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You will be joining the Therapeutic Horticulture Team to provide support with the the planning, delivery and smooth running of the NuLeaf Landscaping project to develop a schedule for areas within the low and medium services to be maintained regularly.

Occupational Therapy- Therapeutic Horticulture Assistant

| NHS

Location: Homerton

Salary: £31,944.00 to £34,937.00 per year

Full Time: Permanent

Closing Date: 19/12/2024

Job Description

This is a Band 4 Occupational Therapy Assistant role within a close knit team.The Landscape Gardening project sits within theNuLeaf Therapeutic Employment projects at the John Howard Centre and Wolfson House, which also include theOasis Coffee Shop, The Spot Coffee Shop, Painting & Decorating, Admin and the Barber Shop / Hair Salon.

The Therapeutic Employment projects are run as social enterprise businesses, with a focus on supporting service users’ recovery, resilience building, and the maintenance and acquisition of specific and soft employment skills.

The aim is to increase training and employment opportunities for forensic service users by providing opportunities to utilize their existing skills or facilitate the development of a new skills set to maintain parts of the hospital grounds, and potentially work in the Horticulture industry post discharge.

You will find it a varied and stimulating environment, working with service users from across the John Howard Centre, including the Learning Disability and Autism services. You will receive relevant training, monthly supervision and have access to the OT departments CPD programme.

 

Main duties of the job

This OTA role involves working with patients who present with various mental health problems and reside in Acute, Rehab, Learning Disability and Autism Services within the John Howard Centre and at Wolfson House.

The successful applicant will be joining the Therapeutic Horticulture Team to provide support with the the planning, delivery and smooth running of the NuLeaf Landscaping project to develop a schedule for areas within the low and medium services to be maintained regularly.

This is a part time role within a small team, supporting forensic inpatients with the development of skills to maintain part of the hospital grounds, grow fruits and vegetables to supply the hospital’s Coffee Shop, and increase service users’ skill sets, confidence and employability.Sessions are provided in a group or 1:1 setting.

The successful applicant will also be required to assist in the running of other service user employment projects at the John Howard Centre, providing cover when necessary and feasible.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people’s lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job responsibilities

To liaise with the lead clinician to develop and maintain a curriculum / training schedule to train service users systematically and to measure progress and achievements

To liaise with customers and other agencies to ensure commissioned jobs are delivered at agreed high standards and in a timely manner.To assist in the running of all service user employment projects at the John Howard Centre, providing cover when necessary and feasible.

Person Specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

Desirable

  • o Qualification in Landscape Gardening or equivalent in a related field

Experience

Essential

  • o Previous experience of Landscape Gardening or similar related activity
  • o One or more specific vocational activities related to gardening and landscaping plus knowledge of developing employability skills of service users

Desirable

  • o Previous experience of designing and leading group and individual vocational / therapeutic employment programmes in a related clinical field

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

  • o Ability to devise both verbal and written reports on the specific vocational and employment activities
  • o Clinical reasoning skills to assess service users’ needs (including risk assessment)
  • o Ability to communicate with OT staff and other professionals

Desirable

  • o agencies and other external contacts in relation to employment opportunities and vocational development

Other

Essential

  • o Physical skills required to facilitate a wide range of activities both on a one-to-one and group basis, including using equipment as required.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

How To Apply

To apply, please follow the link below. Good Luck!