Job summary
- Main area
- Occupational Therapy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (some flexible working evenings and weekends)
- Job ref
- 334-CLI-7465697
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Bethlem Royal Hospital
- Town
- Beckenham
- Salary
- £32,199 - £34,876 per annum inclusive of HCAs
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 22/10/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Activity Practitioner
NHS AfC: Band 4
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
To participate as a member of the ward team, working closely with the occupational therapist in the provision of a programme of therapeutic and recreational activities to support the rehabilitation and recovery of service users experiencing mental illness. The programme will be developed and implemented with the supervision of a registered occupational therapist in liaison with service users and the ward team.
Due to very high application rate we may close this application in 2 days.
Main duties of the job
To provide a flexible programme of recreational, vocational and educational activities within the service in collaboration with the MDT, volunteers and sessional workers.
To provide support and engage service users in therapeutic activities to promote recovery, independence and well-being
· To support the development of a balanced therapeutic ward-based programme for service users at different stages of recovery.
· To contribute to the collaborative care planning process, monitoring service users' progress, taking into account service users' goals and aspirations.
· To work independently, facilitating group or individual work, planned with a registered OT.
· To form professional relationships with service users and communicate with them in a way that respects their views, autonomy and culture.
· To instruct and guide individuals and groups of service users in therapeutic activity use
· To report effectively to the team on service user performance and progress
· To provide relevant information, written and oral, for documents relating to service user progress
· To establish working relationships with outside agencies to facilitate service user engagement in community-based vocational and educational services to support discharge and community engagement
· To ensure that up to date written and electronic records and activity data are maintained in accordance with Professional and Trust Standards.
Working for our organisation
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Good level of education (Functional English)
- Evidence of Continued Professional/personal development
Desirable criteria
- NVQ level 3/4 Health and Social Care related / City and Guilds
- Creative Qualification eg. Arts / photography
Experience
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable experience of working in Health/ Social care setting
- Experience of working both independently and in a team
- Experience of providing group and 1;1 interventions
Desirable criteria
- Experience of facilitating therapeutic groups in a health /social care setting
- Lived experience of mental health / caring for someone with mental health issues
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
- Understanding of the needs and difficulties of mental health service users
- Ability to teach practical skills to service users
- Good personal organisational skills
- Good verbal and written communication skills (inc computer literate)
- Ability to maintain focus and remain calm when under pressure
Other
Essential criteria
- Willingness to participate in supervision and commitment to lifelong learning
- Willingness to undertake some evening and weekend work
- Willingness to work with workplace learners/ students
- Ability to work independently of direct supervision
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of applying health and safety and risk awareness procedures and policies
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Anna Adams
- Job title
- Band 7 Clinical Specialist OT Inpatients
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07921 454621
- Additional information
Liz Pine Croydon Lead OT
07970 705077
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