Band 7 Highly Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

A Birmingham-based NHS Trust is seeking a dedicated Occupational Therapist to join their children's community team. This role involves providing highly specialist interventions to support children and young people with developmental needs. You will collaborate with various agencies to ensure effective service delivery, enjoy a dynamic work environment, and contribute to innovative care solutions. The successful candidate will require strong clinical skills, a passion for working within educational settings, and a commitment to reducing health inequalities in a multicultural community.

Benefits

Extensive NHS terms and conditions

Attractive relocation payment

Discounts for local and national retailers

Dedicated well-being services

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Qualifications in Occupational Therapy and HCPC registration required.
• Extensive post-registration experience with children and families.
• Experience in multi-disciplinary teams and working within the NHS.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist OT interventions for children with additional needs.
• Work within multi-agency teams to develop and implement care plans.
• Conduct training for staff and caregivers to support children's needs.

Skills

Communication

Empowerment

Flexibility

Evidence-based practice

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

HCPC Professional Registration

Job description

HoursTerm time hours - 37.5 hours per week (37.5 hours per week during Birmingham Local Authority Term Time dates)Job ref820-7083290-CF-AEmployerBirmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation TrustEmployer typeNHSSiteSoho Health CentreTownBirminghamSalary£46,148 - £52,809 per annum (pro rata)Salary periodYearlyClosing06/06/2025 23:59

Employer heading

NHS AfC: Band 7

Job overview

We are delighted to be able to offer a committed, experienced and dynamic AHP the opportunity to join our friendly and forward thinking children’s community Occupational Therapy Team.

Are you an innovative OT looking to develop skills and shape developing City wide provision working predominantly within traded contracts in schools.

Do you enjoy the prospect of supporting an OT team ?

Do you want the opportunity to be involved in leading a friendly team where staff describe the service a "innovative, flexible, passionate and forward-thinking?

Do you want to be part of a team rate Gold for its care (Essentials of Care grading)?

Do you want to work in a vibrant city with a range of multicultural communities and be part of an inclusive Trust which is keen to reduce inequalities?

If you are looking for a challenging, exciting role we want to meet you!

Main duties of the job

To contribute towards ensuring children and young people with additional needs gain access to a broad, balanced and relevant education, whilst also having their exceptional needs met in an inclusive way. To work as part of multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams to deliver highly specialist OT interventions, using the tiered model approach and following the agreed service packages of care and pathways.

To provide Occupational Therapy at a highly specialist level, working in partnership with other agencies and disciplines to support in the holistic assessment, early identification of need, diagnosis and intervention for children and young people known to the service.

To maintain, develop and promote excellence in clinical practice across the BCHC Plus Traded team, within the wider Children’s OT service, with reference to current research and evidence-based practice, contributing to safe effective practice in the specialist clinical area.

Please see Job Description for more detailed information

Working for our organisation

Be Part of Our Team...

The Occupational Therapy teams work as part of Inclusion Services within the Children and Families Division of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. We work across the whole City, within a range of community and educational settings, thus requiring successful applicants to demonstrate a high level of flexibility.

We value our staff and advocate career progression internally. We encourage our AHPs to contribute to service development, and we welcome and value new ideas and experiences.

We offer a supportive working environment with access to specialist clinical support, and an emphasis on sharing good practice through effective team working.

BCHC has more than 5000 staff working across Birmingham and the West Midlands. We deliver a wide range of services for children, young people and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehab Centre and one of Europe’s leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.

If you want to ‘Be Part of Our Team’ and work with a Foundation Trust which is continuously striving for best care and healthy communities, we want to hear from you!

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see job description and person specification for full details.

1) Carrying out Occupational Therapy at a universal, targeted and specialist level. This includes assessments, developing and implementing a range of programmes of care and treatment, to meet the needs of the clients, schools, families and their environments, in accordance with agreed pathways and in line with the tiered model of service delivery.

2) To enable and empower staff, parents/caregivers to identify children’s needs and provide strategies to help at the earliest opportunity.

3) To provide training and bespoke coaching to children and young people, early years/school staff and parents/caregivers.

4) Working autonomously prioritising in own work area, balancing clinical and professional demands

5) Negotiating with the multi-agency team, colleagues and carers in reference to management of complex clinical cases including instigating appropriate referrals.

6) Providing appropriate treatment based on best practice and available evidence, adapted to client’s needs and priorities including advising other professionals and parents on the appropriate type and level of support needed to develop skills in the school/home environment.

7) To support in the promotion and delivery of the universal and targeted offer to families/educational staff with clinical advice and sign posting appropriately to other services.

8) Writing clinical/service reports containing highly complex, confidential and sensitive information which may be used in a legal context

9) Have an understanding of the national perspective and future strategy for the NHS and related areas of health to ensure that staff in your team/s are fully aware of the implications and can contribute effectively to service improvement.

Person specification

Skills and Knowledge

Competent in using evidence base to inform clinical decisions

Knowledge of the national and political agenda influencing health services and specific service area

Knowledge of the needs of a diverse social and ethnic population and the impact on all aspects of service provision

Competent in using electronic systems relevant to practice in the Trust and in the clinical area

Experience

Extensive post registration experience working as a therapist with children

Extensive experience of working as a specialist Occupational Therapist with children and families in a range of multi-disciplinary and / or multi-agency teams in Health and/or Local Authority settings

Extensive experience of managing a mixed and complex caseload of children and young people with a range of developmental disorders and delays

Relevant experience of working within the NHS Knowledge of the SEND, local authority and NHS drivers and challenges as they affect and impact on service delivery

Extensive experience of providing complex written and verbal information/reports to others to a high standard

Qualifications and Training

Degree level qualification in Occupational Therapy

HCPC Professional Registration

Evidence of recent relevant CPD activities in specialist area

Relevant training/short courses in specialist area e.g. Sensory-Integration

Desirable criteria

Full Membership of the Royal College of OT (RCOT)

Personal qualities

Ability to prioritise own workload and has insight into own coping strategies

Ability to respond to and lead change/innovation in specialist area

Ability to work collaboratively with staff at all levels within the boundaries of the role and clinical competence

Has a full, valid UK driving licence and have access to a vehicle to use for work

Disability Confident Employer and Guaranteed Interview Scheme

BCHC offers a guaranteed interview to any candidate who is Disabled, Neurodiverse, has a hidden or long term health condition as recognised under the Equality Act 2010, providing they meet the essential criteria of the job role, as set out in the person specification. We encourage applicants to submit their applications and to request any reasonable adjustments where required.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Birmingham is a fantastic place to live and we serve a wide range of people and communities. BCHC are an advocate of diversity and strive to mirror the community we serve as much possible.

We are committed to and actively promote equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals from all areas of the community who meet the specific criteria are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage/civil partnerships.

Promoting Workforce Equality

In response to data held by BCHC which demonstrates that individuals from particular protected characteristics are under-represented, BCHC are striving to redress these imbalances. In order to do this, the Trust is committed to the employment and career development of individuals with these protected characteristics. As part of this commitment and given this under-representation, the Trust guarantees an interview to any applicants from under-represented groups for positions at Band 8a and above whose application meets the essential criteria for the post as detailed on the Person Specification.

The Trust is currently under-represented in terms of people who identify as Black, Minority Ethnic (BME) and welcomes applicants from these communities. Selection will be on the basis of merit. In order to ensure the diversity of our workforce and understand the differing needs of our communities, the Trust is committed to the principles of Positive Action.

Flexible Working

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) supports a variety of flexible working practices and, where possible (given our range of services and community settings) dependent upon the requirements associated with the role, will actively consider requests made and support these where practically possible. This may include hybrid patterns of working to enable colleagues to request the flexibility of a mixture of home/base working.

In accordance with the NHS People Promise, the Trust is committed to facilitating a healthy work/life balance that is essential to health and wellbeing and to making BCHC a ‘Great Place to Work’. We will be happy to discuss and consider all requests relating to working patterns and hours at your interview so please do ask!

Using Artificial Intelligence

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust acknowledges Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini etc; are powerful tools that can help you in various stages of your job application and how they can be used in certain circumstances during your application process with BCHC. You can read more about acceptable use on our internet pages here

Benefits of working for us:

Full NHS terms and conditions including extensive holidays, Agenda for Change pay with enhancements

Attractive relocation payment if you relocate to the local area.

Discounts for local and national retailers

Dedicated well-being services for all employees

Flexible working where possible

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.

Application numbers

***This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested***