Occupational Therapy Assistant

Posted 4 weeks ago

Job Summary

Options for Care is looking to recruit an exceptional Occupational Therapy Assistant who is passionate about working with individuals with severe and enduring mental health diagnoses.

We are specifically seeking a self-motivated and caring individual who has an interest in occupation and will make a positive contribution to the well-being of our patients through the delivery of high quality rehabilitative care. We are keen to meet candidates with a recovery focused ethos, who are willing to commit to building and sustaining good therapeutic relationships and positive engagement with patients, to support individuals in achieving their recovery goals. The role will include working as part of a wider multi-disciplinary team with opportunities to bring new ideas to develop the delivery of occupational therapy for service users.

The successful candidate will be based at Stanford Court, our new mental health inpatient unit, located in Highgate, Birmingham.

Our two established hospitals, Montague Court and Dartmouth House, have successfully supported the needs of individuals with mental health diagnoses. We also have Orchard House, our recovery home, which provides a safe and supportive environment for individuals on their journey to mental health recovery.

Dartmouth House is a 16-bed male long-term complex care mental health inpatient unit based in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham.

Montague Court is an 18-bed male long-term complex care mental health inpatient unit based in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Stanford Court will be a 23-bed male mental health inpatient unit based in Highgate, Birmingham. This will consist of 19 high dependency beds and four self-contained recovery flats to enable assessment of daily living skills in preparation for discharge.

Orchard House is an 8-bed residential step-down service based in Erdington, Birmingham, which allows extension of the long-term complex care pathway.

Overview of main duties

To provide support to occupational therapists through contributing towards the assessment process and analysing the strengths and needs of patients with severe and enduring mental health needs.

To provide and deliver occupation focused interventions on an individual and group basis, as directed by the occupational therapist, and report on progress.

To support individuals in our care to achieve their personal goals and aspirations.

About us

Options for Care provides mental health recovery services in Birmingham. Our primary objective is to empower service users and help them realise their full potential through progressive improvements in their quality of life and a steady progression towards recovery, culminating in successful discharge. We are proud to share our unwavering commitment to our mission, vision, and values.

Mission

  • Realising Potential

Vision

  • We offer best-practice interventions to enable personal recovery and well-being.

Values

  • The individual is at the heart of everything we do.
  • We inspire, stimulate and empower people to achieve and grow through compassionate, supportive and protective relationships.
  • We deliver and continuously evaluate high-quality service whilst respecting differences, promoting dignity and supporting the privacy of others.

At Options for Care, we understand the importance of delivering tailored and holistic support to our service users. Our dedicated team is committed to providing relationship-centred interventions that are grounded in evidence-based practices. We strongly believe that our approach helps individuals lead fulfilling lives and attain their personal objectives. To ensure that we consistently meet our service users’ needs, we use recognised assessment tools to track outcomes and make adjustments as needed. Our goal is to empower our service users to live in the least restrictive setting feasible while maintaining their dignity and independence.

Job Description

Job Title:        Occupational Therapy Assistant

Location:        Stanford Court, Highgate, Birmingham

Salary:            £24,473 – £25,545 per annum (DOE)

Hours:            37.5 hours Mon-Fri (Occasional weekend work may be required)

Job Type:       Permanent

Job Summary

To provide support to occupational therapists through contributing towards the assessment process and analysing the strengths and needs of patients with severe and enduring mental health needs.

To provide and deliver occupation focused interventions on an individual and group basis, as directed by the occupational therapist, and report on progress.

To support individuals in our care to achieve their personal goals and aspirations.

Principle Responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible for the following:

Professional Practice:

  • Assist the occupational therapists in building a structured routine for patients through the implementation and facilitation of occupation focussed intervention.
  • Prioritise the delivery of a therapeutic timetable based on promoting occupational balance with a view to improve/maintain patient skill base.
  • Provide a motivational and flexible approach to supporting patients to improve their independence in activities of daily living and overall quality of life.
  • Understand the importance of the patient as the centre of the healthcare system, demonstrating that you consult and involve patients in decisions about their treatment, care and well- being.
  • Deliver culturally sensitive, respectful, non-judgemental patient care.
  • Complete elements of the occupational therapy process under the supervision and direction of an occupational therapist. This includes completion of interest checklists, OSA, MOHOST SOF, analysis of results, planning group and individual interventions, and aspects of report writing.
  • Support in the application of grading and adaptation of activities to suit individual strengths and needs. To contribute to evaluation and modification of therapeutic interventions under the supervision of an occupational therapist.
  • Support individuals in our care to identify and work towards meeting their personal goals and aspirations.
  • Work with a degree of autonomy and as part of a team, completing specific activities, set out by established protocols and within your scope of practice.
  • Communicate and share information effectively, timely and concisely in a range of situations, including documentation, handovers and MDT meetings, depicting the level of engagement during intervention. 
  • Monitor patient’s physical, mental health and cognitive functioning and feedback to the occupational therapist/clinical lead occupational therapist any notable changes in presentation.

Faciliation of Learning:

  • Identify own learning needs through active participation in regular supervision and annual appraisals.
  • Be open to guidance from more experienced colleagues to identify and act on own learning needs.
  • Actively seek out opportunities to learn from and with others. Contribute to a culture in which everyone is encouraged to constantly learn (including from mistakes), to receive and give constructive feedback, and learn from and with each other.
  • Actively participate in continuous learning through orientation, induction, mandatory training and identified educational/developmental opportunities.
  • Support others to learn about the importance of engaging in occupations to be healthy and well.
  • Engage in, apply and record relevant learning and development activities, and identify the impact and benefit of own learning for self and people who access services, their families and their carers
  • Support patients, staff and carers to learn new techniques or re-gain skills related to daily living skills, self-regulation strategies, and use of equipment.
  • Contribute to the development and evaluation of educational and vocational resources for students and individuals in our care.
  • With support of more experienced colleagues, contribute to the education of others (including occupational therapy students).
  • Demonstrate understanding of fundamental legal practices related to consent and the prevention of abuse.  

Leadership:

  • Act as a role model to promote the values of the profession.
  • Identify priorities, manage time and resources effectively with guidance, as appropriate.
  • Alert managers to resource issues which affect learning, development and performance, identify ways to resolve resource issues.
  • Consider and propose alternative ways to complete tasks without compromising service quality, recognising and seeking to influence a change in culture where needed.
  • Take some leadership responsibility for the work of others within a defined and supervised structure.

Evidence, Research and Development:

  • With guidance from occupational therapists, to understand the importance of sourcing evidence to inform and apply into practice.
  • Read different types of materials, summarise the key messages and discuss findings in relation to own work.
  • Keep accurate records.
  • Take part in pre-designed audit and quality improvement projects.
  • Contribute to the collection of data for audit purposes as required.
  • Take part in service evaluation activities.

Additional Responsibilities:

  • Be able to utilise de-escalation techniques as required with patients who can present with challenging behaviour.
  • Understand the importance of team-working to the delivery of high-quality service.
  • Take part in service evaluation activities
  • Ensure resources are available to deliver planned therapeutic activities.
  • Assist in the monitoring and maintenance of the health, safety and security of self and others in work area.
  • Responsible for the prevention and control of infection within the workplace.
  • Report any incidents of harm or near misses, ensuring appropriate actions are taken to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to continued personal development.
  • Maintain confidentiality of patient information at all times.
  • Demonstrate good verbal and non-verbal communication skills with patients, carers and families, and any relevant voluntary/third sector organisations as required.
  • Actively promote diversity and maintain an environment where there is equal opportunity and commitment to anti-discriminatory, anti-racist and anti-stereotyping practices.

Essential Job Requirements

Training and Qualifications:

  • Completed NVQ Level 2 in Health and Social Care or Care Certificate.
  • Completed, or working towards, NVQ level 3 in Health and Social Care ora relevant qualification at an equivalent level.

Knowledge and Experience:

  • Experience of working within mental health services.
  • Experience of planning and running activity groups and 1:1 work.
  • Observation of functional ability, including the use of aids and adaptations as recommended by the MDT.
  • The importance of occupation and activity, which are fundamental to a person’s health and well-being, within the context of their various environments.
  • Awareness of a range of mental health conditions and risk behaviours.
  • Understanding of the roles of individual members of the clinical multi-disciplinary team.
  • Working Knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983 and changes with Mental Health Act 2007.
  • Working knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Safeguarding procedures.
  • To understand and adhere to the confidential nature of the work.

Skills:

  • Time management skills.
  • Basic risk assessment on activities.
  • Literate in IT Skills.
  • Active listening Skills.
  • Effective communication, both verbal and non-verbal.
  • To be able to negotiate and advocate on behalf of the patient.
  • To record information clearly and accurately.
  • Able to work with/without direct supervision.
  • Able to prioritise and organise own work, whilst also supporting others.
  • Work in partnership with others.
  • Respond flexibly to changing situations.

Personal Qualities:

  • A creative thinker.
  • Enthusiastic and committed.
  • Flexible and adaptable.
  • Reliable.
  • Solution focused.
  • Personal Integrity.
  • Professional attitude.
  • Resilience in dealing with emotive service user issues. 

Other:

  • Demonstrates and recognises difference and doesn’t discriminate because of these differences.
  • Genuine interest in working with service user group.

In return, at Options for Care, we recognise the immense value of our team members. Our staff is the foundation of our success, and we appreciate their exceptional dedication to our clients. We prioritise employee development and are committed to supporting our staff in every stage of their career journey. Our workplace is warm and welcoming, with necessary assistance and supervision to ensure a positive work environment.

Our comprehensive staff health benefits package further demonstrates our commitment to the well-being of our staff. Our commitment to staff well-being is further evidenced by our individual well-being risk assessments, which are utilised to create personalised support plans for each employee. We take all necessary steps to ensure that our staff are well taken care of, both professionally and personally.

At Options for Care, we pride ourselves on creating a safe and healthy work environment that promotes staff productivity and longevity. That is why we offer competitive compensation, including an annual cost of living pay increase for all our staff members, in addition to an incremental pay system tied to our appraisal process, which is our way of showing gratitude for their exceptional dedication to our service users. This incremental pay pathway includes the first pay rise following the successful completion of a six-month probation period, ensuring that our staff are rewarded for their hard work and commitment to quality care.

We are passionate about creating a positive work environment that fosters growth, development, and well-being. Join us at Options for Care and be part of a team that is dedicated to your success!

If you are interested in applying for the role or wish to have an informal discussion, please email hr@optionsforcare.net or please call:

  • Katie Woollett (Clinical Lead OT) 0121-523-5573

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