental health services. Every individual makes a valuable contribution. We are proud of our staff who have been commended for the care they provide. Do you value working positively, respectfully and together? If so, we’d love you to join us!
We will consider flexible working arrangements for our roles, please indicate in your application if this is something you require
JOB DESCRIPTION/PERSON SPECIFICATION
Please read the job description/person specification carefully and ensure your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience needed.
YOUR APPLICATION
It is important that you complete a formal application form as CV’s alone will not be accepted.
TWITTER - The Trust now has it's own Twitter account for recruitment. Follow us on @NSFTjobs
PLEASE NOTE: If you use a hotmail, msn or yahoo e-mail account, you will need to check your "junk" mail regularly as these email providers will divert any communication from this Trust/NHS JOBS straight into your " junk" inbox.
Job overview
Are you passionate about Occupational Therapy and how this approach can support service users to lead meaningful lives doing the things they need and want to do?
We are looking for a passionate and proactive Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join our Waveney Community Therapy Service which provides community orientated, OT led therapy service to people aged 18 and over requiring secondary mental health services. The team is made up of Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner and a Senior Peer Support Worker
We deliver a wide range of Occupational Therapy based interventions from community hubs as well as service users homes and the Victoria House site. We focus on the areas of remotivation, roles & routines, social inclusion, functional skills and reablement.
Working in collaboration with the wider Adult Community Mental Health Team and 3rd sector organisations we aim to support our service users to live meaningful and as independent lives as possible.
Main duties of the job
Here at the Waveney Community Therapy Service Team, we are on a journey of improvement, and this is an exciting opportunity to join us in delivering the best possible care for our local community.
Within this role you will work closely with other clinicians to facilitate both 1:1 and group work interventions out in the Lowestoft community. You will need to be enthusiastic, conscientious and do everything you can to provide patient centred care. You will work to ensure that the service is delivered safely and effectively and people using it get the support they need in a timely, recovery focused manner.
You will work with services users at all stages of the Occupational Therapy process, completing a range of assessments as required. Throughout your work you will retain a focus on using a Recovery approach. You will need to work autonomously and manage your own caseload, taking the lead on the treatment plan for some service users. You will receive regular supervision and support from an Occupational Therapist.
We are passionate about enabling our clinicians to develop. You will be supported to identify areas for development and provided training to develop with these in line with service need.
Working for our organisation
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you’ll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We’re an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
* As this role is based within the community and you will be required to attend a range of different settings you will be required to be a car driver. *
Some of the benefits you can expect:
- NHS pension
- a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
- career progression
- starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
- staff physio service
- NHS discounts and many more
Interview dates are yet to be set; you will be contacted via email and invited to book a time. These emails may go to your SPAM, so please keep checking all your emails if applying.
Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Foundation Degree in Health & Social Care/Mental Health or equivalent
Experience
Essential criteria
- Ability to work both independently and under supervision
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working within mental health
Skills
Essential criteria
- Working with groups
- Ability to work unsupervised in community settings
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- An understanding of Occupational Therapy and the importance of meaningful occupations
Other
Essential criteria
- Ability to travel independently
- Ability to undertake and maintain annual Personal Safety training
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Apart from its legal duties in relation to equality and diversity, the Trust recognises and actively promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Two Ticks - Guaranteed Interview Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification).
DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK (formerly CRB)
FOR POSTS WITH DIRECT SERVICE USER CONTACT - Please be advised that due to recent changes in the DBS Service, organisations no longer receive copies of DBS Disclosures – these are sent directly to candidates only. Therefore, it will be your responsibility, if successful, to ensure that this is taken to the appointing officer as soon as you receive it.
Alternatively, if you have subscribed to the update service, we will be able to check your status once we have your authority to do so.
The Trust has now introduced a DBS Update Service which is a contractual requirement. You need to subscribe when you have applied for your DBS clearance and there is a time limit to subscribe of 19 days after receipt of your DBS disclosure. Please ensure that this is completed within the set time scale.
This update service is an annual subscription at a cost of £13 to you. This will enable the Trust to have instant online access to your DBS record, with your consent, and so will remove the need for you to have to apply for this repeat check again.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
