Clinical Quality Lead (Occupational Therapy) Health and Education in Welwyn Garden City

Clinical Quality Lead (Occupational Therapy) Health and Education

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Main area Occupational Therapist Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week Job ref 812-26-KWCYP-43

Site Howard Court Town Welwyn Garden City Salary £57,528 - £64,750 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 25/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 01/12/2026

Job overview

Are you an experienced children's therapy professional looking for an opportunity to make a meaningful difference through clinical leadership, service development and quality improvement?

Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT) is seeking an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and experienced Clinical Quality Lead to provide expert clinical leadership in our Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy team.

This is an exciting opportunity to take a leading role in shaping and improving services for children and young people within health and education, ensuring that the care we provide is safe, effective, evidence-based and centred around the needs of children and their families.

Main duties of the job

Working closely with the Specialist Services Manager and Integrated Therapies Operational Leads, you will lead clinical governance, quality assurance and continuous improvement initiatives across your designated specialism. You will play a key role in developing clinical pathways, reviewing service performance, implementing best practice and ensuring services consistently meet professional and regulatory standards. This will include supporting the sensory processing pathway and embedding the Experts at hand model.

You will also provide clinical leadership, supervision and support to highly specialist therapists, helping to develop their skills and maintain high standards of practice. The role involves analysing complex service and performance information, leading audits and investigations, identifying opportunities for improvement and working collaboratively with colleagues across health, education and social care.

Building strong relationships with children, families, commissioners and partner organisations will be central to the role. You will champion meaningful involvement, inclusion and anti-racist practice, ensuring that the voices and experiences of those using our services help shape how care is delivered.

Working for our organisation

We are looking for a registered Occupational Therapist with current HCPC registration and substantial experience within children's therapy services.

You will bring advanced specialist clinical knowledge, demonstrable experience of clinical leadership and people management, and a strong understanding of clinical governance, patient safety and quality improvement. You will also have the ability to interpret complex information, influence decision-making, lead service development and manage competing priorities effectively.

Above all, you will share our commitment to delivering high-quality, compassionate and inclusive care for children, young people and their families.

We welcome diversity in our workforce and are interested in applicants from all backgrounds and ages

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

HCT will prioritise recruitment of workers living in England under the new immigration rules for care workers effective from 9 April 2025. Employers must first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within England who needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so.

You can apply to Access to Work to get money for communication support at a job interview - please use this link for more information: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-communication-support-at-a-job-interview-if-you-have-a-disability-or-health-condition-access-to-work
You need to apply before the interview takes place.

Whilst it is not a legal requirement, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust encourages and supports all staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID-19.

We are committed to supporting flexible working options for staff, wherever possible, and welcome discussions on flexible working patterns to support our staff to maintain a healthy work life balance.

Person specification

Experience and Knowledge

• Substantial experience in children’s therapy services, supported by advanced specialist clinical knowledge in assessment, intervention and complex clinical decision-making.
• Demonstrable experience of effective clinical leadership, supervision and line management, including staff appraisal and development, and management of performance or employee relations processes.
• Strong knowledge of clinical governance, safeguarding, risk management and patient safety, including CQC standards, professional requirements and relevant national guidance.
• Demonstrable experience of quality improvement, clinical audit, outcome measurement and service evaluation/transformation, including development of evidence-based pathways or policies.
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex qualitative and quantitative information, translating findings into clear reports, recommendations and improvement plans.

Skills and Abilities

• Highly developed clinical reasoning and judgement, with the ability to work autonomously, provide expert clinical advice and identify and manage clinical risk within the designated therapy specialism.
• Ability to lead, supervise, coach and develop highly specialist therapists, setting clear objectives and supporting staff through change while promoting safe, effective, child- and family-centred practice.
• Highly developed communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation and influencing skills, with the ability to communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information effectively to children, families, staff, senior leaders, commissioners and partner organisations.
• Ability to lead and translate quality improvement and service redesign priorities into practical pathways, standards and actions, engaging service users, clinicians and partners in their delivery.
• Ability to organise and prioritise competing clinical and service demands, meet deadlines and adapt effectively to interruptions and changing priorities.

We will communicate any interview arrangements with applicants via e-mail so it is advisable that you check the email address you give on your application on a regular basis.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band. All new appointments (excluding Medical & Dental roles) are subject to a 26 week probation period.

We are proud to be an armed forces friendly employer and support the employment of the armed forces community, including veterans, spouses and partners. For more information, contact hct.armedforcesrecruitment@nhs.net

Applications from qualified job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications, subject to you meeting minimum criteria of the role and salary threshold. Please visit the Gov.UK website for detail.

If applicable to the role, staff are required to hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car to use with business insurance (unless the member of staff has a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

In submitting an application form, you authorise Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Electronic Staff Record Inter Authority Transfer process should you be appointed to the post.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.