Meet The Team: Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead

Introducing Belinda, our wonderful Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead. Belinda has an extensive background working as an Occupational Therapist in a variety of settings, including hospital, community, and aged care. Her rich experience in Occupational Therapy across a variety of areas makes her a fantastic leader and clinician at National 360, who we are thrilled to have as our Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead.

We asked Belinda some questions about her career history, why she wanted to work in the allied health space, why she joined National 360, what her role as Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead involves, advice she has for clinicians wanting to work in the community health space, plus more!

We would love to learn more about your journey as an Occupational Therapist. Could you share some details about you career history with us?

I graduated from the University of Sydney in 2005 and have worked in a range of different settings including hospital, public community health and residential aged care facilities. Early in my career, I discovered my love of working with people with disabilities in the community setting.

Some highlights of my career have been; the opportunity to work in the UK, where my primary role was to redesign department of housing homes for wheelchair accessibility, work in the NT in a fly in fly out model travelling out to East Arnhem Land and delivering community health services to people across the lifespan, engagement in management, project and non-clinical roles, and most recently being the Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead at National 360.

What interested you in working in the allied health space? 

I knew I wanted to work in health and more specifically with people to help them achieve their goals and engage in meaningful activities to them. I wanted to work in diversional therapy, but came across Occupational Therapy, which was so goal and outcome focused that it attracted me to the profession. Having the opportunity to work with other allied health disciplines to provide holistic care for clients to assist them to achieve their goals and outcomes has been fantastic.

When did you start working at National 360, and why did you want to join the team?

I started working at National 360 in June 2021, following maternity leave.  The flexibility that National 360 offered was very appealing, particularly with a young child. I also knew about the clinical support and extensive knowledge of the senior clinicians in the company, that made me want to work with National 360.

The State Manager who interviewed me at the time also seemed supportive, approachable and had a great relationship with the clinicians who interviewed me, and that made me think, ‘yes – this will be a great company to work with.’

What do you think makes National 360 different from other community allied health providers?

Three things come to mind:

1. The flexibility, both in terms of being able to work from home, the office, and seeing people in their homes, but also in terms of working hours.
2. The clinical support that clinicians receive through supervision and mentoring.
3. The opportunities for career development and progression.

What does your role as Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead involve?

My role as Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead involves engaging in clinical projects as a means of quality improvement, clinical development and streamlining processes to make things easier for clinicians and get great outcomes for our clients. It also involves providing clinical consultations on complex situations and situations which have been requested for an internal or external review of a decision related to NDIS funding, so that we can get excellent outcomes for our clients.

What do you love most about your role as the Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead?

I love being able to support and consult with our clinicians to make improvements to the way we deliver services or do things more efficiently to benefit our clients as the Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead. I also love working with our Clinical Practice Advisors to provide education and training to our clinicians, so they are skilled in a range of different areas. I also love providing clinical consultation for complex situations, so that we can get the best outcomes for our clients.

What has been a highlight of time working at National 360?

We were referred a client to review the headrest on their wheelchair. Upon assessment and working with the Physiotherapist, we assessed that the wheelchair was not set up appropriately to meet the client’s needs, where they were leaning to the side and sliding out of the wheelchairs. Support Workers were receiving aggressive comments for the way the client was seated in their wheelchair. Following the assessment and implementation of a different seating set up and a new backrest, we were able to obtain a really great functional posture for this client, where they were comfortable, were able to eat safely in the wheelchair and they were posturally supported whilst seated in the wheelchair.

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to work in the NDIS community health space?

Do it! It is the best job! It can feel like an emotional roller-coaster at times, but with access to the right supports, a clear plan of action to achieve client goals and opportunities to upskill and engage in professional development, you will find it can be so rewarding.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself! 

I have moved home 13 times.

Join The National 360 Team!

Our teams are continuing to grow, and we are always looking for fantastic clinicians to join us at National 360 across our 22 locations Australia-wide. Whether you’re a graduate, early career therapist, or senior clinician, we will support you with our industry-leading clinical supervision and support, along with our 360 YOU benefits which are unique, and tailored with something for everybody, including flexible working practices, paid parental leave, car leasing, salary sacrificing, plus more!

If you’d like to learn more about what it is like to working in the community allied health space at National 360, and for a comprehensive outline of our 360 YOU benefits, visit our 360 Careers page for more insights, follow us on LinkedIn, or contact our Careers team via careers@national360.com.au.