Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist in Hereford

Herefordshire Council’s Independent Living Service is recruiting qualified, experienced, HCPC registered Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapists to join our friendly team of Occupational Therapists and OT Assistants. Working in Adult Social Care across the communities of Herefordshire, we are seeking motivated, committed individuals with a passion for leading practice, staff development and driving positive change.

As a Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist within an Adult Social Care setting, you will provide OT leadership, clinical supervision, and expert OT guidance, championing best practice, workforce development, and quality improvement. You will have direct responsibility for a small Occupational Therapy staff group and operational management of service users awaiting Occupational Therapy assessment. You will hold a small complex caseload and collaborate with stakeholders across adult social care and local integrated care pathways to deliver person-centred, quality OT services aligned with Care Act principles, statutory duties and legislative compliance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership, supervision, and mentoring to Occupational Therapy and Adult Social Care staff, promoting the development of Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Trusted Assessors, promoting consistent, strengths‑based practice.
• Support duty/triage and assessment waiting lists functions — liaising with people, prioritising referrals, case allocations, arrangements for intermediate support and guiding proportionate responses.
• Lead on complex assessments and clinical decision‑making; prescribe equipment and recommend minor/major adaptations that remove barriers to daily living.
• Maintain oversight of clinical OT standards, OT professional practice, and safeguarding across the team, ensuring professional practice standards and legislative compliance are maintained.
• Conduct service audits, development initiatives, and continuous professional development programmes.
• Co-work complex cases, offering expert advice and intervention guidance.
• Maintain close collaborations with Social Care, Health, Housing, and outside agencies to ensure practice and services align with Adult Social Care legislation, clinical pathways and local governance frameworks.

About You:

As a Senior Practitioner Occupational Therapist, you will work as part of a wider team with scope to practice with a diverse service user group within rural, town, village and city settings. You will require HCPC registration and substantial post‑qualification experience in adult social care, with proven supervisory and mentor skills and efficient professional capability to prioritise duties and responsibilities, identify and manage complex risk. You will need to possess strong interpersonal, communication and organisational skills, the ability to work autonomously and as part of a wider, integrated team and employ initiative taking the lead on complex functional assessments and service improvements.

The Independent Living Service is managed centrally by a Service Manager and qualified Occupational Therapy Deputy Manager. We will shortly be opening a new Assessment & Demonstration Centre focusing on developing our front door assessment and advice services. We work in partnership within Adult Social Care, housing, health and across all age Directorates.

We Offer:

• A competitive salary, holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme.
• Salary range of £40,777 - £45,091.
• Enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Career progression: clear pathways to progress.
• Annual Leave: 31 days’ annual leave (pro rata).