Job Description

Post Title:

Senior Occupational Therapist in Mental Health of Older Persons (MHOP)

Post Status:

Temporary Specified Purpose Contract

Department

Occupational Therapy

Location:

Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9

Reports to:

Occupational Therapy Manager

Salary:

Appointment will be made on Senior Occupational Therapist scale

(€65,197-€76,767) at a point in line with Government pay policy.

Hours of work:

Full-time (1.0 WTE) 35 hours

Closing Date:

30/06/2026

This Senior Occupational Therapist position is a 1.0 WTE Specified Purpose Contract position covering a maternity leave. The successful candidate will be working as part of the Mental Health of Older Persons (MHOP) services at Beaumont Hospital. The post. The post holder will primarily be based in the Aislin Centre but will work in a variety of settings including our day hospital, our in-patient unit and in the community.

He/she will join an experienced team of multi-disciplinary colleagues delivering these services. He/she will work in collaboration with the occupational therapy manager and other occupational therapists in planning, co-ordinating, delivering and evaluating the wider Mental Health for Older Persons service. There will be an expectation to be flexible and offer support/cover to any of the umbrella group services if required i.e. during periods of extreme demand, unexpected or unplanned leave. The OT manager welcomes informal enquiries to discuss this post.

The Occupational Therapist should abide by the Code of Ethics of the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland.

Responsibilities

Accountability:

The senior occupational therapist is accountable to the occupational therapy manager, Beaumont Hospital but will work in close collaboration with North Dublin Mental Health Service colleagues.

Professionalism

1. Represent the occupational therapy profession and promote the profile of occupational therapy throughout the organisation, nationally and internationally2. Demonstrate sound clinical reasoning based on experience and clinical expertise within the service area.

3. Respect the values, beliefs and needs of patients and staff and include patients in decision-making processes as appropriate

4. Support and delegate appropriately to occupational therapy staff working within the service area.

5. Interpret standards of practice, as well as professional codes of conduct, professional and organisational policies ensuring they are incorporated into occupational therapy practice within the service area.6. Recognise when it is appropriate to refer decisions to a higher level of authority and include colleagues in the decision making process7. Promote initiatives in the service area that will ensure a high standard of professional practice development in line with improved patient care8. Demonstrate understanding and respect for the roles of all members of the MDT9. Keep up-to-date with developments within the service area in own organisation, professional body, nationally and internationally and apply to practice as appropriate10. Manage own work-life balance and support others (e.g. occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants) with same11. Contribute professional expertise to wider organisational initiatives/ committees/steering groups at local, national and international level12. Provide specialist support to the service area staff

Managing a Caseload

1. Demonstrate advanced clinical reasoning and problem solving skills in completing occupational therapy assessments and interventions with patients referred from the service areas.

2. Use advanced prioritisation and planning skills to ensure patients are placed on the appropriate pathway and the timely completion of onward referrals to other services

3. Demonstrate an advanced proficiency in ability to screen and prioritise patients according to clinical needs using clinical reasoning skills and providing support to all occupational therapy staff as required.4. Prioritise and maximise effectiveness of intervention using available resources to ensure service demands are optimally met e.g. appropriate delegation to occupational therapy colleagues

5. Ensure collaboration with other relevant MDT colleagues for complex patient presentation to ensure holistic approach to patient care6. Balance clinical demands with other responsibilities (e.g. research, administration, service development, teaching, CPD, staff supervision) through effective time management and organisational skills

Communication

1. Communicate oral and written information in a clear, concise and well-structured manner appropriate to the content and the target audience2. Build and maintain effective relationships with colleagues at clinical and management levels within the service

3. Facilitate and maintain open communication within own service and department4. Promote and foster effective cross discipline communications and evaluation processes with MDT colleagues, advocating shared discharge planning for optimal patient care

5. Deal constructively with obstacles and conflict to ensure patient focused decision-making within the MDT

6. Build relations and links with community colleagues, working together to promote and enhance appropriate patient pathways for a seamless service

7. Ensure that communication with patients and families /carers is appropriate and timely and develop written resource packs for patients/carers as indicated8. Present lectures, service evaluation, audit and research projects at local, national and international level9. Negotiate clearly and effectively with relevant stakeholders

Planning, Maintaining and Evaluating a Quality Service

1. Demonstrate an advanced level of clinical knowledge and skills of various presentations and risk factors and provide senior support in decision-making for other occupational therapy staff

2. Working with MDT colleagues, demonstrate excellent clinical skills in the service area, assisting with advanced diagnostic, prognostic and patient management within the service

3. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of care pathways appropriate to patients attending the service and proactively work with senior MDT colleagues to design and implement processes to improve flow for patients

4. Take a key role in discharge planning

5. Recognise appropriate services and supports (OT, MDT and other) to optimise patient outcomes and identify the need for appropriate onward consultation or referral

6. Design and implement processes and procedures to ensure the highest standards of practice are met in the Medical Rehab occupational therapy service by establishing governance systems

7. Report emerging risk issues to the occupational therapy manager and other relevant senior staff within the service/umbrella group.

8. Work collaboratively with the MDT to identify, plan and implement interdisciplinary practices

9. Foster and lead a culture and practice of evaluating service outcomes and other data collection and implementing quality improvement initiatives as appropriate

10. Develop and implement strategic service and business plans, quality initiatives, audits etc. based on up to date evidence based practice and report on outcomes in collaboration with the occupational therapy manager and other stakeholders

11. Oversee, evaluate and advise the occupational therapy manager on optimal resource utilisation for effective service delivery and optimal patient and service outcomes

Leadership and Service Development

1. Understand the principles of the operational management of the service and be responsible for the day-to-day management of this clinical speciality area

2. Act as an expert occupational therapy clinical resource for the neuroscience MDT, occupational therapy service and students

3. Promote the role of occupational therapy service in the service in the organisation and at national and international level

4. Lead senior clinical decision-making processes in the service

5. Identify and prioritise the requirements of the service within a constantly changing environment

6. Develop guidelines for safe and effective practice in the Medical Rehab occupational therapy service

7. Refine and advance occupational therapy practice in service area and develop formal links with appropriate national and international networks in any of the specialities under the umbrella group.

8. Represent the occupational therapy service nationally and internationally as required

9. Deputise for the occupational therapy manager in his/ her absence as required

10. Explore and champion new initiatives, practices and models of care, in line with best practice, to improve the patient experience and outcome

11. Seek to identify and avail of opportunities to assist with and contribute to strategic planning e.g. development of business cases12. Develop and implement new service initiatives in collaboration with appropriate stakeholders such as occupational therapy manager, MDT members etc.13. Assist the occupational therapy manager in the recruitment of staff14. Ensure that an efficient system of stock control is maintained

15. Act as a role model for occupational therapy staff and staff of other professions, in the areas of clinical competence, attitude and enthusiasm of occupational therapy, being available as a resource for staff

16. Collate and analyse workload statistics required for departmental purposes and for service reviews

Evidence- Based Practice

1. Demonstrate an excellent level of knowledge of evidence in relation to service

2. Apply this excellent knowledge to local practice, working with colleagues to implement the necessary steps to achieve the highest possible standard of care

3. Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of interventions within the service and modify accordingly where new evidence emerges or where evidence base is incomplete

4. Monitor and report on the use of best practice clinical standards and guidelines in the occupational therapy COE service areas and apply this specialist knowledge within the service

5. Demonstrate expert understanding of service demands and trends and design processes, in consultation with the occupational therapy manager, to ensure demands are appropriately met

6. Champion and lead the development of occupational therapy in service area, working with experts/partners nationally and internationally to advance practice

Research

1. Understand the principles of research and research methodology which underpin an analytical approach to clinical practice2. Lead and facilitate research projects relevant to the service at local or national level3. Collaborate with all relevant stakeholders in respect of relevant research projects4. Co-ordinate and promote departmental research in conjunction with the occupational therapy department and the departmental strategic plan5. Publish research, case studies and critical reviews in peer-reviewed publications6. Lead the dissemination of research findings locally and nationally within occupational therapy and the wider healthcare arena7. Explore innovative ways to contribute to research related to service area.8. Research and report on emerging practices and new evaluation tools for the occupational therapy service9. Identify gaps in the evidence base and initiate/facilitate research to enhance evidence based practice locally, nationally and internationally

Act as a Clinical Resource

1. Act in an advanced clinical advisory role to own colleagues and MDT

2. Identify the need for appropriate onward consultation

3. Represent the profession/HSCPs at local, national and international level

4. Act as a clinical advisor, nationally and internationally

Continuing Professional Development

1. Identify own personal and professional learning needs and seek support from occupational therapy manager as indicated

2. Facilitate staff in identifying their own development needs and addressing these needs through planned learning, clinical supervision and professional support as required

3. Deliver appropriate and effective feedback and be receptive to feedback

4. Design service area plans and implement training processes to meet these needs

5. Provide education, supervision, mentoring and support for senior and occupational therapists in the service area.

6. Contribute to MDT education as appropriate

7. Plan, deliver and evaluate education, training and health promotion activities, incorporating inter-professional education models as appropriate

8. Identify and avail of formal and informal learning opportunities within occupational therapy and MDT contexts

9. Provide safe and effective under-graduate clinical placements

10. Provide expert advice and training to network, national and international colleagues in the field

11. Provide guest lecturing/education in the field of occupational therapy as required by the HEIs/others

12. Take the lead on occupational therapy input into post graduate clinical placements

13. Contribute to educational policy and education of pre and post qualifying practitioner

The above Duties list 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

QUALIFICATIONS

Mandatory:

Candidates must, on the latest date for receiving completed application forms, possess:

a) Hold a qualification approved by the Occupational Therapists Registration Board at CORU

b) The Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Occupational Therapy from NUI Galway, the University of Dublin or University College Cork or

c) A Master of Science from the University of Limerick or

d) A Diploma from a College of Occupational Therapy or

e) A recognised qualification at least equivalent to (a) or (b) or (c) which has been validated by the Department of Health as broadly equivalent to the above qualifications

f) Have at least three years satisfactory post qualification working experience as an occupational therapist in a relevant setting.

g) Clinical experience of working within any Care of the Older Person caseloads.

h) Have a proven record of clinical/academic achievement including development in the specialist area

Desirable:

1. Experience of working at senior grade2. Experience of working with older persons at senior grade

Informal Enquiries ONLY to:

Name: Paul BernardTitle: Occupational Therapy Manager Email address: paulbernard@beaumont.ieTelephone: 01 8092520