Job summary
Are you an Occupational Therapist with an interest in rehabilitation in a mental health community setting? This is an opportunity for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist to work in a Recovery Orientated Community Rehabilitation Enhanced Support Team (CREST) supporting individuals with complex mental health needs.
CREST is a part of the mental health complex rehabilitation pathway focused on providing different ways of working with individuals who have spent long periods of time in hospital. The service is dedicated to providing psychologically informed, flexible, individualised packages of care to build service user confidence to live a meaningful life in the community, as an alternative to a hospital complex rehabilitation placement. CREST is currently undergoing development and will be transforming into a Leeds place-based community rehabilitation service March 2026, the service will continue to work with Leeds service users who may be outside of the Leeds area.
As part of our Occupational Therapy offer we are looking to recruit a Band 6 OT with experience of working with individuals within community and/or rehabilitation settings who are interested in supporting individuals to live meaningful lives in the community. The role will support managing a case load and co-producing care plans to meet an individual's recovery goals and evaluating the effectiveness of these.
Main duties of the job
You will contribute to MDT assessments and discussions and contribute to ensuring that we remain service-user focussed, working safely and effectively in collaboration with the other agencies that may be involved with their care. Liaison with other involved professionals will be an important part of the role as well as supporting the wider MDT.
There will also be the opportunity to connect with other occupational therapists across the service line. You will have access to profession specific supervision, line management supervision and reflective practice. We will also support in continuing professional development.
CREST is currently undergoing significant service development and will become a Leeds place-based community rehabilitation team as part of the Complex Psychosis Pathway in March 2026, the service will continue to work with Leeds service users some who may reside outside of the Leeds area. In view of this we strongly recommend you get in touch before applying.
About us
The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.
There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.
We also have an incredible bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.
Applicants should be aware that any individual requiring a visa to work in the UK, the Trust provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles only (this does not include Healthcare Support Workers). This is an essential requirement, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you do not meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The role will involve working closely with the OT lead, establishing new ways of working in the community for people with complex mental health and intensive rehabilitation needs. The job will focus on identifying, assessing, planning and carrying out interventions related to a service users rehabilitation needs. There is no care co-ordination within this role, however the candidate must be able to work flexibly across 7-days.
The post holder will work alongside the wider MDT team to assess individuals and identify occupational need, barriers to discharge, community support needs and identifying interventions and care plans which can support the transition of service users stepping down to a less restrictive environment. They will have a good working knowledge of the principles of recovery and will practice clinically in a way that encourages therapeutic optimism and hope with service users, and work collaboratively to promote independence. The service has a strong commitment to co-production and work closely with co-production colleagues in engaging service users in the development of the service.
We are looking to expand our team with individuals who share our passion for promoting recovery and supporting transition from locked rehabilitation environments into less restrictive environments. CREST work using a team approach to deliver care interventions which have been identified through the assessment process which is supported by a diverse multi-disciplinary team which includes peer support, medics, addictions specialist, family engagement worker, psychologists, occupational therapists and nurses.
Due to the nature of the service user group there is a need for high levels of multi-agency working to ensure effective communication and maintaining high levels of care being delivered to service users on their recovery journey, and liaison with supported housing and other NHS and third sector organisations is something that the successful candidate will be required to undertake on a regular basis. The service is a regional service working across the West Yorkshire ICB.
You will be someone who can inspire others, create hope and make positive connections to help people build a meaningful life in the community.. You will be at the forefront of delivering a rehabilitative service with contemporary Occupational Therapy interventions to help people get home and live fulfilling lives in the community.
This means that supporting discharge from hospital requires flexible and intensive transitional community support closer to home, in the least restrictive environment, providing consistent, recovery focussed and contemporary interventions and integrated pathways of care. Being multi-disciplinary and multi-agency in nature it will create psychologically informed flexible care packages to support discharge home.
The Complex Rehabilitation project is part of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care System (WYICS) Programme for Mental Health and Learning Disability. Consultation with service users, carers, commissioners and mental health providers has highlighted the service user experience and challenges for people placed within mental health complex (locked) rehabilitation placements from West Yorkshire. Many people have experienced long lengths of stay in locked hospital placements, are disconnected from a community. Service users have shared very powerful experiences with us, describing a community model as not just about keeping me safe its about building a life worth living.
If working in an innovative recovery focused team is something that you like the sound of, and youd like additional information then please do get in contact to find out more about the role and CREST and the ambitions for the future service.
We recognise the importance of ensuring that our services are reflective of the communities we serve and champion diversity and inclusion. As part of a wider strategy to improve healthcare career opportunities for all, we would particularly welcome applicants from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. We are committed to implementing the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards and welcome staff members from all racial backgrounds who commit to these standards.
We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.
All our information is available in accessible formats. Please contact the Recruitment team recruitment.lypft@nhs.netAttached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.
If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.
So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The role will involve working closely with the OT lead, establishing new ways of working in the community for people with complex mental health and intensive rehabilitation needs. The job will focus on identifying, assessing, planning and carrying out interventions related to a service users rehabilitation needs. There is no care co-ordination within this role, however the candidate must be able to work flexibly across 7-days.
The post holder will work alongside the wider MDT team to assess individuals and identify occupational need, barriers to discharge, community support needs and identifying interventions and care plans which can support the transition of service users stepping down to a less restrictive environment. They will have a good working knowledge of the principles of recovery and will practice clinically in a way that encourages therapeutic optimism and hope with service users, and work collaboratively to promote independence. The service has a strong commitment to co-production and work closely with co-production colleagues in engaging service users in the development of the service.
We are looking to expand our team with individuals who share our passion for promoting recovery and supporting transition from locked rehabilitation environments into less restrictive environments. CREST work using a team approach to deliver care interventions which have been identified through the assessment process which is supported by a diverse multi-disciplinary team which includes peer support, medics, addictions specialist, family engagement worker, psychologists, occupational therapists and nurses.
Due to the nature of the service user group there is a need for high levels of multi-agency working to ensure effective communication and maintaining high levels of care being delivered to service users on their recovery journey, and liaison with supported housing and other NHS and third sector organisations is something that the successful candidate will be required to undertake on a regular basis. The service is a regional service working across the West Yorkshire ICB.
You will be someone who can inspire others, create hope and make positive connections to help people build a meaningful life in the community.. You will be at the forefront of delivering a rehabilitative service with contemporary Occupational Therapy interventions to help people get home and live fulfilling lives in the community.
This means that supporting discharge from hospital requires flexible and intensive transitional community support closer to home, in the least restrictive environment, providing consistent, recovery focussed and contemporary interventions and integrated pathways of care. Being multi-disciplinary and multi-agency in nature it will create psychologically informed flexible care packages to support discharge home.
The Complex Rehabilitation project is part of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care System (WYICS) Programme for Mental Health and Learning Disability. Consultation with service users, carers, commissioners and mental health providers has highlighted the service user experience and challenges for people placed within mental health complex (locked) rehabilitation placements from West Yorkshire. Many people have experienced long lengths of stay in locked hospital placements, are disconnected from a community. Service users have shared very powerful experiences with us, describing a community model as not just about keeping me safe its about building a life worth living.
If working in an innovative recovery focused team is something that you like the sound of, and youd like additional information then please do get in contact to find out more about the role and CREST and the ambitions for the future service.
We recognise the importance of ensuring that our services are reflective of the communities we serve and champion diversity and inclusion. As part of a wider strategy to improve healthcare career opportunities for all, we would particularly welcome applicants from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. We are committed to implementing the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards and welcome staff members from all racial backgrounds who commit to these standards.
We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.
All our information is available in accessible formats. Please contact the Recruitment team recruitment.lypft@nhs.netAttached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.
If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.
So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Previous experience in delivering a range of interventions with a recovery focus.
- Liaison with other agencies.
- Experience of working individuals with mental health needs
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised professional qualification e.g. BSc/Dip OT
Knowledge / Skills
Essential
- Demonstrates the ability to plan and deliver safe and effective care, to address rehabilitation needs.
- Understanding of the role of risk with the client group, and identifying these to feedback to the MDT.
- Delivery of evidence-based OT interventions in a mental health setting
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Previous experience in delivering a range of interventions with a recovery focus.
- Liaison with other agencies.
- Experience of working individuals with mental health needs
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised professional qualification e.g. BSc/Dip OT
Knowledge / Skills
Essential
- Demonstrates the ability to plan and deliver safe and effective care, to address rehabilitation needs.
- Understanding of the role of risk with the client group, and identifying these to feedback to the MDT.
- Delivery of evidence-based OT interventions in a mental health setting
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
