Job summary
Are you a motivated and skilled Occupational Therapist with a passion for improving outcomes for older people? We are seeking a Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist to join our Frailty Therapy Intervention Team and play a key role in delivering high-quality, patient-centred care to frail adults across a range of acute and community-facing settings.
Why This Role Is an Excellent Opportunity
Frailty care continues to evolve rapidly, with a strong emphasis on early intervention, admission avoidance, and supporting safe, timely discharge. This role offers an excellent opportunity to develop specialist skills in frailty, working at the interface of acute, sub-acute, and community services while contributing meaningfully to service delivery and improvement.
You will manage a varied and rewarding caseload, gaining experience across settings such as the GP Assessment Unit, Medical Assessment Unit, Bevan Court's specialist frailty beds, and the Frailty Reablement Unit. There will also be opportunities to work alongside Admission Avoidance services, including Emergency Department support, Frailty Ambulatory Clinics, Urgent Crisis Response, Community Frailty, and Virtual Ward pathways.
Your Contribution
As a core member of the multidisciplinary team, you will use your occupational therapy expertise to assess functional ability, cognition, environmental needs, and risk, supporting frail patients to maintain independence and quality of life.
Main duties of the job
Your role will include:
Undertaking specialist OT assessments and interventions for frail and complex patients, with support from senior clinicians.
Contributing to safe discharge planning through timely assessment, equipment provision, and liaison with community services.
Working closely with physiotherapists, nurses, consultants, ACPs, and other MDT members to deliver coordinated care.
Supporting service evaluation, audits, and quality improvement projects within the frailty pathway.
Participating in supervision of junior staff and students and contributing to in-service training and education.
What We're Looking For
HCPC registration as an Occupational Therapist.
Experience working with older adults and/or patients with complex physical, cognitive, or social needs.
Sound clinical reasoning skills and the ability to work effectively within a fast-paced clinical environment.
A genuine interest in frailty and holistic, person-centred care.
Strong communication skills and confidence working within a multidisciplinary team.
Commitment to professional development and progression within specialist practice.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
Job description
Job responsibilities
What We Offer
A supportive and experienced frailty therapy team with strong clinical leadership.
Regular supervision, mentorship, and opportunities to develop specialist frailty skills.
Access to training, CPD, and service development opportunities.
Exposure to innovative models of care across acute and community interfaces.
A positive team culture that values collaboration, learning, and patient experience.
If you are looking to develop your career as a specialist Occupational Therapist and want to make a real difference to the lives of frail patients, we would love to hear from you.
Apply now and join a team committed to delivering compassionate, effective, and forward-thinking frailty care.
Job description
Job responsibilities
What We Offer
A supportive and experienced frailty therapy team with strong clinical leadership.
Regular supervision, mentorship, and opportunities to develop specialist frailty skills.
Access to training, CPD, and service development opportunities.
Exposure to innovative models of care across acute and community interfaces.
A positive team culture that values collaboration, learning, and patient experience.
If you are looking to develop your career as a specialist Occupational Therapist and want to make a real difference to the lives of frail patients, we would love to hear from you.
Apply now and join a team committed to delivering compassionate, effective, and forward-thinking frailty care.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Occupational Therapist
- HCPC registration
Desirable
- Clinical Educators Certificate
- Post Grad accredited study e.g. MSc in relevant health studies
Experience
Essential
- Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
- Awareness of own strengths and limitations
- Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
- Experience of line managing a team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and co-ordination
- Evidence of effective working within an MDT
- Experience of Service development
- Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
- Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
Desirable
- Audit and research in a clinical area
Skills
Essential
- Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
- Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
- Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
- Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
- Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
Desirable
Other
Essential
- Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Occupational Therapist
- HCPC registration
Desirable
- Clinical Educators Certificate
- Post Grad accredited study e.g. MSc in relevant health studies
Experience
Essential
- Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
- Awareness of own strengths and limitations
- Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
- Experience of line managing a team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and co-ordination
- Evidence of effective working within an MDT
- Experience of Service development
- Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
- Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
Desirable
- Audit and research in a clinical area
Skills
Essential
- Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
- Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
- Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
- Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
- Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
Desirable
Other
Essential
- Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
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.
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.
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).
