Occupational Therapist - Short Term Assessment and Reablement

Join Adult Social Care as an Occupational Therapist and receive a Welcome Bonus of £1000 paid in your first month's salary and a Retention Bonus of £1000 for every complete year in service (*subject to pay scale). With a total package up to £51,083 including bonuses and benefits, this is an excellent opportunity to advance your career in social care.
This is an exciting opportunity for Occupational Therapists to join our Short Term Assessment and Reablement (START) Team on a 3 year fixed term contract, as part of a significant transformation journey in Sutton’s Adult Social Care service. Our goal is to empower people to live as independently as possible, and we are looking for individuals with specialist skills to help us achieve this mission.
As an Occupational Therapist (OT) in Sutton Adult Social Care, you will be based in the START Team with support from Occupational Therapists in our new OT Hub. You will screen and prioritise Reablement occupational therapy referrals. You will work with people to achieve their goals for up to 6 weeks, supporting them to regain their independence, and prevent, reduce and delay the need for ongoing support. You will ensure that Assessment and recommendations are robust and fully meet the needs of our residents and their carers. Recommendations may include equipment from the peripheral store, adaptations, and working closely with formal and informal carers to provide moving and handling risk assessment. You will work closely with colleagues in Sutton Health and Care NHS teams and the Hospital Pathway Team. You will provide guidance and supervision to Enabling Independence Officers in Reablement, who complete work as Trusted Assessors.
Your role will be vital in helping individuals access the support they need to enhance their quality of life and well-being. If you are passionate about making a difference, have strong interpersonal skills to build effective relationships and can show empathy and sensitivity towards individuals facing difficult circumstances, we want to hear from you.
The Short Term Assessment and Reablement (START) Team provides a Reablement Service to the London Borough of Sutton. You will be based in the Start team, and work autonomously providing occupational therapy for people receiving a Reablement Service. You will work closely with, and receive supervision from the new Occupational Therapy Hub.
Guided by the Team Manager and Principal Occupational Therapist, the new Occupational Therapy Hub in Sutton unifies Occupational Therapy and Sensory services within social care. The Hub will provide professional leadership and support for practitioners, while offering career development opportunities, including apprenticeships and a unique Preceptorship for new or returning therapists. Sutton is proud to be one of the only London boroughs to have launched an Occupational Therapy Preceptorship, to support and develop people who are newly qualified or returning to practice. The Hub focuses on strength-based assessments to enhance independence and well-being, covering a wide range of support from reablement, assessments for disabled facilities grant, optimal care, to housing needs assessments, making it a comprehensive service for the community.
The successful candidate will have:
Degree or an equivalent qualification in Occupational Therapy, registered with HCPC
Experience of Occupational Therapy (minimum 2 years) including complex moving and handling
Experience of working with Adults and/or Children Social Care services, within a multidisciplinary team.
Have up to date knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance in relation to working with and safeguarding vulnerable adults and children in social care.
Learning and development is supported by the Team Manager, Principal Occupational Therapist and Learning and Development Team. We aim to provide robust supervision and mentoring and encourage reflective practice to identify areas of improvement. As a Borough, we are committed to building a workforce that is empowered with knowledge to work autonomously and provide the valuable care service to the residents of our community. We want you to be a part of our journey.
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
Comprehensive learning and development programme
Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
Interest free season ticket loans
Local Government Pension Scheme
Car parking scheme
Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
Zip car scheme
Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
Subsidised gym membership