Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist in Wigan

Job Description

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to be supporting the provision of Occupational Therapy on the PIPE at HMP Hindley, working in close partnership with custodial staff and North West Psychology Services who are the lead providers of the service. The Preparation PIPE at HMP Hindley is a specialist 10‑bed residential unit within a training prison, forming part of the national Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway. The service provides a psychologically informed, supportive environment for individuals with complex personality‑related needs who are not yet ready to engage in structured treatment interventions. The PIPE focuses on building engagement, emotional stability and interpersonal skills through consistent relational practice, structured activities and dedicated keywork. Staff are trained to work in a psychologically informed way, using everyday interactions to support behaviour change, improve relationships and reduce risk. The service aims to prepare residents to progress to more intensive OPD interventions, enhance their ability to manage risk and relationships, and support safe and effective progression through their sentence.

We are recruiting a Specialist Occupational Therapist to join the team at HMP Hindley. The candidate will ensure the delivery of a high‑quality Occupational Therapy service within the PIPE. This is a unique and autonomous role, with the post holder as the sole Occupational Therapist on the PIPE, working alongside a multi‑disciplinary team of operational staff and forensic psychology colleagues. They will deliver specialist occupational therapy assessment, formulation and intervention, including individual and group work, supporting those with complex clinical and risk presentations. The role focuses on promoting occupational engagement, psychological wellbeing and pro‑social functioning through therapeutic, recreational and supportive activities. The post holder will also contribute across the PIPE and wider prison, enhancing psychologically informed workforce capacity and supporting a relational approach to care and risk management.

To provide leadership and highly specialist clinical expertise in the provision of an Occupational Therapy service for service users who have mental illness related needs within a custodial setting. To provide an Occupational Therapy service which is inclusive of best practice, evidence‑based practice and outcome focussed. To work as a member of the multidisciplinary team in providing and coordinating a therapeutic, person centred treatment and care pathway. To provide clinical expertise to guide and influence the integrated therapeutic approach from an Occupational Therapy perspective to registered nurses, psychology, medical staff, speech and language therapists and support/direct care staff in the development and provision of meaningful occupational / recreational / educational facilities.

The successful candidate will have experience working with individuals with complex needs who may struggle to engage, ideally in secure or institutional settings. They will be confident managing professional, ethical and organisational challenges in a complex environment and able to work both autonomously and collaboratively.

The post holder will be professionally supported and line managed by the OPD service at HMP Garth, which has an established Occupational Therapy team with extensive experience delivering services in similar settings.

Qualifications

• Diploma/Degree or equivalent Occupational Therapy qualification
• Evidence of post-qualified study/short courses and Continuing Professional Development
• Health and Care Professions Council Registration
• Current legislation and national initiatives related to mental illness
• Clinical and environment assessment & management of clinical risk
• Knowledge of Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended by Mental Health Act 2007)
• Knowledge of Mental Health Capacity Act 2005
• Knowledge of relational security "See Think Act" (DoH, 2010)
• Minimum of three years post‑qualifying experience as an Occupational Therapist
• Supervision of staff and students
• Development of Occupational Therapy services
• Application of Occupational Therapy Models of Practice and Standardised Assessments & Outcome Measures
• Involvement in research and clinical audit, AMPS training, Personality Disorder, Autism, Dialectal Behavioural Therapy, Sensory Integration, OCAIRS, MOHOST, VQ, ACIS, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psycho‑Social Intervention
• Experience of working in forensic services 12 months in learning disabilities/mental health services
• Line‑manage non‑OT staff
• Familiar with Electronic Patient Records (EPR) system
• Understanding and use of the Model of Human Occupation and its associated assessment tools and outcome measures, Leadership Qualities
• Ability to provide training, advice and guidance to staff/service users
• Ability to complete assessments and clinical reports in line with the CPA process and Royal College of Occupational Therapy guidance
• Demonstrates depth of clinical skills and implementation Occupational Therapy clinical practice and ability to hold a complex caseload
• Ability to identify and implement clinical and service developments
• Ability to work autonomously as well as effectively with team members and other agencies
• Managerial Skills
• Ability to be an effective role model
• Clear effective written & verbal communication
• Basic IT skills

What Mersey Care Offers

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands. We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities. At the heart of all we do is our commitment to “perfect care” - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.