Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Team Lead - Acute Occupational Therapy

The closing date is 25 December 2025

Job summary

The Great Western Hospital is seeking a Band 7 Team Lead Occupational Therapist to come and join our Acute Occupational Therapy Team.

The Great Western Hospital is seeking an enthusiastic and motivated Band 7 Team Lead Occupational Therapist to join our Acute Occupational Therapy Team.

This is a fantastic opportunity to step into a senior leadership role within a busy acute setting, working collaboratively with our existing Band 7 Team Lead to ensure smooth service delivery, shared leadership responsibilities and consistent support for the wider OT team. Together, you will provide operational oversight, clinical leadership and day-to-day coordination across a range of medical and surgical wards.

You will also work closely with our Band 7 Clinical Specialists, whose expertise supports quality patient care across areas such as Palliative Care, Frailty, Cardiology and Respiratory. Through strong partnership and shared decision-making, you'll help align leadership, specialist input and service priorities to ensure the team delivers safe, effective and patient-centred care.

If you'd like to learn more about this opportunity or arrange a visit to meet the team, please contact:

Michaela Kirby - michaela.kirby1@nhs.netBriony Howard - briony.howard1@nhs.net? 01793 646371

Main duties of the job

You'll be part of a vibrant OT service of 22 qualified OTs, assistants and apprentices, offering a friendly, collaborative and supportive working environment. Through our Improving Together methodology, you'll have the opportunity to lead and implement quality improvement initiatives and influence service developments.

At Great Western, we invest in our people. Through the Great Western Academy, you'll have access to a wide range of training, leadership programmes and higher-education opportunities to support your growth in this senior role.

To oversee, coordinate, and further develop the Acute Occupational Therapy service at the Great Western Hospital site. To work collaboratively with the existing Acute Occupational Therapy Team Lead to ensure consistent, high-quality service delivery. To provide specialist clinical expertise and professional leadership to both qualified and unqualified staff, as well as to the wider multidisciplinary team. To act as the representative for Acute Occupational Therapy, delivering service updates and contributing to senior leadership across the Great Western site, while deputising for the Acute Therapies Lead when required.

About us

Our STAR values - Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect - are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.

Details

Date posted

11 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year pro rata per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Job share, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

249-7612179

Job locations

Great Western Hospital

Marlborough Road

Swindon

SN3 6BB


Job description

Job responsibilities

Main responsibilities and duties.

1. To ensure the achievement of National, local and Trust performance indicators, to deliver a high quality, effective service, where patient experience and safety is central.

2. To demonstrate leadership including change management skills through the management of designated projects, which contribute to the departments clinical governance and service development plan and its implementation e.g. developing care pathways, setting and monitoring of standards, being the occupational therapy lead in multidisciplinary working groups.

3. To lead on the implementation of local and National guidelines to meet local clinical governance standards.

4. Ensure Trust clinical and non-clinical policies, procedures and guidelines are strictly adhered to at all times.

5. Make recommendations for changes to practice and may lead the implementation of specific changes to practice.

6. To undertake and lead audits relevant to the service area, disseminating findings at local level

7. Contribute to the Trusts clinical governance and quality agenda, providing evidence from the CQC Action Plan, attending the CQC meetings and checking the quality report.

8. Undertake regular continued professional development to develop own clinical knowledge and professional skills, developing the service in line with Evidence Based Practice.

9. To participate in local and Trust wide service development and projects, representing for Acute OT, delegating to team members where appropriate.

Patient Care

10. To use specialist clinical assessment and reasoning skills to provide autonomous specialist assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of patients presenting with a combination of high risk, chronic and acute problems and medical conditions

11. To work with patients to identify Occupational Therapy goals as part of the overall care plan.

12. To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.

13. To work closely and communicate effectively with the MDT and Partner organisations to ensure the delivery of high-quality services to patients and facilitate timely discharges and appropriate referrals.

14. To maintain accurate paper and electronic records in accordance with the professional and organisational standards.

15. To promote and communicate the role of Occupational Therapy and service priorities to the MDT.

16. To lead on and support staff to communicate sensitive or emotive information regarding a patients treatment, goals, progress and potential for recovery, recommending appropriate pathways for discharge to patients, relatives, carers, associated agencies and other professionals.

17. You will frequently be exposed to distressing and emotional circumstances involving patients and relatives and occasionally have to deal with patients and relatives following a serious, traumatic or terminal incident.

18. You may need to treat patients in environments with limited space and privacy, adjusting your assessment as needed to still maintain patient dignity.

19. You will be required to work alone in some environments and manage both the clinical and personal risk.

20. To understand and adhere to national guidelines and legislation relating to health and social care and their impact on service provision.

21. To comply with HCPC and the College of Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, national guidelines and Trust procedures.

Financial Responsibilities

22. To manage the departmental budget, equipment and resources in a responsible and justified way with clear benefits to the team and organisation.

Responsibilities for people or training

23. To ensure the team receive regular and relevant training utilising in-service training, mandatory training and external courses as appropriate, to maintain compliance with RCOT standards of practice and maintain HCPC registration.

24. To provide direct supervision to the senior OTs within the team, investing, encouraging and supporting the development of all staff to ensure the highest possible standard of OT provision across the Acute setting and aid retention.

25. To support local universities by providing clinical placements, accessing Practice Educator training and supporting staff to supervise Occupational Therapy students.

26. To ensure all staff and students receive a comprehensive induction to the Trust and team.

27. To co-ordinate and monitor the supervision and appraisal of staff.

28. To lead daily caseload meetings and team meetings with the Acute OT team to cascade information, seek opinions and facilitate team support.

29. To ensure caseload and referral data is kept up to date with support from the Informatics Team, providing reports when required.

30. Maintaining the Health Roster including use of annual leave, sickness absence, TOIL, overtime and weekend working.

31. To be responsible workforce planning and recruitment for the team.

32. To be aware of the performance and absence management processes, monitoring staff, utilising policies and seeking support and guidance from HR as required.

33. To lead on the investigation of Incidents and Complaints, in line with Trust policies and Procedures, liaising with PALS and sharing any learning with the team and wider Acute Therapies.

34. To coordinate and participate as part of the team weekend working rotas.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main responsibilities and duties.

1. To ensure the achievement of National, local and Trust performance indicators, to deliver a high quality, effective service, where patient experience and safety is central.

2. To demonstrate leadership including change management skills through the management of designated projects, which contribute to the departments clinical governance and service development plan and its implementation e.g. developing care pathways, setting and monitoring of standards, being the occupational therapy lead in multidisciplinary working groups.

3. To lead on the implementation of local and National guidelines to meet local clinical governance standards.

4. Ensure Trust clinical and non-clinical policies, procedures and guidelines are strictly adhered to at all times.

5. Make recommendations for changes to practice and may lead the implementation of specific changes to practice.

6. To undertake and lead audits relevant to the service area, disseminating findings at local level

7. Contribute to the Trusts clinical governance and quality agenda, providing evidence from the CQC Action Plan, attending the CQC meetings and checking the quality report.

8. Undertake regular continued professional development to develop own clinical knowledge and professional skills, developing the service in line with Evidence Based Practice.

9. To participate in local and Trust wide service development and projects, representing for Acute OT, delegating to team members where appropriate.

Patient Care

10. To use specialist clinical assessment and reasoning skills to provide autonomous specialist assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of patients presenting with a combination of high risk, chronic and acute problems and medical conditions

11. To work with patients to identify Occupational Therapy goals as part of the overall care plan.

12. To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.

13. To work closely and communicate effectively with the MDT and Partner organisations to ensure the delivery of high-quality services to patients and facilitate timely discharges and appropriate referrals.

14. To maintain accurate paper and electronic records in accordance with the professional and organisational standards.

15. To promote and communicate the role of Occupational Therapy and service priorities to the MDT.

16. To lead on and support staff to communicate sensitive or emotive information regarding a patients treatment, goals, progress and potential for recovery, recommending appropriate pathways for discharge to patients, relatives, carers, associated agencies and other professionals.

17. You will frequently be exposed to distressing and emotional circumstances involving patients and relatives and occasionally have to deal with patients and relatives following a serious, traumatic or terminal incident.

18. You may need to treat patients in environments with limited space and privacy, adjusting your assessment as needed to still maintain patient dignity.

19. You will be required to work alone in some environments and manage both the clinical and personal risk.

20. To understand and adhere to national guidelines and legislation relating to health and social care and their impact on service provision.

21. To comply with HCPC and the College of Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, national guidelines and Trust procedures.

Financial Responsibilities

22. To manage the departmental budget, equipment and resources in a responsible and justified way with clear benefits to the team and organisation.

Responsibilities for people or training

23. To ensure the team receive regular and relevant training utilising in-service training, mandatory training and external courses as appropriate, to maintain compliance with RCOT standards of practice and maintain HCPC registration.

24. To provide direct supervision to the senior OTs within the team, investing, encouraging and supporting the development of all staff to ensure the highest possible standard of OT provision across the Acute setting and aid retention.

25. To support local universities by providing clinical placements, accessing Practice Educator training and supporting staff to supervise Occupational Therapy students.

26. To ensure all staff and students receive a comprehensive induction to the Trust and team.

27. To co-ordinate and monitor the supervision and appraisal of staff.

28. To lead daily caseload meetings and team meetings with the Acute OT team to cascade information, seek opinions and facilitate team support.

29. To ensure caseload and referral data is kept up to date with support from the Informatics Team, providing reports when required.

30. Maintaining the Health Roster including use of annual leave, sickness absence, TOIL, overtime and weekend working.

31. To be responsible workforce planning and recruitment for the team.

32. To be aware of the performance and absence management processes, monitoring staff, utilising policies and seeking support and guidance from HR as required.

33. To lead on the investigation of Incidents and Complaints, in line with Trust policies and Procedures, liaising with PALS and sharing any learning with the team and wider Acute Therapies.

34. To coordinate and participate as part of the team weekend working rotas.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy or equivalent training and experience
  • Registration with HCPC
  • Professional knowledge acquired through degree supplemented by further training, short specialist courses, to master's equivalent level Willingness to undertake further training

Desirable

  • Leadership training courses
  • Practice Educator training/qualification
  • RCOT membership

Experience

Essential

  • oSpecialist clinical experience in complex caseload management and discharge planning within an Acute setting. oAbility to assess and identify complex equipment to facilitate safe discharges. oSound working knowledge of legislation and clinical governance relevant to the clinical area. oLeading within a multi professional team, sharing specialist skills and coordinating complex discharges. oUnderstanding and experience of working with Partner Organisations and Community Teams. oManaging conflict/difficult conversations oExperience of leading the day to day management of a team and coordinating team caseloads. oAbility to reprioritise own workload in order to support your colleagues. oStaff development through supervision and appraisal oExperience of and involvement in service development.

Desirable

  • oService review and change management oParticipation in recruitment process oExperience of budget management and workforce planning oExperience of incident and complaint management oExperience of performance and/or absence management
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy or equivalent training and experience
  • Registration with HCPC
  • Professional knowledge acquired through degree supplemented by further training, short specialist courses, to master's equivalent level Willingness to undertake further training

Desirable

  • Leadership training courses
  • Practice Educator training/qualification
  • RCOT membership

Experience

Essential

  • oSpecialist clinical experience in complex caseload management and discharge planning within an Acute setting. oAbility to assess and identify complex equipment to facilitate safe discharges. oSound working knowledge of legislation and clinical governance relevant to the clinical area. oLeading within a multi professional team, sharing specialist skills and coordinating complex discharges. oUnderstanding and experience of working with Partner Organisations and Community Teams. oManaging conflict/difficult conversations oExperience of leading the day to day management of a team and coordinating team caseloads. oAbility to reprioritise own workload in order to support your colleagues. oStaff development through supervision and appraisal oExperience of and involvement in service development.

Desirable

  • oService review and change management oParticipation in recruitment process oExperience of budget management and workforce planning oExperience of incident and complaint management oExperience of performance and/or absence management

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

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Great Western Hospital

Marlborough Road

Swindon

SN3 6BB


Employer's website

https://www.gwh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Great Western Hospital

Marlborough Road

Swindon

SN3 6BB


Employer's website

https://www.gwh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Acute Occupational Therapy Team Lead

Michaela Kirby

michaela.kirby1@nhs.net

01793646371

Details

Date posted

11 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year pro rata per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Job share, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

249-7612179

Job locations

Great Western Hospital

Marlborough Road

Swindon

SN3 6BB


Supporting documents

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