Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 27 October 2025

Job summary

Working Full or Part time hours

We are looking for a motivated, enthusiastic and dynamic Rotational Occupational Therapist who integrates quickly into a team setting and who will support in driving service provisions forward.

We offer:

  • Good team support
  • A supportive and reflective learning environment
  • Regular formal and informal supervision provided by experienced Occupational Therapy staff
  • Opportunity to engage in Service wide clinical governance activities

Clinical areas include Medical/Surgical Rehab, Neurology, Rapid Response, and Community. The post holder will provide specialist Occupational Therapy to the allocated rotational areas.

Applicants must be experienced Occupational Therapists with HCPC registration and able to demonstrate they have successfully completed a broad range of rotations at Band 5 grade within the NHS.

Good time management skills, organisational skills and an ability to work under pressure are essential requirements to this post.

Rotations will be 6 months and some areas are 7 day services.

The post holder will be part of a senior network for peer support and professional development and will contribute to the development of Band 5 Occupational Therapists, Therapy Assistants and Students when on placement. Participation on the trusts on-call rota is an integral part of the post.

Part-time/Flexible Working/Alternative Working Available.

Main duties of the job

  • To work as an autonomous practitioner to perform a specialist occupational therapy assessment of patients with diverse presentations. To use clinical reasoning to provide a diagnosis and develop, deliver and adapt individualised treatment programmes.
  • To implement monitoring and evaluation of treatment in order to measure progress and outcomes to ensure effectiveness of interventions and service delivery.
  • To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work and that of supervised physiotherapists and assistants, and hold responsibility for own caseload for a specialist area of the service, working without direct supervision.
  • To provide clinical cover, as appropriate during staff absence with guidance and support of a senior member of staff if required.
  • To participate in 7 day working as per service requirements, in evening and/or weekend duty rotas and/or emergency/on call rotas. To provide treatment to patients and to provide advice to medical and nursing staff and other members of the multidisciplinary team without direct supervision.
  • To identify and carry out Home Visits in accordance with Trust and Professional standards and to assess patient condition and suitability for discharge and where appropriate supervise physiotherapists and assistants in these tasks (If applicable)

About us

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

  • The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
  • Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
  • Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Trust employs over 5916 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 411,000. This includes 361,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

Details

Date posted

17 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year pa pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

210-2025-686

Job locations

Countess of Chester Hospital

Liverpool Road

Chester

CH2 1UL


Job description

Job responsibilities

See Job Description for further details.

Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application.

Job description

Job responsibilities

See Job Description for further details.

Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree in Occupational Therapy or equivalent
  • Relevant student training course or qualification
  • HCPC Registered

Desirable

  • Membership of professional body

Experience

Essential

  • Substantial post graduate experience
  • Evidence of post graduate short courses
  • Evidence of CPD and reflective practice
  • Evidence of group working and team working
  • Evidence of audit and/or research work

Desirable

  • First line management experience

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of current best practice in specialist OT area
  • Understanding of professional ethics and their application in practice
  • Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree in Occupational Therapy or equivalent
  • Relevant student training course or qualification
  • HCPC Registered

Desirable

  • Membership of professional body

Experience

Essential

  • Substantial post graduate experience
  • Evidence of post graduate short courses
  • Evidence of CPD and reflective practice
  • Evidence of group working and team working
  • Evidence of audit and/or research work

Desirable

  • First line management experience

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of current best practice in specialist OT area
  • Understanding of professional ethics and their application in practice
  • Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Countess of Chester Hospital

Liverpool Road

Chester

CH2 1UL


Employer's website

https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Countess of Chester Hospital

Liverpool Road

Chester

CH2 1UL


Employer's website

https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Lead Therapist for Inpatients

Deborah Conwell

deborah.conwell@nhs.net

01244362531

Details

Date posted

17 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year pa pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

210-2025-686

Job locations

Countess of Chester Hospital

Liverpool Road

Chester

CH2 1UL


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

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