Band 6 Occupational Therapist

North London NHS Foundation Trust; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in the City of Westminster is seeking a Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join the Assertive Outreach Team. The role involves providing assessments and specialized interventions to service users with complex needs, enhancing their daily living skills. This position emphasizes teamwork and recovery-focused care, with opportunities for professional development. Successful candidates will contribute to the team and provide OT services tailored to individual needs, while engaging with community groups.

Benefits

Continuing professional development opportunities

Supportive team environment

Qualifications

• Degree in Occupational Therapy.
• Experience working with complex needs.
• Knowledge of recovery-focused approaches.

Responsibilities

• Provide OT assessments and interventions to enhance engagement and daily living skills.
• Lead on assessing service users with complex mental/physical health needs.
• Contribute to local and Trust-wide OT service improvement.
• Guide and supervise junior staff.

Skills

Teamwork

Communication

Client-centred care

Assessment skills

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

Job description

We currently have an exciting vacancy for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist passionate about working with service users who find it difficult to engage with a traditional service model and who have complex needs. The Assertive Outreach Team utilises a team-based approach and provide a wide range of interventions that are recovery orientated and client-centred.

The successful applicant will fully contribute to the team approach whilst also providing a specific Occupational Therapy service as identified by the needs of the service users. The Occupational Therapy role includes the provision of detailed assessments and specialised interventions, including working with service users to maximise their occupational performance and daily living skills. This post would be of particular interest to an Occupational Therapist interested in running and facilitating community groups.

The post holder will be part of the wider community Occupational Therapy service; with regular supervision, a band 6 support group and access to excellent continuing professional development opportunities provided. This post provides occupational therapy within the Islington Assertive Outreach Team (AOT), supporting individuals with complex needs who struggle to engage with traditional services. As a key member of the multidisciplinary team, the post holder will deliver recovery-focused, client-centred assessments and interventions.

Responsibilities

• Assessment & intervention: Provide OT assessments and interventions to enhance engagement, daily living skills, and lifestyle management, evaluating effectiveness.
• Specialist reporting: Produce MOHO ADL reports to inform care packages and liaise with social care/community partners.
• Complex needs support: Lead on assessing service users with complex mental/physical health needs, including falls risk and provision of equipment/adaptations.
• Expert consultation: Advise the team on OT practice, embedding recovery-focused approaches in care planning.
• Community links: Build connections with community and third-sector services to promote recovery and inclusion.
• Service development: Contribute to local and Trust-wide OT service improvement.
• Leadership & supervision: Guide and supervise junior staff, including preceptorship and appraisals.
• Education & training: Act as fieldwork educator, supporting student learning and professional growth.
• Additional duties may be required to meet service needs, as directed by the Team Manager.
• Reporting to the Team Manager or designated supervisor the clinician will undertake a range of necessary tasks identified within the individual care plan. This will involve delivering care and interventions appropriate to the post holder's level of experience and competences without direct supervision.
• To provide expert, autonomous and highly specialist OT clinical assessment, treatment and interventions using a range of occupational therapy and mental health specialist tools.
• To provide a service that respects diversity and equality and supports the service user and their carers in line with recovery principles.
• To engage service users in developing self‑management skills and promoting independence and autonomy where appropriate.
• Utilising agreed frameworks and guidance such as NICE; evidence based best practice and or local policy and procedure, as well as a range of profession specific tools, the post holder will actively assess, plan and determine the care needs of service users. They will undertake and contribute to profession specific and/ or multi‑disciplinary team reviews of care.
• To contribute and develop care plans in collaboration with the service user. To be able to demonstrate and explain clinical reasoning in relation to professional input to a service user’s care plan when required.
• To undertake the physical health care assessment and/or ongoing physical health monitoring / review of service users, recording any changes in the service users' physical health, reporting these to appropriate members of the team and acting appropriately on the advice given.
• To support service users in becoming aware of their own physical health and to engage service users in maximising their well‑being, e.g. smoking cessation and exercise. This role will also involve the post holder providing appropriate information and support for other staff.
• To undertake continuous risk assessment and to contribute to effective risk management. At all times to act in accordance with trust policies in relation to risk assessment.
• To contribute to the ongoing quality of service and care, identifying and promptly reporting any risk issues or other significant factors in relation to the service users' health and social care.
• To recognise and respond appropriately to any challenging behaviour presented by service users or others.

This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.

About Our Trust

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, North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Five‑Year Strategy

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all.
3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with a supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
4. 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.