Senior Occupational Therapist

We have a dedicated and skilful team of people caring in Sheffield, which you could become a part of.

Our values are at the heart of everything we do. These are: working together for our service users, respect and kindness, everyone counts, commitment to quality, improving lives.

Job overview
Sheffield Eating Disorders Service provides support within the community, a Day Service and liaises with inpatient Psychiatric, Medical and Specialist Units, regarding patients requiring in patient care.

We wish to recruit an experienced Occupational Therapist with an interest in this specialist area to join the Team and provide specialist Occupational Therapy input into our Service. The successful applicant will have a significant role in the Day Service and will focus on working with the service users and their carers to assess and improve practical skills e.g. in shopping, meal preparation and cookery alongside their treatment. The successful applicant will also be required to oversee the wider Day Service group programme, leading groups such as anxiety management, assertiveness, problem solving and expressive arts, and oversee the day to day running of this service.

Main duties of the job
To oversee the Eating Disorders Day Service inclusive of carrying out individual assessments and contributing to the overall group programme
Under the supervision of the Clinical Service Manager ensure the provision of Occupational Therapy input to clients who are referred to the Sheffield Eating Disorders Service, on an individual and group basis.
Under the supervision of the Clinical Service Manager and Multidisciplinary Team contribute to the outcome of assessments to determine treatment plans and more specific OT assessments in relation to occupational performance issues.
To manage a defined caseload, using evidence based /client centered principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
To regularly supervise Occupational Therapy students on practice placement
To provide leadership and supervision to junior OT staff and support workers, as delegated by supervisor.


Working for our organisation
Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust is a major employer and provider of services. Our Service Users, Carers and Staff are central, and our Values are important, to the delivery of high-quality care. We actively seek out individuals who share these values:

Working together for service users

Respect and kindness
Everyone counts
Commitment to quality
Improving lives


Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To select and apply Occupational Therapy Assessments for a designated caseload, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits, enabling the client in areas of self-maintenance, productivity and leisure.


- To participate within the MDT regarding initial assessments to determine suitability for treatment in the Sheffield Eating Disorders Service.


- To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of work.


- To undertake the OT assessment of clients using investigative and analytical skills to formulate individual treatment plans


- To accept clinical responsibility under supervision for a designated case load some with complex presentations prioritizing need and taking on the role of key worker where relevant.


- To plan and implement client centered individual and group interventions, using clinical reasoning and a range of treatment interventions to achieve therapeutic goals.


- To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment for clients in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention


- To demonstrate an understanding of the effect of the eating disorder and other disabilities on the client and recommend adaptations to the client’s social and physical environment.


- To assess the occupational needs of a defined client group and establish and evaluate appropriate treatment programmes


- To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and work within a legal framework with clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.


- To demonstrate effective communication skills with service users and carers, MDT staff, OT Colleagues and other agencies.


- To develop skills in communicating complex sensitive and contentious information to clients and carers as appropriate.


- To promote awareness of the role of Occupational Therapy with people with eating disorders within the team, locally and nationally.


- To ensure that up to date written and electronic records and activity data are maintained in accordance with Professional and Trust standards.


- To comply with the COT Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and national and local policies and procedures.


- To respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of clients and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs


- To review and reflect on own practice and performance through effective use of professional and operational supervision and appraisal.


- To undertake the supervision and appraisal of junior staff as delegated by a senior member of staff.


- To demonstrate leadership skills through involvement in designated projects.


- To participate in the planning and implementation of the induction, training and education of students and new team members.


- To be regularly responsible for the supervision and written assessment of OT students on practice placement within the Trust


- To participate in the planning, evaluation and audit of practice, clinical pathways and protocols within the service area


- To actively promote service user involvement and engagement.


- To apply skills and knowledge in order to establish professional competence and fitness to practice as a Senior OT.


- To demonstrate ongoing personal development through participation in internal and external development opportunities, recording learning outcomes in a portfolio.


- To contribute to the Trust and Teams’ clinical governance reporting mechanisms.


- To demonstrate understanding of national guidelines of legislation relating to health and social care in mental health service provision.


- To demonstrate an understanding of clinical governance and risk management and apply to the work situation.


- To exercise good personal time management, punctuality and consistent reliable attendance.


- To coordinate day-to-day activities of support staff where applicable.


- To be actively involved in the collation of appropriate data and statistics as required by the Sheffield Eating Disorders Service.


- To demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate current research findings, apply them to practice and disseminate at a local level.


- To broaden research and development skills through participation in local audit and research projects.


Person specification
Knowledge and skills
Essential criteria

• The ability to assess and prioritize complex health and wellbeing needs.
• Knowledge of therapeutic models relevant to Occupational therapies within mental health.
• Professional qualification in Occupational Therapy.
• The ability to plan and manage a caseload and to link with the clinical skills of other Team members to promote best possible clinical care.
Desirable criteria

Previous work experience (& knowledge) with people with eating disorders.
• Evidence of advanced qualification.
• Evidence of training others in a clinical setting in mental health/general/hospital/primary care
Experience
Essential criteria

• Ability to identify own training and development needs
Experiance
Essential criteria

• Experience of facilitating groups.
We aim to be an organisation that is diverse and inclusive and to meet this aim we welcome applications from people with a wide range of life experience and whose diversity echoes the diversity of Sheffield, that of the people who use our services, and that of the people who may need to use our services but face barriers to access. Please think about your personal values and how these align with our values when you are applying. Find out more about our organisation through our website.

We are a Disability Confident employer level 2 and hope to achieve level 3 this year. We offer a guaranteed interview to disabled applicants who meet all of the essential criteria for a role. When you apply you will have the opportunity to let us know if you require adjustments to be made, please contact us if you are not sure or if you require adjustments to the application process itself.

Our six staff network groups welcome new members, these are:

The Ethnically Diverse Staff Network Group
The Disability Staff Network Group
The Lived Experience Staff Network Group
The Rainbow Staff Network Group
The Staff Carers Staff Network Group
The Women’s Staff Network Group
We know how important flexible working can be to applicants and therefore we encourage you to discuss any working arrangements as part of this process. We will always aim to accommodate requests, wherever possible.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding adults and children and as part of our safe recruitment practice the successful applicant(s) will be subject to a check with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) if it is deemed appropriate for the role. The cost of the DBS check (currently up to £48.23) must be met by the successful applicant(s).

When applying for this post you will redirected to complete your application in our preferred applicant management system, Trac. If you are successfully offered a role, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. In addition, in submitting an application, you authorise our Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed.

Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.