Senior Occupational Therapist

There is an exciting 12-month opportunity for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist, based at Felixstowe Community Hospital with the expectation of occasionally working at the other community hospital sites if required.

Felixstowe Hospital is one of four East Suffolk inpatient sites where we deliver rehabilitation and reablement services, the other sites are Bluebird Lodge, Avocet and Aldeburgh Community Hospital. We work in close partnership with Ipswich Hospital and local health care teams as part of the wider ESNEFT NHS Trust.

You will report to a Team Leader responsible for therapy across the sites and work as part of a close knit therapy team at Felixstowe consisting of an Occupational Therapist (this role), physiotherapist and a therapy assistant practitioner. This team optimises patient outcomes through a rehabilitative and reablement approach and promotes appropriate discharge to assess pathways for in-patients.

We are looking for a proactive Occupational Therapist with commitment and enthusiasm, who has a passion to work as part of a team to progress patient’s rehabilitation goals and use a range of therapy interventions to facilitate timely and appropriate discharges. Felixstowe Community Hospital also has dedicated delirium beds to support patients with more complex cognitive needs, providing an excellent opportunity for Occupational Therapists to utilise their specialist cognitive assessment and rehabilitation skills.

• To be responsible alongside the multi-disciplinary team for daily caseload management of therapy interventions ensuring all patients receive timely, appropriate, effective treatment and discharge planning.
• In collaboration with the patient, planning and implementing single or a programme of interventions using treatment techniques to meet the patient's needs. These will be achieved using professional and theoretical knowledge, broad clinical knowledge, and clinical reasoning.
• To apply understanding of effects and impact of illness and disability on patient's abilities and provide advice and education regarding lifestyle changes / adaptations to their physical and social environment
• To participate in own and others continuous professional development, appraisal processes and other developmental activities according to professional registration and trust policies.
• To supervise and assist in the development of junior clinicians, non-qualified staff, and students on placement
• To undertake audit of both clinical practice and processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
• Contribute to quality improvement projects and initiatives aimed at improving service delivery and patient rehabilitation outcomes.

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Alison Peart Job title: Occupational Therapy Lead Email address: alison.peart@esneft.nhs.uk