Occupational Therapist – Basic Grade

Rotational Mental Health Occupational Therapist – staff grade post

Organisation

Highfield Healthcare which incorporates Highfield Hospital and Hampstead Clinic Services, the "Approved Centre" registered by the Mental Health Commission and Nursing Home Services including the Alzheimer Care Centre registered by HIQA.

• Specialised Rehabilitation Unit (21 beds across 2 units)

Working age adults with enduring mental health difficulties, predominantly those with a diagnosis of psychosis and associated challenging behaviours.

• Acute Inpatient (PLL) (opening March 2024, 14 beds)

Community dwelling older adults acute admission to support treatment MH conditions & onward community liaison & referrals.

• Long Stay Mental Health (3 units, 60 beds)

Older adults with chronic & enduring MH with comorbid physical health disorders.

These posts form part of a wider rotation with opportunities to experience services into Acute Adult Inpatients, Day Hospital and Home Based Treatment Services across Highfield Healthcare Mental Health Services. Rotational opportunities occur every 9 months and are organised flexibly, taking into account post holders preferences. Please note that the Staff Grade occupational therapist may be required to work in different service areas within Highfield Healthcare and to provide cross cover when required .

Why choose Highfield Healthcare?

• Strong commitment to Supervision with robust process and documentation to support CORU & AOTI competencies.
• Annual appraisal with genuine opportunities to identify and be supported to undertake further training related to professional development. For example recently training opportunities across OT have included LACLS large Allens cognitive level screening, MOHOST - Model of Human Occupation Screening Tool, MOHO Explor, Social Functioning Questionnaire, NATs etc ..
• Clear and robust AHP governance structures
• Regular OT and AHP meetings supporting professional growth and identity.
• Promote innovations locally and nationally.
• Commitment to work with clear evidence base, utilising outcome measures, and audit

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

INTERNAL: Multi-disciplinary team members across internal services.

EXTERNAL: Patients, carers, relatives, local authority, other healthcare providers, statutory bodies, voluntary sector, Higher Education Institutes/Further Education

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Professional / Clinical

• Take responsibility for the management of a complex caseload, which includes specialist assessment care planning in conjunction with service user and carer, evaluation of individual treatment plans.
• Responsible for participating in the setting of quality standards, including the auditing, monitoring and reviewing of practice in line with current clinical guidance practice and policy.
• Assess patient's individual care needs, develop, implement and evaluate programmes of care.
• Deliver a range of non-pharmacological interventions following specific Occupational Therapy assessments to enable understanding of any expression of an unmet need and to maximise an individual's abilities.
• Complete and contribute, where appropriate to robust risk assessments and risk management plans. Deliver and promote positive risk taking, where appropriate, to improve quality of life and maximise occupational performance/independence.
• Maintain an effective reporting system by observing and reporting verbally and in writing on patient conditions.
• Utilise agreed outcome measures to review the effectiveness of interventions, as part of the care planning and evaluation process.
• Support in the provision of formal and informal training of pre/post registration students, staff members, carers and service users.
• Participate in teams as appropriate, communicating and working in co-operation with other team members.
• Attend clinics, review meetings, team meetings, case conferences as required.
• Be responsible for adhering to existing standards and protocols and participate in the development and maintenance of standards / strategies for quality improvement and outcome measurement.
• Seek advice and assistance with any assigned duties in line with principles of evidence-based practice and clinical governance.
• Ensure that professional standards are maintained in relation to confidentiality, ethics and legislation.
• Operate within the scope of Occupational Therapy practice within Ireland (Occupational Therapy Regulation Board - OTRB) and in accordance with local guidelines.

Education and Training

• Participate in mandatory training programmes.
• Active engagement with regular supervision with Supervisor
• Participate in continuing professional development including in-service training, attending conferences / courses relevant to practice.
• To ensure care is provided in line with the Mental Health Act, Assisted Decision Making Act, CORU standards of practice, MHC guidelines, NICE Guidance, RCOT/AOTI Professional standards of practice & relevant local and national documentation.

Quality & Governance

• Maintain weekly KPI records that have been identified to benchmark workload & caseload weighing (service dependent).
• Monthly audits to be completed as relevant to service.
• Participate & support in the management of Occupational Therapy stock and equipment in conjunction with the OT Team, where appropriate.
• Engage & present with peer supervision forum which is done on rota basis.

Health & Safety

• Promote a safe working environment in accordance with Health and Safety legislation.
• Be aware of and implement agreed policies, procedures and safe professional practice by adhering to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.
• Actively participate in risk management issues, identify risks and take responsibility for appropriate action.
• Report any adverse incidents in accordance with organisational guidelines.
• Have a working knowledge of the Mental Health Commission's Judgement Support Framework and related Standards as they apply to the role.

The above Job Specification is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.

Qualifications

• Degree in Occupational Therapy OR MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy OR soon to be registered OT
• Registration with the CORU
• Member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) or Association of OT Ireland (AOTI)

Experience

• Experience of formulating OT specific assessments, planning, co-ordinating and supporting adults experiencing mental health disorders
• Experience of integrating care delivery across multi-disciplinary/multi-agency teams.

Please contact Emma-Jane Plunkett (OT Manager) at with any questions. To apply for this position please do so through the Highfield Healthcare Website, Current Vacancies page.

Highfield Healthcare is an equal opportunities employer.

All posts are subject to satisfactory references, medical and Garda vetting.

Highfield Healthcare is committed to providing the highest standard of care and support to all our residents. Our patients are cared for in an environment appropriate to their needs, where the priority is to preserve their dignity and promote their independence.