Band 7 Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist

Barking, Havering And Redbridge University Hospitals Nhs Trust; Romford; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking a dynamic Band 7 Occupational Therapist to join the Acute Frailty Therapy Team. You will lead a busy team, provide highly specialist OT input for elderly and medical patients, and drive discharge planning with fast, robust decision-making.

The role emphasizes autonomous practice, teaching and supervising junior staff, and contributing to policy development.

Qualifications

• Must hold a Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
• HCPC registration is essential.
• Evidence of recent CPD is required.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist OT service for acute elderly/medical patients with focus on discharge planning.
• Lead and coordinate the OT team under Clinical Leads, ensuring effective care delivery.
• Teach, supervise and appraise Band 6/5, student OT and therapy assistants.
• Deputise for senior colleagues when required in management and clinical areas.
• Contribute to service development through policy and guideline work using evidence-based practice.
• Undertake supervision, mentoring and performance development plans to promote professional effectiveness.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Frailty care

Autonomous practice

Discharge planning

MDT collaboration

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

HCPC registration

CPD evidence

Job description

Job summary

We are looking for a dynamic and motivated Band 7 Occupational Therapist to join our Acute Frailty Therapy Team.

We are a large group of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Therapy Assistants with a passion for the care of frail and elderly patients. We work closely with the larger Multidisciplinary Team to care for acutely unwell frail patients attending the hospital and through collaborative decision making with our colleagues we facilitate safe and rapid discharge from hospital. We are based in Queen's Emergency Department, Frailty and Medical Same Day Emergency Care, Queen's Frailty Unit and one inpatient ward in Queen's Hospital.

As a Band 7 Occupational Therapist in a large and busy team you will be required to demonstrate strong leadership skills and be confident to work as an autonomous practitioner with a focus on early assessment and discharge planning with rapid and robust decision-making essential for efficient patient flow. You will be familiar with the assessment of patients with diverse presentations including complex physical, cognitive, and psychological health conditions within elderly and medical specialties. The team is an integrated service with Physiotherapy, and you will be supported by Band 7 Occupational Therapists, a Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist, a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist and a Band 8a Clinical Lead. The team is very supportive and there are lots of opportunities to develop both clinical and non-clinical skills.

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist standard of Occupational Therapy service to patients within the acute elderly/medical service with a special focus on the Queen's Frailty Unit, Frailty RAFT (Ambulance Streaming Area), Medical Receiving Unit and Elderly Short Stay Unit, facilitating and maximising patient potential within the service boundaries using a holistic approach. To give highly specialist guidance, advice and education to other members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) on matters relating to your specialist area.

Provide leadership for your team (in conjunction with the Clinical Leads) in planning, coordinating, delivering and evaluating the Occupational Therapy service provided to patients within your area.

To provide a lead role in teaching, supervising and appraising peers, Band 6, Band 5, Student Occupational Therapists and Generic Therapy Assistants.

To deputise in the absence of senior colleagues as required both within management and clinical areas.

To contribute to the running and development of the service through the promotion, adaptation and development of policies, procedures and guidelines using evidence-based practise.

Undertake supervision, mentoring and performance development plans to promote clinical and professional effectiveness of self and others. This includes performance management, management of disciplinary issues in liaison with Therapy Manager.

About us

We're an organisation that is getting better and better and our improvements are driven by a determination to deliver care we're proud of and our patients are happy with.

They are benefitting from a new electronic patient record (we were the last acute trust in London to introduce one) and our maternity services have been rated good by the Care Quality Commission.

We operate from two main sites - KGH in Goodmayes and Queen's Hospital in Romford. We have two busy emergency departments with more than 346,000 people visiting them last year. We're campaigning to secure the £35m we need to transform the A&E at Queen's and get rid of corridor care.

We're proud of our regional Neurosciences Centre, Radiotherapy Centre and Hyper Acute Stroke Unit. We're also part of the North East London Cancer Alliance.

We run a Women's Health Hub in Ilford; an Ageing Well Centre in Hornchurch; and Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) at Barking Community Hospital and at St George's Health and Wellbeing Hub. These CDCs are open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The majority of our 8,400 staff - who come from 146 different countries - live in the three diverse London boroughs we serve and are from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. Many can work flexibly and more than 400 of them are on our Ofsted accredited apprenticeship programmes. We're proud to be a London Living Wage employer.

Details

Date posted: 23 October 2026

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 7

Salary: £55,524 to £62,652 a year per annum inclusive

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time

Reference number: 162-8001-CCS

Job locations: Queen's Hospital, Rom Valley Way, Romford, RM7 0AG, United Kingdom

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

• Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
• H.C.P.C. Registration.
• Evidence of recent and relevant CPD.

Desirable

• Leadership training.

Skills / Abilities

Essential

• Strong knowledge of medical conditions, and their impact on cognitive, physical & social functioning
• Highly skilled in the assessment and treatment of patients presenting with common pathologies including dementia, delirium and falls
• Demonstrate up to date knowledge of best practise and current research in acute elderly/frailty and medical care
• Highly skilled in the application of relevant cognitive assessments to inform OT treatment planning and intervention in a medical setting.
• Ability to organise, prioritise and delegate
• Ability to demonstrate leadership and supportive supervisory skills
• Knowledge and understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and experience in carrying out Mental Capacity Assessments in accordance to the Mental Capacity Act

Desirable

• Evidence of developing service provision.

Experience / Knowledge

Essential

• To have a broad base of experience at Band 5 and Band 6 levels or equivalent.
• Proven clinical experience in the relevant field of acute frailty during Band 6 rotations in an acute hospital setting.
• Training of junior staff and MDT in relevant conditions, treatment and management.
• Supervision of Junior staff

Desirable

• Recent clinical experience and knowledge in spinal patients
• Experience of working in a rapid assessment area or Emergency Department
• Training of Occupational Therapy students

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details

Employer name: Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Address: Queen's Hospital, Rom Valley Way, Romford, RM7 0AG, United Kingdom

Employer's website: https://www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact: Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist, Alice Abbott, [e-mail], 01708503157

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