Technical Instructor - Vocational in Retford

The closing date is 25 November 2025. The posts are situated at Rampton Hospital, part of the Forensic Division within the Trust, one of three High Secure Hospitals in England. We are the only Hospital in the country to provide High Secure care to patients who are women, who are deaf or who have Learning Disabilities, alongside our Mental Health and Personality Disorder treatment pathways.

We are looking to recruit Band 3 Vocational Technical Instructors who will be working predominantly in horticulture, woodcraft, graphic design and print shop in addition to supporting sessions in the Day Unit. The position will be based in one of the four Day Units under management of the Therapies and Education Service. The successful candidate will work closely with ward staff as well as Therapies and Education Service staff to engage patients in meaningful occupation based on assessment compiled by the Occupational Therapist and the identified needs of the individual patient. The Day Unit teams are central to the care, treatment and recovery of our patient groups. These posts play an important part to support clinical staff in providing a program of therapeutic interventions for patients across the service.

The post holder will work with patients who are at risk to themselves and others and require treatment in a high secure setting. The post holder will supervise, instruct and support patients in activities relating to their treatment programmes both within the unit and on the wards and within the workshops listed above.

• Contribute to and assist in the delivery of a needs led recovery programme based on the individual patient's required needs.
• Contribute to the daily functioning of the designated area of work.
• Be actively involved in the treatment of individual patients.
• Work with other Technical Instructors and Occupational Therapists and Therapeutic Involvement Workers to ensure full packages of care are delivered.
• Successfully time manage and prioritise areas of responsibility.
• Attend relevant service and wider meetings as required and appropriate.
• Communicate effectively within own service and with other colleagues.
• Accurately record statistical information.
• With support, keep accurate, appropriate and contemporaneous patient records in accordance with the Forensic Information Governance Group and Trust Policy.
• Undertake administrative tasks as required by the service and the Directorate.
• Ensure that resources are available within the service to deliver the planned therapeutic activities.
• Undertake other duties or tasks as required as consistent with the job role and grade.

About us Nottinghamshire Healthcare employs over 10,000 colleagues who help #MakeADifference every day. We provide intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire. Care is delivered from over 120 sites within the community from acute settings and across low, medium and high secure environments including prisons. As one of the largest mental health and community trusts in the East Midlands and one of the biggest employers in Nottinghamshire.

We are also home to national and regional services such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health. We are committed to flexible and agile working, including the opportunity to join our bank. Your health and wellbeing is our priority and as such we invest significantly in this via our in-house Occupational Health Service, Staff Counselling Service and Health and Wellbeing Team.

We offer a number of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) groups, our Green Champions Network, Freedom to Speak Up Network, Health and Wellbeing Champions Network and Menopause Champions. We provide care to a diverse range of communities and are passionate about supporting diversity and inclusion in the Trust. If you believe in our values of Trust, Honesty, Respect, Compassion and Teamwork, then we would love to hear from you!

Please see the attached documents detailing the job description and person specification for this post.

Please note this post does not meet skill level required for a Skilled worker visa. Successful applicants with no prior NHS experience would normally be placed at the bottom of the band in line with Agenda for Change. This salary is below the minimum salary required for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa. In these circumstances the Trust would not, therefore, be able to sponsor for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa. Applicants requiring a Skilled Worker Visa can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship against the relevant criteria.

• Physical Requirements
  • Ability to undertake relevant mandatory training and engage in the management of violence and aggression, commensurate to the role.
  • Occasional requirement to exert intense physical effort throughout the period of work to respond to incidents.
  • The ability to undertake manual handling tasks in line with policy and procedures.
• Qualifications
  • Qualification in NVQ Level 1 or equivalent GCSE grades in Maths and English.
  • Trained to NVQ Level I or equivalent experience in related vocational environment.
  • Qualifications relevant to what the vocational services offer.
• Training
  • Willingness to complete and engage in further training appropriate to the area of expertise.
  • Training specific to mental health care.
  • Training specific to the area of expertise (such as gardening, group working, woodcrafts, graphic design and printing).
• Experience
  • Experience of working with individuals within a healthcare setting.
  • Experience and understanding of working in team setting, liaising with colleagues, other agencies and services.
  • Experience of communicating with range of other agencies within healthcare setting.
  • Experience of working within Occupational therapy teams.
  • Experience of working within mental health or the forensic setting.
• Knowledge
  • Demonstrates an awareness of mental health services.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of cultural and diversity needs of individuals.
  • Has an awareness of health and safety issues within the work place.
  • Has a basic understanding of the purpose and role of Occupational therapy within mental health care.
  • Understanding of forensic high secure services.
• Skills
  • Ability to motivate others.
  • Basic IT skills.
  • Ability to communicate to a range of people on a range of matters, in a range of forms.
  • Ability to identify own development needs with support of others.
  • Ability to identify risk and to take responsibility for self and others in ensuring legislation, policies and procedures are followed in the work place.
  • Ability to actively participate in development of the service.
• Contractual Requirements
  • Ability to adapt to changing services and be flexible in approach.
• Values and Behaviours
  • All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust, Honesty, Respect, Compassion, Teamwork.
  • All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role.
• Disclosure and Barring Service Check

  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.

Employer name: Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

£24,937 to £26,598 a year per annum (pro rata for part time) + £7,000 High Secure Allowance.