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Job summary

Main area
Occupational Therapy
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Permanent: 37.5 hours per week
Hours
  • Full time
  • Part time
  • Job share
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (Will need to participate in the weekend rota with rest days back in the week)
Job ref
249-7862671-4
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Great Western Hospital
Town
Swindon
Salary
£39,959 - £48,117 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
16/10/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Occupational Therapist

Band 6

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used, then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

**Previous applicants need not apply**

We are excited to advertise a Band 5 to Band 6 Development Occupational Therapist role within the Acute OT Team at Great Western Hospital.

The successful post holder will join a team of Occupational Therapists, Apprentices and Therapy Assistants working across Medical, Surgical and Respiratory wards, supporting patients, families and carers with discharge planning and facilitating safe transitions home from hospital.

We are a supportive, welcoming and passionate team who work collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes for our patients, while supporting one another's development and wellbeing. We place great value on ensuring new team members feel confident and well supported, and therefore offer a comprehensive induction programme, regular in-service training, and opportunities for continued professional development.

You can also expect regular support through clinical and managerial supervision, daily caseload discussions, and monthly team meetings.

This is a development post offering the opportunity to progress from Band 5 to Band 6. With the support and development opportunities available, we would expect the successful candidate to achieve the required competencies and objectives within approximately 12 months, enabling progression to a substantive Band 6 position

Main duties of the job

Support the clinical delivery of Occupational Therapy on the Acute Wards by:

  • Prioritising patients who require OT to support weekends discharges.
  • Provide interventions inc. Assessing and providing equipment to enable and support on discharge.
  • Providing Risk Assessments for care agencies for new equipment.
  • Signposting and referring patients on to services to support follow up on discharge.
  • Liaising with the MDT to support problem solving blocks to weekend discharges for example working with transport teams and our discharge support teams.
  • Providing guidance and training to patients and their families and carers to promote independence to manage at home, following acute illness.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group – a formal partnership between Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • To assist with the modernisation of the therapy services to provide high quality care and timely intervention.
  • To hold responsibility for own case load and be responsible for all patients on their wards.  Supervision will take the form of regular formal training, clinical reasoning session’s and one to one sessions with a supervisor.
  • The staff member will be required to work their contracted hours over 7 days a week.
  • To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner.

Please see attached job description for full details.

Person specification

Qualifications Band 6

Essential criteria
  • Registered with Health and Care Professions Council
  • Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy
  • Evidence of postgraduate learning relevant to clinical area
  • Evidence of continuing Professional Development
  • Registered field work educator
Desirable criteria
  • Evidence of basic management training
  • Member of special interest group
  • NVQ Assessor
  • Member of professional body
  • Computer skills qualification

Qualifications Band 5

Essential criteria
  • Diploma /Degree: Occupational Therapy
  • Registered with Health Profession council
Desirable criteria
  • Member of professional body / special interest groups

Experience Band 5

Essential criteria
  • Application of OT process
  • Use of functional assessment and activity analysis
  • Broad clinical experience.(placement level or post graduate)
  • Use of basic outcome measures
  • Evidence of Continuing professional development e.g. a Portfolio
Desirable criteria
  • Audit
  • Experience of planning and co-ordinating treatment programmes
  • Experience of a broad range of clinical interventions

Experience Band 6

Essential criteria
  • Experience of working within the specific clinical area
  • Broad clinical experience e.g. surgical, ED, neurology, medical, orthopaedic, hand injuries, rehabilitation.
  • Experience of providing a broad range of interventions for a complex caseload
  • Use of goal setting and outcome measures
  • Experience of providing supervision for junior staff or assistants
  • Lead for student supervision
  • Carrying out and receiving appraisal
  • Experience in and an understanding of clinical governance e.g. audit, risk management, education
  • Application of the Occupational Therapy process and models of practice
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of providing a broad range of interventions for a highly complex caseload
  • Experience of working with children and/ or adults in acute hospital services
  • Experience of using a wide range of standardised and non-standardised assessments
  • Involvement in the recruitment and retention process
  • Service development and change management
  • Taking a lead role in project work
  • Inter-disciplinary team working

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: GoldCare Leaver CovenantStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed Forces Covenant

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Briony Howard
Job title
Acute OT Team Lead
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793 646371
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