Senior Occupational Therapist

We are looking for a motivated and experienced Occupational Therapist to join our team providing inpatient rehabilitation in a community hospital setting. You will be working as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team with GP support, providing holistic and patient‑centred assessment, treatment, and discharge planning. We have a strong focus on frailty, dementia, and palliative care, but also provide care and rehabilitation for a wide range of patient groups.

This role will offer opportunity to work across the care pathway, liaising with acute teams, community services and social care colleagues. As part of a larger network of community hospital wards, you will be able to collaborate with other therapy teams to provide a countywide service as well as being partnered with Tenbury Community Hospital to provide cross‑cover of OT provision. You will have direct line management from a Team Lead Therapist and senior support from the Therapy Matron. This post offers a high degree of autonomy and the opportunity to lead service development and quality improvement. It is desirable that you are able to meet the travel requirements for the role to support access visits and possible cross‑site working some of which is not accessible using public transport.

Main duties of the job include:

• Patient assessment and delivery of occupational therapy interventions to the population of Worcestershire in a variety of clinical settings.
• Assessing, treating, and managing a caseload of patients within each service specialty to assist with case load management of the wider MDT or specific individual service requirements.
• Contributing to high quality, patient‑centred care using evidence‑based knowledge and skill.
• Assisting with service development, and teaching and supervising other clinicians and students.

About us: At Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, we are working together to deliver outstanding care. We run community hospitals and community health services across Worcestershire and provide mental health and learning disability services across both Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Our people (all 4500+ of them) provide services for people of all ages, experiencing both physical and/or mental health conditions from over 100 sites. We will support you to thrive; offer flexible working options for a great work‑life balance, help you fulfil your ambitions, and empower you to make positive changes within your team or service. We value diversity and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities.

Benefits include:

• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when you work unsocial hours.
• Flexible and agile working opportunities.
• Great maternity, paternity, and adoption support.
• Wide range of supportive staff networks.
• Health and wellbeing opportunities.

Job responsibilities:

• Demonstrate the values and beliefs of the organisation.
• Act as a role model to colleagues, maintaining the highest standards of professionalism.
• Use initiative and take responsibility for the quality of work and the service provided to patients.
• Provide an occupational therapy service within a defined area on each rotation, working as part of a specialist occupational therapy team.
• Undertake therapeutic assessments of patients with diverse complex and acute/chronic presentation, to determine clinical diagnosis and occupational therapy treatments needed, and to maintain records as an autonomous practitioner.
• Hold responsibility for own caseload and be responsible for a defined area of the service/particular patient type, working without direct supervision.
• Deputise for Therapy Team Lead.
• Supervise and train health care professionals, carers, and assistants in occupational therapy management, as appropriate.

Person Specification:

• Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
• Evidence of relevant postgraduate courses/Continual Professional Development maintained portfolio.
• Health Professionals Council Registration.
• Relevant recent clinical course/s.

Skills & Abilities:

• A positive attitude and able to act on feedback.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in English (verbal/written).
• Self‑directed learning.
• Good critical appraisal skills.
• Teaching and presentation skills.
• Knowledge of IT skills.
• Ability to work independently/collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team.
• Able to maintain judgement and work effectively under pressure.
• Effective time management.
• Ability to maintain contemporaneous, accurate and up to date records.

Experience:

• A range of post registration experience, including in a health and social care setting.
• Experience of delegation to qualified/unqualified staff.
• Experience working in community services.
• Experience of supervision of junior staff.
• Experience of quality improvement.

Knowledge:

• Broad clinical experience in inpatient setting.
• Knowledge of Frailty, Dementia and Palliative care.
• Knowledge of complex discharge planning.
• Knowledge of social care processes.

Additional Criteria:

• Committed to personal and team development.
• Reliable and flexible.
• Able to meet the travel requirements of the post.

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.