An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 4 Occupational Therapy Assistant within Community Mental Health as follows:
0.80 x WTE supporting the South Ribble Community Mental Health Teams
The posts will be for a fixed term/secondment opportunity for a 12 month period
This exciting opportunity has arisen as part of a initiative to look at how increasing access to Occupational Therapy intervention can support capacity and flow within Community Mental Health Teams. As such, we are looking for a dynamic and proactive person with a proven track record of supporting people with mental health difficulties to achieve their occupational goals.
You will work alongside Occupational Therapists to facilitate planned interventions which may include, but not be limited to, promoting independent living skills in the areas of self-care, productivity and leisure, enabling social inclusion, supporting people to create effective routines and structure and providing education on the importance of meaningful activity in promoting mental health and wellbeing. You would be expected to work independently within service users’ homes and the local community.
The Community Mental Health Teams provide community based assessment, care planning and intervention to people experiencing moderate to severe mental health problems. The team’s core hours are Monday - Friday 9am-5pm.
You will work alongside Occupational Therapists within the team and will part of a wider Occupational Therapy network across Central and West Lancs CMHTs. This is a supportive network that provides opportunity for CPD and supports staff wellbeing.
This vacancy would be an ideal development opportunity for a current Band 3 therapy assistant or a Band 4 therapy assistant seeking experience in a community setting. Full support and training will be provided and you will have access to regular supervision and CPD opportunities.
Timely occupational therapy (assessment and) interventions can: prevent unnecessary hospital admissions; improve wellbeing and patient experience; facilitate early discharge; enable recovery and social inclusion; help people achieve personalised goals; and support adults of working age to retain their jobs or obtain employment.
Working directly with service users for at least 70% of the time, this post holder will support occupational therapists to achieve this aim through supporting the assessment and analyse of strengths and needs, providing interventions, reporting on progress, and supporting service users to care to achieve their personal goals and aspirations.
Service requirements may involve some flexibility of work hours and the post holder is expected to respond to service user need relating to this.
LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.
Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.
We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.
LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.
The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.
Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well
Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.
