Job summary
- Main area
- Specialist Services
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 455-NLFT-0301
- Employer
- North London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- HMP Brixton
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £46,419 - £55,046 Per annum including HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 11/08/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Occupational Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 6
Thank you for your interest in the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT). This is an exciting time to join us and be part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:
- Collaborate at every level by living our values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
- Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
- Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
- Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
- Ensure that research, quality improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
- Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do
We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.
The North London Way to deliver: Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.
Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/
Job overview
The vacancy is for an experienced Occupational Therapist to join the mental health and psychological therapies team at HMP Brixton. This is a new role as part of NHS England's re-role of prison mental health provision. The post holder will provide therapeutic input for the main prison population, with a primary role in the new inpatient unit (IPU) which is currently in development.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be expected to perform advanced Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention with prisoners presenting with complex psychological and neurodevelopmental conditions and presentations.
As part of the role, you will take on key responsibilities in the new inpatient unit at HMP Brixton. This unit is currently being developed and, on completion, will cater for prisoners who are experiencing acute episodes of psychological distress. As part of the multidisciplinary team you will be expected to have an active role in service development in the unit, shaping the Occupational Therapy provisions and pathways for patients. You will have direct support and supervision/line management from the lead OT and Therapies lead. You will also work across the wider HMP Brixton site with prisoners who would benefit from occupational therapy input as part of the team's wider mental health and neurodevelopmental pathways.
You will be responsible for managing your own caseload and work collaboratively within a diverse multidisciplinary team. You will supervise a Band 5 Grade Occupational Therapist, assistants, and Occupational Therapy students on placement, and provide specialised advice to other health care professionals across the prison.
Working for our organisation
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.
Our Five-Year Strategy:
- We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
- With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
- We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
- We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.
In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To work as an autonomous practitioner, to assess and treat own caseload of patients, including those with complex presentations. Decisions will be underpinned by specialist knowledge gained from study of evidence-based treatments and from previous experience.
To quickly and accurately screen, establish priority for patient referrals for Occupational Therapy intervention some of which maybe complex and require a multi-disciplinary approach.
To take on key service development responsibilities in establishing provision and pathways in a new inpatient unit.
To carry out an assessment of patients, including those with complex presentations. Draw on a wide range of information sources and use clinical reasoning skills to determine an accurate diagnosis. To identify an appropriate Occupational Therapy care plan from treatment options available.
To formulate and deliver occupational therapy treatment programmes for a complex population (prisoners) who experience marginalisation and may be experiencing episodes of acute distress.
To provide general support for prisoners of the Neurodevelopmental Pathway, providing or participating in assessments for conditions such as Autism, Learning Disability, and ADHD, and making key decisions in diagnostic discussions and treatment plans.
To develop comprehensive discharge plans in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team members.
To make recommendations to support a patients discharge including care support and rehabilitation opportunities.
Undertake referrals to internal and external services when deemed appropriate/of benefit to the support or progression of the patient. e.g. community rehabilitation, social services, voluntary agencies.
This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- PgDip, BSc or MSc OT and current Health Professions Council Occupational Therapy registration.
Desirable criteria
- Further relevant courses or areas of study
Experience
Essential criteria
- A minimum of 3 years postgraduate clinical experience as an Occupational Therapist, which includes at least 1 year’s experience of working with people with mental health problems
- Experience of planning and running a range of therapeutic groups and of carrying out functional assessments.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in prison and/or forensic environments and/or inpatient mental health units
- Experience in working with clients with learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum condition
Skills
Essential criteria
- Examples of effective verbal and written communication skills
- Experience of working autonomously, being responsible for own practice and managing a varied workload with sound clinical judgement
Desirable criteria
- Experience of implementing service improvements
- Experience of supervising staff and/or students
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
- Jessica Oglethorpe
- Job title
- Lead Occupational Therapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
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