Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner

The closing date is 04 January 2026

Job summary

Do you have skills in motivating people, building people's independence and supporting people to achieve their Recovery goals!?

The Community Therapy Service in Great Yarmouth is looking for an Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join their friendly team for 12 months or until April '27, whichever is shortest, to cover maternity leave.

The post-holder will receive regular clinical and management supervision, and professional guidance from our knowledgeable, experienced and supportive team.

Main duties of the job

The Community Therapy Service is a team of Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioners, Peer Support Workers and an Art Psychotherapist working with service users under the umbrella of the Community Mental Health Team. This team provides specialist therapeutic interventions to support people on their recovery journey in the community. working alongside Service Users who have a mental health diagnosis. Your role would be to instil hope, inspire confidence, and work collaboratively with individuals to meet their goals and build on life skills. This would include facilitating 1:1 and group sessions at the Resource Centre at Northgate Hospital, in the community and in people's homes.

About us

Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.

Details

Date posted

24 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year Gross per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

246-GYW7662457

Job locations

Northgate Hospital, Resource Centre

Northgate Street

Great Yarmouth

NR30 1BU


Job description

Job responsibilities

The role is varied and creative, and it is expected that you would bring your own skills to add to the team. The postholder would work alongside registered Occupational Therapists, providing Occupational Therapy interventions to support people to meet their recovery goals by improving their access to the community, building confidence and resilience and empowering people to be able to do the things they need and want to do. We are looking for someone who has experience of working with adult mental health service users and can apply those skills to a community setting.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The role is varied and creative, and it is expected that you would bring your own skills to add to the team. The postholder would work alongside registered Occupational Therapists, providing Occupational Therapy interventions to support people to meet their recovery goals by improving their access to the community, building confidence and resilience and empowering people to be able to do the things they need and want to do. We are looking for someone who has experience of working with adult mental health service users and can apply those skills to a community setting.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with groups of people
  • Ability to work both independently and under supervision

Desirable

  • Experience of working within mental health

Qualifications

Essential

  • Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care/mental health or Apprenticeship in H&SC/mental health L5 or Equivalent Qualification at L5 or above in related subject

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to work unsupervised in clinical/ community settings
  • Working within groups
  • Good communication skills (written and verbal).
  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Good Interpersonal skills.
  • Reasonable confidence and competence in using IT systems (e.g. Outlook, Word, clinical or other record systems) relevant to the role.

Knowledge

Essential

  • An understanding of Occupational Therapy and the importance of meaningful occupations.
  • Health and safety risk awareness

Other

Essential

  • Ability to undertake and maintain annual, PMVA training (Personal Safety for community roles and full PMVA training for inpatient roles)
  • Ability to travel independently (community roles)

Desirable

  • Ability to travel independently (inpatient roles)
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with groups of people
  • Ability to work both independently and under supervision

Desirable

  • Experience of working within mental health

Qualifications

Essential

  • Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care/mental health or Apprenticeship in H&SC/mental health L5 or Equivalent Qualification at L5 or above in related subject

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to work unsupervised in clinical/ community settings
  • Working within groups
  • Good communication skills (written and verbal).
  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Good Interpersonal skills.
  • Reasonable confidence and competence in using IT systems (e.g. Outlook, Word, clinical or other record systems) relevant to the role.

Knowledge

Essential

  • An understanding of Occupational Therapy and the importance of meaningful occupations.
  • Health and safety risk awareness

Other

Essential

  • Ability to undertake and maintain annual, PMVA training (Personal Safety for community roles and full PMVA training for inpatient roles)
  • Ability to travel independently (community roles)

Desirable

  • Ability to travel independently (inpatient roles)

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).

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

Northgate Hospital, Resource Centre

Northgate Street

Great Yarmouth

NR30 1BU


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

Northgate Hospital, Resource Centre

Northgate Street

Great Yarmouth

NR30 1BU


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Clinical Team Leader

Taryn Hammersley

taryn.hammersley@nsft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

24 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year Gross per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

246-GYW7662457

Job locations

Northgate Hospital, Resource Centre

Northgate Street

Great Yarmouth

NR30 1BU


Supporting documents

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