Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health Occupational Therapist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Compressed hours
- Job ref
- 333-J-BR-0729
- Employer
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Park Royal Centre for Mental Health
- Town
- Harlesden
- Salary
- £42,939 - £50,697 per annum inc HCAS (pro rata if part time)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 01/06/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 10/06/2025
Employer heading
Senior Occupational Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 6
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has opened up for a senior Occupational Therapist to join our Brent Mental Health Inpatient Service. We will provide you with the opportunities to develop your skills, depending on your needs and goals. We are keen for people to develop in their area of interest to motivate and enrich our team. There is also the support of a broad and experienced senior MDT.
We are looking for people who are passionate about occupational therapy and want the opportunity to focus on their clinical OT skills, and who have ideas to grow and develop the occupational therapy provision within inpatient services. Once in post you will be afforded the time and space to engage in specialised training and development opportunities to help you become a more enhanced practitioner.
We adhere to the belief that it is better to grow and develop our own staff; this is demonstrated in the fact that 92% of our senior colleagues were supported and promoted in-house.
The team serves the diverse and vibrant population of Brent, named London Borough of Culture 2020 and ‘Council of the Year’ at the LGC Awards 2020. The team works flexibly/compressed hours to allow for OT provision to meet the needs of the service users throughout their day and find it also maintains staff wellbeing by providing more time to focus on their own interests and needs outside of work.
Hours are: 3 days working : 8-6.30, 1 day working 8-4, 1 day non working day.
Main duties of the job
Occupational therapists hold a key role within the Inpatient Team providing occupational therapy service and expertise; which will include individual and group work, assessment, intervention and evaluation in accordance with the Royal College of Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics.
You will be using MOHO and other evidence-based assessment tools in order to establish a baseline functional assessment from which recommendations can determine further on-going care and treatment to enable optimum functioning.
The role requires integrated evidence-based practice and skilful use of assessments & interventions with personal recovery principles, in order to improve the service users’ quality of life and to support them to do the things they want to do and live the life they want to lead.
You would need to be committed to working within recovery principles. The successful applicant will be self-motivated with a desire to work in mental health, and willing to learn and grow within the team.
This post receives supervision from the Acute Lead OT (Band 7) and in addition there is a great support network working alongside other OTs in the borough and across the trust. Opportunities for reflective practice, case formulation using Trauma Informed Approaches, skill sharing and several other projects are available.
Working for our organisation
To help you achieve the above our developmental role will also offer you;
- Specialised OT & Mental health training including; how to undertake an effective assessment, use of outcome measures and application of MOHO, specialised training depending on area of interest such as sensory integration and trauma informed care.
- Opportunities to shadow our neighbouring services including HTT, EIS, the memory clinic and community services allowing you to see the full circle of treatment for our patients.
- Mentoring and coaching sessions supporting you with your development and growth into the role, including a bespoke 1:1 induction by Head OT tailored to your specific needs.
- Monthly supervision from the lead OT for Brent Inpatient Services
- You will be supported in developing your management and leadership skills through supervising others, supporting students and developing new initiatives for the service.
- Opportunities to get involved in the established Research and Development structures in Occupational Therapy, including specialist forums and valuable networks.
- A truly inclusive and diverse workspace
- Nationally leading trust wide staff networks
- Staff health and wellbeing schemes
- QI training and support to bring your strengths and skills to service development
- Flexible working
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
OT in CNWL is very fortunate in having a long-established professional structure and this includes an AHP director, Trust wide Professional Head of OT, borough and specialist Head OTs.
Personal and professional development is a high priority for the profession and is underpinned by our OT R&D strategy, R&D specialist groups and OT clinical networks. This enables us to invest in the development of our staff by providing excellent internal training as well as commissioning specialised external training and providing quality supervision. This ensures all our OTs reach their full potential at every stage of their career. Our commitment to research, audit and EBP is made possible by our strong links with local universities.
We actively support the next generation of OTs through apprenticeships, student placements and the promotion of the profession as a career in schools. We are proud of the diversity in our workforce but have invested time in supporting and developing this further through our BAME OT group.
Have a look at this video which was developed from the BAME OT Network and provides further information with what to expect when working as an OT with CNWL, and the support which is offered:
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree (or Diploma) in Occupational Therapy * The OT qualification was converted from a Diploma course to a Degree course in recent years & therefore both Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy is accepted as the required level of qualification, for all bands of qualified Occupational Therapists
- Registration to practice in the UK * In order to remain state registered with the Health Care Professions Council, it is a requirement for all qualified OT staff to undertake post qualification CPD activities which will act as compliance in evidencing “fitness to practice”.
- Training in the theory and application of the Model of Human Occupation
Desirable criteria
- Leadership and/or management training
- Training in motivational interview techniques
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of post graduate working in a range of mental health settings
- Experience of working within community mental health teams
- Demonstrable experience of the assessment and management of risk in a community MH setting
- Experience of working within a multi-agency environment.
- Experience of maintaining a written record of continual professional development
- Experience of leading, managing and running evidence based group activities for service users with complex and diverse needs in a mental health setting
- Experience of undertaking specialist OT assessments and writing specialist occupational therapy reports
- Experience of working as a Care Co-ordinator and demonstrable knowledge of the CPA framework
- Experience of working in an inter-professional team.
- Experience of supervising junior staff
- Experience of individual and groupwork
- Experience of being a practice placement educator
Desirable criteria
- Experience of using mental health services as a service user, or carer, relative, friend of a service user.
Knowledge and Skills: Communication
Essential criteria
- Highly developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed & maintained with service users who have multiple & complex needsHighly developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed & maintained with service users who have multiple & complex needs
- Proficient standard of written communication skills – able to communicate effectively in both written and spoken English
- Ability to promote & maintain the profile of OT within an MDT & the wider organisation
Knowledge and Skills: Personal and People Development
Essential criteria
- Ability to reflect upon and critically appraise own performance
- Ability to role model positive professional behaviour
Health, Safety and Security
Essential criteria
- Ability to identify and assess potential risks involved in work activities for self and others
- Ability to monitor work areas & practices to maintain a healthy, safe and secure working environment.
Knowledge and Skills: Quality
Essential criteria
- Applied knowledge of current national legislation, policies & guidelines relevant to clinical area
- Good personal management skills in order to manage a clinical caseload & varied workload
- Ability to work effectively within a team, understanding the importance of collaborative working in the delivery of good quality services
Equality and Diversity
Essential criteria
- Ability to apply equal opportunities & anti-discriminatory interventions that respect the service users’ customs, values & spiritual beliefs
Health and Wellbeing
Essential criteria
- Skills in promoting recovery, social inclusion, health promotion & relapse prevention
General
Essential criteria
- Ability to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in the context of best available evidence
- Ability to deal with conflict and resolve difficulties with staff on and individual/team basis, seeking guidance from professional and clinical leads when needed
Other
Desirable criteria
- Member of relevant specialist section
- Member of the British Association of Occupational Therapy
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
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
- Aila Bruce
- Job title
- Head Occupational Therapist for Brent
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Please make contact with Aila for further information, informal chats and site/team visits
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