Job overview

We currently have a vacancy for a peripatetic occupational therapist within our acute and urgent care service line. As a senior clinician you would work flexibly and autonomously responding to service needs, being a mobile support to our adult acute inpatient wards, ultimately maximising the client’s abilities and opportunities for occupational wellbeing.

The postholder will undertake functional assessments, including home assessments, for individuals as required which may include recommendations for environmental adaptations, equipment/aids and support packages to maximise independence.

You will be expected to liaise and work closely with the ward’s MDT, in particular the discharge coordinator and social services in providing recommendations to ensure and facilitate safe discharges. 

You will hold a diploma or degree in occupational therapy, be registered to practice in the UK, have post graduate experience of working in mental health settings and ideally have some experience of working in a physical health setting.

You will possess good organisational and personal management skills; excellent communication and interpersonal skills; demonstrate an ability to be flexible, adaptable and be a positive thinker. You must be able to demonstrate an awareness of risk management and be committed to promoting MOHO as a framework for practice.

Main duties of the job

Trust-wide Occupational Therapy Service:

The successful candidate will join our wider occupational therapy service which includes our acute and urgent care, community, learning disability, specialist, national and forensic service lines. We meet quarterly for occupational therapy training events which have recently included training around sensory profiling and MOHO. 

We are working towards having a menu of high-quality interventions to develop expertise and consistency across the service lines and proactively promote occupational therapy within multidisciplinary teams.

We have regular OT forums for professional support and development and can arrange staff to shadow OTs in other services for development opportunities. You will be the team’s Disability Champion to promote awareness within the multidisciplinary team, ensuring client’s views and reasonable adjustments are implemented within their care. The successful candidate will be offered supervision from the lead occupational therapist and from their team manager, both with the focus on developing clinical skills.

We work closely with our service-user involvement team who support service-users and carers to co-design and co-produce work within the Trust. We have also collaborated with our colleagues from St. George’s Hospital occupational therapy department where we engage in shared learnings.

Working for our organisation

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

You will need to be able to work flexibly and to work across various sites and settings including:

• Tolworth Hospital
• Queen Mary’s Hospital
• Springfield Hospital