[Hiring] Advanced Children's Occupational Therapist @East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Role Description

East of England Community Health and Care Trust is establishing Experts at Hand, a national SEND reform project that recognises the vital role of Occupational Therapy in early years, mainstream schools and further education. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Children’s Occupational Therapist with a passion for innovation, workforce development and system-wide working.

• Act as a named Occupational Therapy Expert at Hand for a cluster of settings.
• Provide consultation, training, coaching and targeted interventions.
• Include clinical leadership responsibilities and supervision of Newly Qualified OTs, support practitioners, and apprentices.
• Contribute to service development and evaluation.
• Manage a small caseload of children requiring short-term targeted-plus intervention.
• Work closely with specialist services within a tiered model of support.

Qualifications

• Experience as a Children’s Occupational Therapist.
• Passion for innovation and workforce development.
• Ability to work system-wide.

Requirements

• Act as a named Expert at Hand for a cluster of schools and early years settings.
• Provide highly specialised consultation, advice and support to education staff.
• Support the implementation of the graduated response across universal, targeted and specialist levels.
• Participate in Team Around the School (TAS) and multi-agency meetings.
• Undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner.
• Assess and prescribe specialist equipment to support function and participation.
• Delegate work/tasks to therapy assistants while maintaining oversight.
• Engage in physical activities as required by the nature of children’s practice.

Benefits

• Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.
• High-quality innovative services across most of the east of England.
• Culture prioritising staff engagement and development.

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver training programmes for school staff and parents/carers.
• Undertake environmental audits for settings as required.
• Provide coaching and modelling of strategies within education settings.
• Deliver and oversee targeted intervention programmes.
• Support the induction, supervision and competency development of therapists and support practitioners.
• Build capacity within education settings through coaching and mentoring.
• Provide a highly specialised holistic assessment and intervention for children with complex needs.
• Contribute to audit, outcome measurement and evaluation of the EAH model.
• Communicate complex clinical information clearly to parents, carers, and education staff.
• Monitor stock levels in own service area and request new equipment as appropriate.
• Provide line management, supervision, and support to therapists and support practitioners.