Occupational Therapist - Adults First Contact Service

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award-winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. The borough is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan.

Join Adult Social Care as an Occupational Therapist and receive a Welcome Bonus of £1000 paid in your first month’s salary and a Retention Bonus of £1000 for every complete year in service (subject to pay grade). With a total package up to £51,083 including bonuses and benefits, this is an excellent opportunity to advance your career in social care. This opportunity is available on a fixed term contract until September 2026.

Occupational Therapists within Adult First Contact Service (AFCS) are responsible for:

• Screening and prioritising referrals that are received through the Contact Centre, working proactively to address immediate Occupational Therapy and social care needs with the aim of preventing longer term needs.
• Carrying a small caseload of priority cases, consisting of residents who will benefit from short term preventative Occupational Therapy interventions.
• Carrying out strengths-based comprehensive, specialist assessments and making recommendations to prevent, reduce and delay the need for ongoing social care.
• Making recommendations for major and minor adaptations and prescribing assistive equipment.
• Risk assessing and making recommendations for moving and handling needs.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following competencies:

• Degree or an equivalent qualification in Occupational Therapy, registered with HCPC.
• Experience of Occupational Therapy (minimum 2 years) including major adaptations and complex moving and handling.
• Experience of working with Adults and/or Children Social Care services, within a multidisciplinary team.
• Up to date knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance in relation to working with and safeguarding vulnerable adults and children in social care.

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work-life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-31 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave.
• Two volunteering days per year.
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role).
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks.
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses.
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres.
• Interest free season ticket loans.
• Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme.
• Zip car scheme.
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from underrepresented groups.