Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Lead Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 03 September 2025

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experience Band 6 or current Band 7 Occupational Therapist who is passionate about Stroke Rehabilitation to Lead Occupational Therapy provision at Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre (CICC).

CICC is a newly re-launched 22 bed Stroke Rehabilitation Unit providing inpatient rehabilitation for stroke survivors in the South East Essex area. You will work along side a close knit therapy team, consisting of OTs, Physio's, Speech and Language Therapists, Psychologists, Nursing staff and Rehabilitation Assistants.

Rehabilitation is goal focused, with an MDT approach utilising 1:1 therapy, group work and self management programmes .

The successful candidate will be responsible for the ongoing development of the therapy provision alongside the Band 7 Physio and SLT. There will be line management responsibility for both registered and non registered therapy staff.

This is a 1 year fixed term contract and due to this we will be unable to provide Visa Sponsorship.

Main duties of the job

  • The post holder is a Senior Occupational Therapist with specialist stroke rehabilitation skills who will be responsible for the provision and co-ordination of Occupational Therapy input within the Community Stroke Pathway including the Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre.

  • Provide expert neurological assessment and rehabilitation skills
  • To support the multi-disciplinary team to facilitate effective prevention of admission to hospital or residential care and facilitation of discharge from hospital to the Intermediate Care Services for stroke survivors
  • Manage and co-ordinate a caseload of patients following a diagnosis of a stroke who are undergoing rehabilitation program within CICC.
  • To oversee care provision and ensure that accurate records and risk assessment are maintained and regularly reviewed
  • To provide expert leadership to Stroke OT staff through support, supervision and appraisal
  • Work in close liaison with Social Services, Hospital Discharge Team and Commissioners to achieve and maintain smooth care pathways for patients
  • Work in conjunction with the Intermediate Care Matrons, Head of Intermediate Care and Commissioners on strategic development of IC services in line with future service changes
  • Assist in the collation of information to support the evaluation of services once commissioned.

About us

Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you.

  • Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential.
  • Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks.
  • If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.
  • We run recognition awards to recognise staff's hard work and dedication.

Benefits

  • 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years' service.
  • Excellent pension of up to14.5% of your pensionable pay.
  • Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits.
  • £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us
  • Season ticket loans are interest-free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.

Work that wraps around your needs

  • Flexible working: available from day one for most roles.
  • Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

Details

Date posted

20 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

364-A-9284

Job locations

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre, Rochford Hospital

Union Lane

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Job description

Job responsibilities

Service Provision

  • Ensure that the correct therapeutic environment is maintained in the bed based unit in order to support active rehabilitation programs for individual patients working collaboratively with all members of the team to achieve this.
  • Ensure that there is capacity within the Early supported discharge team for OT assessment and rehabilitation for the patients on the caseload.
  • Organise and maintain own diary and time to meet the demands of the stroke pathway within Intermediate Care Service and clinical case load as well as supervision and support of other Occupational Therapy Staff
  • Use and monitor use of IC services to ensure the best use is made of resources across the locality
  • Chair weekly meetings to review individual patient progress at CICC and organise discharge as required
  • Contribute to service development through involvement in project teams and steering groups to provide expert operational advise to enhance decision making
  • Be responsible for advising on the resources necessary to fulfil patient needs and requirements as the service develops
  • Take responsible care of the health and safety of self and others, ensuring policies and procedures for maintaining the provision of a safe environment are adhered to
  • Support and assist staff across Intermediate Care (including CICC, ESD and CCT) to maintain practice in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act
  • Identify and report on practices and areas of work that may have risk management implications to ensure the safety of patients and colleagues
  • Ensure that all risk events are reported promptly and in co-ordination with the Service Manager investigate incidents and complaints. Identifying remedial action plans and ensuring that actions are implemented in a timely fashion
  • Ensure the completion of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Service Incident Reports (SI) if necessary, to ensure that if problems do arise they are analysed, managed and lessons are learnt as effectively as possible
  • Work in partnership with the Service Manager and Director of Integrated Services to ensure that where harm to patients has been identified, patients and or their families are informed accordingly, kept abreast of the investigation and are notified in writing of the findings of the investigation, in line with the Trusts Duty of Candour

Clinical Responsibilities

  • To work as a specialised and autonomous practitioner and be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of work, including the clinical management of patients following a stroke.
  • To provide high quality assessment and treatment for a wide variety of medical diagnoses including neurological standardised assessments, social and environmental needs of the service users within the Intermediate care setting
  • To have extensive knowledge in specialist areas of Stroke assessment and rehabilitation.
  • To use expert knowledge to analyse and interpret data from multiple sources, including standardised tests to inform clinical diagnosis
  • To use this assessment information to work with clients to identify client centred therapy goals as part of the overall multi-disciplinary care plan

  • To use knowledge and experience of clinical conditions, together with clinical judgment and reasoning skills, to determine a clients fitness for rehabilitation at the time of assessment
  • To implement, monitor, evaluate treatment plans and modify interventions in order to measure progress and outcomes to ensure effectiveness of intervention
  • Communicate with patients, relatives, carers and members of the multidisciplinary team by telephone, face to face, in writing or electronically to ensure that discharge takes place in a timely fashion
  • Use excellent interpersonal skill to effectively communicate discharge information to patients/relatives who may sometimes be hostile and emotional regarding the options available
  • Ensure appropriate information is available to patients, relatives and carers in order for them to understand the discharge process and make informed decisions.
  • Ensure accurate records are maintained to allow for the effective auditing and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions
  • Contributes towards development of specialist policies and procedures, to ensure the effective delivery of care for patients with Intermediate Care
  • Be responsible for implementing agreed policy related to IC and informing members of the multi professional team of any changes
  • Participate in research audit programs as appropriate, being aware of relevant research finding and there implications that relate directly to the service.

Be a credible role model, able to demonstrate good practice to junior staff to maintain local, national and professional standards

  • Lead/participate in training and education programs as required
  • Continue to update and develop own clinical/theoretical knowledge relating to capacity and discharge to ensure personal approach is innovative, research based and of a high standard
  • Participate in the supervision and written assessment of OT students on practise placement with the organisation
  • Comply with the COT Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and local policies and procedures

Professional Advice

  • Act as a specialist resource to IC staff offering specialist advice and help in all aspects of care planning
  • Develop and maintain effective relationships with other agencies involved in discharge including the local social services, housing and other private providers of long term care, often communicating sensitive and confidential information
  • Lead/attend case conferences as appropriate, giving specialist advice and input as required
  • Lead/attend disciplinary meetings with other agencies involved in IC including Social Service, housing, Southend Hospital and Long Term Providers acting as the representative from IC ensuring accurate and timely information is available to facilitate patient care
  • Ensure effective partnership working with other services, notably other Intermediate Care Services, Wider Community Health Service GPs, Southend Hospital and Social

Management Responsibilities

  • To provide line management to Occupational Therapists within intermediate care services
  • Ensure effective staff management including adherence to policies and procedures to safeguard the well-being of patients and staff, to include staff appraisal and supervision, mandatory training, probationary and sickness policies
  • Identify staff training and development needs in order to ensure the workforce is fit for purpose and appropriately skilled to deliver the contracted activity, ensuring that care and compassion are central to all that we do and patients are treated with respect and dignity at all times.
  • Ensure staff receive feedback from audit, compliments and investigation of complaints to encourage staff to improve the patient experience
  • Participate together with the Service Manager to ensure effective utilisation of the resources, so as to remain within the allocated budget
  • Effectively manage resources including the skill mix and use of temporary staff.
  • Support the directorate in the implementation and achievement of CQUIN and CIP targets where necessary
  • Be responsible for the collection and collation of evidence to support CQC compliance
  • In liaison with the Service Manager set objectives for the delivery of care and rehabilitation within the unit and devise ways of implementing and monitoring these.
  • Directly manage identified budget lines within IC services related to one in-patient unit and generic therapy budget
  • Deal appropriately with complaints, concerns and compliments related to discharge across Intermediate Care
  • Participate in research and/or audit programmes relevant to IC as necessary, disseminating findings at local level.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Service Provision

  • Ensure that the correct therapeutic environment is maintained in the bed based unit in order to support active rehabilitation programs for individual patients working collaboratively with all members of the team to achieve this.
  • Ensure that there is capacity within the Early supported discharge team for OT assessment and rehabilitation for the patients on the caseload.
  • Organise and maintain own diary and time to meet the demands of the stroke pathway within Intermediate Care Service and clinical case load as well as supervision and support of other Occupational Therapy Staff
  • Use and monitor use of IC services to ensure the best use is made of resources across the locality
  • Chair weekly meetings to review individual patient progress at CICC and organise discharge as required
  • Contribute to service development through involvement in project teams and steering groups to provide expert operational advise to enhance decision making
  • Be responsible for advising on the resources necessary to fulfil patient needs and requirements as the service develops
  • Take responsible care of the health and safety of self and others, ensuring policies and procedures for maintaining the provision of a safe environment are adhered to
  • Support and assist staff across Intermediate Care (including CICC, ESD and CCT) to maintain practice in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act
  • Identify and report on practices and areas of work that may have risk management implications to ensure the safety of patients and colleagues
  • Ensure that all risk events are reported promptly and in co-ordination with the Service Manager investigate incidents and complaints. Identifying remedial action plans and ensuring that actions are implemented in a timely fashion
  • Ensure the completion of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Service Incident Reports (SI) if necessary, to ensure that if problems do arise they are analysed, managed and lessons are learnt as effectively as possible
  • Work in partnership with the Service Manager and Director of Integrated Services to ensure that where harm to patients has been identified, patients and or their families are informed accordingly, kept abreast of the investigation and are notified in writing of the findings of the investigation, in line with the Trusts Duty of Candour

Clinical Responsibilities

  • To work as a specialised and autonomous practitioner and be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of work, including the clinical management of patients following a stroke.
  • To provide high quality assessment and treatment for a wide variety of medical diagnoses including neurological standardised assessments, social and environmental needs of the service users within the Intermediate care setting
  • To have extensive knowledge in specialist areas of Stroke assessment and rehabilitation.
  • To use expert knowledge to analyse and interpret data from multiple sources, including standardised tests to inform clinical diagnosis
  • To use this assessment information to work with clients to identify client centred therapy goals as part of the overall multi-disciplinary care plan

  • To use knowledge and experience of clinical conditions, together with clinical judgment and reasoning skills, to determine a clients fitness for rehabilitation at the time of assessment
  • To implement, monitor, evaluate treatment plans and modify interventions in order to measure progress and outcomes to ensure effectiveness of intervention
  • Communicate with patients, relatives, carers and members of the multidisciplinary team by telephone, face to face, in writing or electronically to ensure that discharge takes place in a timely fashion
  • Use excellent interpersonal skill to effectively communicate discharge information to patients/relatives who may sometimes be hostile and emotional regarding the options available
  • Ensure appropriate information is available to patients, relatives and carers in order for them to understand the discharge process and make informed decisions.
  • Ensure accurate records are maintained to allow for the effective auditing and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions
  • Contributes towards development of specialist policies and procedures, to ensure the effective delivery of care for patients with Intermediate Care
  • Be responsible for implementing agreed policy related to IC and informing members of the multi professional team of any changes
  • Participate in research audit programs as appropriate, being aware of relevant research finding and there implications that relate directly to the service.

Be a credible role model, able to demonstrate good practice to junior staff to maintain local, national and professional standards

  • Lead/participate in training and education programs as required
  • Continue to update and develop own clinical/theoretical knowledge relating to capacity and discharge to ensure personal approach is innovative, research based and of a high standard
  • Participate in the supervision and written assessment of OT students on practise placement with the organisation
  • Comply with the COT Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and local policies and procedures

Professional Advice

  • Act as a specialist resource to IC staff offering specialist advice and help in all aspects of care planning
  • Develop and maintain effective relationships with other agencies involved in discharge including the local social services, housing and other private providers of long term care, often communicating sensitive and confidential information
  • Lead/attend case conferences as appropriate, giving specialist advice and input as required
  • Lead/attend disciplinary meetings with other agencies involved in IC including Social Service, housing, Southend Hospital and Long Term Providers acting as the representative from IC ensuring accurate and timely information is available to facilitate patient care
  • Ensure effective partnership working with other services, notably other Intermediate Care Services, Wider Community Health Service GPs, Southend Hospital and Social

Management Responsibilities

  • To provide line management to Occupational Therapists within intermediate care services
  • Ensure effective staff management including adherence to policies and procedures to safeguard the well-being of patients and staff, to include staff appraisal and supervision, mandatory training, probationary and sickness policies
  • Identify staff training and development needs in order to ensure the workforce is fit for purpose and appropriately skilled to deliver the contracted activity, ensuring that care and compassion are central to all that we do and patients are treated with respect and dignity at all times.
  • Ensure staff receive feedback from audit, compliments and investigation of complaints to encourage staff to improve the patient experience
  • Participate together with the Service Manager to ensure effective utilisation of the resources, so as to remain within the allocated budget
  • Effectively manage resources including the skill mix and use of temporary staff.
  • Support the directorate in the implementation and achievement of CQUIN and CIP targets where necessary
  • Be responsible for the collection and collation of evidence to support CQC compliance
  • In liaison with the Service Manager set objectives for the delivery of care and rehabilitation within the unit and devise ways of implementing and monitoring these.
  • Directly manage identified budget lines within IC services related to one in-patient unit and generic therapy budget
  • Deal appropriately with complaints, concerns and compliments related to discharge across Intermediate Care
  • Participate in research and/or audit programmes relevant to IC as necessary, disseminating findings at local level.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential

  • Current Occupational Therapy qualification with HCPC registration
  • Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapists

Desirable

  • Post graduate study in relevant area e.g. Stroke, cognitive rehab
  • Member of Specialist interest group for Occupational therapy e.g. RCOTSS Neurological Practice
  • Student educator or mentorship qualification

knowledge

Essential

  • Awareness of SSNAP reporting criteria

Desirable

  • Awareness of up to date evidence based upper limb/cognitive/perceptual treatment for stroke

Skills and experience

Essential

  • Extensive experience of working in stroke rehabilitation within the UK/NHS
  • Extensive experience working in and leading a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team
  • Extensive experience organising workload and own time
  • Direct experience of discharge co-ordination within an NHS setting
  • IT literate, with use of a range of packages including Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable

  • Extensive experience of working in community environment within the UK
  • Experience of working with complex patients with a range of needs
  • Experience and knowledge of using System One
  • Experience in supervising both qualified and non-qualified staff members or students

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Excellent verbal, written communication skills and interpersonal skills
  • Ability to manage change and conflict

Desirable

  • Hold a drivers licence / willing to travel between different community addresses
Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential

  • Current Occupational Therapy qualification with HCPC registration
  • Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapists

Desirable

  • Post graduate study in relevant area e.g. Stroke, cognitive rehab
  • Member of Specialist interest group for Occupational therapy e.g. RCOTSS Neurological Practice
  • Student educator or mentorship qualification

knowledge

Essential

  • Awareness of SSNAP reporting criteria

Desirable

  • Awareness of up to date evidence based upper limb/cognitive/perceptual treatment for stroke

Skills and experience

Essential

  • Extensive experience of working in stroke rehabilitation within the UK/NHS
  • Extensive experience working in and leading a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team
  • Extensive experience organising workload and own time
  • Direct experience of discharge co-ordination within an NHS setting
  • IT literate, with use of a range of packages including Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable

  • Extensive experience of working in community environment within the UK
  • Experience of working with complex patients with a range of needs
  • Experience and knowledge of using System One
  • Experience in supervising both qualified and non-qualified staff members or students

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Excellent verbal, written communication skills and interpersonal skills
  • Ability to manage change and conflict

Desirable

  • Hold a drivers licence / willing to travel between different community addresses

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre, Rochford Hospital

Union Lane

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre, Rochford Hospital

Union Lane

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Employer's website

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

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Lead Occupational Therapist

Alice Ramsey

alice.ramsey@nhs.net

Details

Date posted

20 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

364-A-9284

Job locations

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre, Rochford Hospital

Union Lane

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Supporting documents

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