Senior Occupational Therapist

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 15 May 2025

Job summary

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is an exciting place to be an Occupational Therapist and it is a highly valued role in our Trust's approach to multi-disciplinary care. We have sound professional structures to lead and inspire our Occupational Therapy workforce. We are committed to delivering excellent services, putting occupation at the centre of our work and championing peoples' rights for occupational needs to be recognised and addressed.

We are seeking a dynamic and enthusiastic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to work in the Acute Older Adult Inpatient Unit at the Harbour, Blackpool; delivering care to service users who are experiencing mental health problems. The successful candidate will be responsible for caseloads, assessing patients within the hospital and home environments and supporting with patient centred care and timely discharges to home or the most appropriate placement.

You will have the opportunity to further develop and enhance your skills and will be expected to provide professional supervision for our Band 5, Band 4 and Band 3 Occupational Therapy staff. You will receive regular professional supervision from a Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist and you will be supported and encouraged with your own professional development. We are looking for an enthusiastic OT who is keen to work with older adults in mental health and to develop their clinical skills in this exciting area.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will deliver a range of group and/or individual interventions drawn from relevant frames of reference, demonstrating sophisticated clinical reasoning skills. They will prioritise planning and delivering interventions for older adults whose mental health problems have a marked impact on their occupational functioning and who have complex occupational needs. This senior position requires achieving an appropriate balance between the provision of specialist occupational therapy and taking on shared roles that contribute to the efficient functioning of the team.

As an emergent leader and skilful communicator, the post holder will liaise and negotiate across service boundaries and in varied settings. They are research aware, and use evidence to support and develop practice. The post holder will provide regular fieldwork opportunities for occupational therapy undergraduates.

The post holder represents a specialist clinical resource with whom other team members can consult on the complex and very idiosyncratic impact mental health problems can have on peoples' occupational performance, and advises the team with regard to the relationship between mental health and occupation. They champion social inclusion and employment issues, and are a key contributor to meeting the team's objectives concerning promoting its service users' greater social inclusion, health promotion and quality of life

About us

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Date posted

02 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£37,338 to £44,962 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

351-FYL609-SRP

Job locations

The Harbour

Windmill Rise

Blackpool

FY4 4FE

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

Diploma/BSC (Hons) in Occupational Therapy (OT).
State registered with Health Professionals Council.
Post Graduate training relevant to mental health work in appropriate speciality.
Documented evidence of continuing professional development (CPO).
Practice Placement Qualification (Undergraduate OT student educator) within 1 year of appointment.
Demonstrable competencies in the delivery of assessment of and fitting of simple assistive equipment or the willingness to complete this training within 12 months of appointment.

Knowledge

Essential

Detailed knowledge of how mental health problems impact on occupational performance and how occupational therapy theory informs practice within mental health settings with a focus on older adult mental health and the clinical needs of this population.
Knowledge of current best practice in older adult inpatient mental health and awareness of relevant government directives and legislation.
Specialist knowledge and application of OT assessments and interventions using expert level clinical reasoning.

Experience

Essential

2 years post registration experience with at least 1 years in mental health.
Extensive clinical experiences including individual and group work in mental health specialties.
Familiarity with audit processes.

Skills & Abilities

Essential

Ability to work autonomously and set own and others priorities.
Understanding of the different diagnoses of dementia, the impact on occupational performance and the use of occupational therapy assessment and intervention to support continuing independence and to promote the ability to live well with dementia.
Literature reviewing skills and ability to prepare briefing papers and written reports cogently.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

Diploma/BSC (Hons) in Occupational Therapy (OT).
State registered with Health Professionals Council.
Post Graduate training relevant to mental health work in appropriate speciality.
Documented evidence of continuing professional development (CPO).
Practice Placement Qualification (Undergraduate OT student educator) within 1 year of appointment.
Demonstrable competencies in the delivery of assessment of and fitting of simple assistive equipment or the willingness to complete this training within 12 months of appointment.

Knowledge

Essential

Detailed knowledge of how mental health problems impact on occupational performance and how occupational therapy theory informs practice within mental health settings with a focus on older adult mental health and the clinical needs of this population.
Knowledge of current best practice in older adult inpatient mental health and awareness of relevant government directives and legislation.
Specialist knowledge and application of OT assessments and interventions using expert level clinical reasoning.

Experience

Essential

2 years post registration experience with at least 1 years in mental health.
Extensive clinical experiences including individual and group work in mental health specialties.
Familiarity with audit processes.

Skills & Abilities

Essential

Ability to work autonomously and set own and others priorities.
Understanding of the different diagnoses of dementia, the impact on occupational performance and the use of occupational therapy assessment and intervention to support continuing independence and to promote the ability to live well with dementia.
Literature reviewing skills and ability to prepare briefing papers and written reports cogently.

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.