Occupational Therapist Advanced Practitioner

Overview

Are you a passionate and experienced occupational therapist ready to take the next step in your career? Join Buckinghamshire Council as an Advanced Practitioner and become a leader in delivering outstanding adult social care services.

We are a dedicated, hardworking, inspiring and ambitious team, always striving to work in a person centred and strength’s-based way to support our residents of Buckinghamshire, whilst always focusing on each person’s independent abilities and strengths.

Tom Judge, our Occupational Therapy Team Manager said “The Occupational Therapy team and individuals within are hardworking, enthusiastic, kind caring and supportive. Our day-to-day interactions with Buckinghamshire’s residents are tremendously impactful, enhance the quality of lived experiences and enable people to live independently for as long as possible.”

In addition to the salary advertised, you will receive a market premium of £2,525 per annum. You will also receive a ‘Golden Hello’ lump-sum payment of £2,500 paid on successful completion of your probationary period.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

Initiated in 2019, our strength-based practice model, ‘Better Lives’, has been improving outcomes linked to independence, developing social connections, and improving areas that are important to the residents we support.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey.

About the role

As an Advanced Practitioner, you will be a key ambassador and leader within Adult Social Care, promoting independence, wellbeing, and a strengths-based approach.

Some of the main responsibilities:

• Working in accordance with the Better Lives framework
• Promoting and delivering goal-based support people to achieve greater independence
• Promoting equality as an integral part of a role and treat everyone with fairness and dignity
• Providing a proactive personalised approach to the delivery of care and practice
• Responding to people’s needs in a timely manner
• Focusing on improving people’s well-being
• Giving people greater choice and control over the care that they receive
• Taking account of people’s risks and safety at all times, identifying mitigations to reduce that risk
• Supporting people to achieve the outcomes that are most important to them using all available resources and taking responsibility for the public purse
• Providing personalised information and advice, safeguarding, assessment, support planning and review to individuals/families and their carers

Mobile:

A ‘mobile’ role gives you the flexibility to schedule your own diary, so you can meet with colleagues and clients in a variety of locations. You’ll access digital folders and resources on your Council laptop and will be able to access the network wherever you are based. Working from home will be common, as well as meeting your team in the office where necessary.

 

About you

Naturally, you will be a great people person, familiar with working to a strength-based approach where you think outside of the box and enable people to prevent, reduce or delay the need for care. Bringing your in-depth knowledge of the latest legislation and statutory guidance, you’ll work independently and with colleagues to support adults and their families. Persistence and an adaptable approach are needed in an outcome focused way with partners such as health services, community sector, housing, care providers and other stakeholders.

You must have a degree or equivalent qualification in Occupational Therapy and have Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration. In addition, a minimum of 3 years working as an Occupational Therapist within a local authority is essential.

Please see the job summary attached for more information.

Other information

A full UK driving licence with access to a vehicle is an essential requirement for this role.

If you have any questions or would like to hear more about this exciting role, please contact Tom Judge at [email protected]

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

 

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining us, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

We know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Service Area

Our Occupational Therapy services have undergone a significant transformation in the last few years. As we adapt to working more closely with the community and supporting people near to where they live, we have created more roles in the team to fulfill the demand for Occupational Therapy support. In 2020/21 alone, 6,399 residents were provided with equipment to help them feel safe and confident in their homes and remain as independent as possible.

We have developed a new career progression framework to encourage staff ambition and development, and to establish the conditions to deliver outstanding practice, we have reduced the numbers that managers supervise and the caseloads the team has. This has allowed us to have more contact with our residents. 

If you are a great people person, familiar with working to a strength-based approach where you think outside of the box and enable people to prevent, reduce or delay the need for care, Occupational Therapy is one of the most rewarding services in our Adults and Health directorate.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/