Children's Occupational Therapist - WF Paediatrics

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; London; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a passionate Children's Occupational Therapist for a full-time role in Waltham Forest, London. The position offers the opportunity to develop specialist skills while working in diverse settings, providing support to children and families. Candidates should have an Occupational Therapy degree and relevant experience, with a strong commitment to improving children's participation in everyday life.

Benefits

High Cost Area Supplement

Comprehensive induction and training

Supportive networks for employees

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Minimum 18 months experience as a Band 5 Occupational Therapist.
• Knowledge of best practices in Occupational Therapy.
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Develop skills in various settings including clinics and schools.
• Work with multidisciplinary teams to deliver care.
• Participate in parent/carer training.

Skills

Organisational Skills

Time Management

Communication

Problem Solving

Teamwork

Education

Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy

HCPC Registration

Job description

Children's Occupational Therapist - WF Paediatrics

NHS AfC: Band 6

Main area Occupational Therapy Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 395-WF035-25

Site Wood Street Health Centre Town Waltham Forest Salary £37,338 - £44,962 per annum pro rata plus HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 08/07/2025 23:59

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

Are you passionate about enabling children to participate in all areas of life as best they can? Do you want to develop your specialist skills within paediatrics? Then we would love to hear from you!

We are looking for candidates with good organisational and time management skills who are keen to learn and develop their expertise in Children’s Occupational therapy.

This post is suitable for a Band 5 Occupational Therapist with relevant experience and ready for promotion or a Band 6 looking for a new challenge.

As a result of new funding we have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and committed Occupational Therapist to join our growing team in Children’s Community Occupational Therapy in Waltham Forest, London.

Our current team of 9.7 whole time equivalent (wte) qualified clinical staff has a vacancy for a full time band 6. We would be delighted to consider applicants who are keen to be part of our journey as we continue to provide and develop our services for children and young people.

Main duties of the job

You will have opportunity to experience and develop skills in different areas within the service and will be working in a variety of settings including clinic, schools, nurseries, and family homes.

The Children’s Occupational Therapy Team are based in a purpose-built centre, co-located with many other health and local authority children’s services in Waltham Forest. Therapists have good access to clinical space as well as close working relations with the multi-disciplinary teams. We are currently offering both virtual and face to face appointments. The successful applicant will work closely with colleagues in Health, Education and Social Services. Specialist opportunities exist to work within the Child Development Team and delivering parent/carer training.
There is a well-established appraisal system and a commitment to support staff to develop leadership and clinical skills, through regular supervision and internal and external training opportunities.

Applicants will need to evidence that they have a Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy; good knowledge of current best practice in Occupational Therapy and post registration experience in at least one of the following clinical settings:
o Children’s Services
o Community Setting
o Community Neurology

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

High Cost Area Supplement

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,551 to a maximum of £5,735).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.

We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.

References

Please ensure that the references are from your most recent employer and one of these must be your direct Line Manager or Supervisor. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. Additionally, ensure that any gaps in your employment history are clearly indicated. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.

Use of AI

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 you like the sound of working with NELFT, don’t waste a moment and apply now!

Person specification

Qualifications

• Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC Registration

Experience

• Experience Working as a band 5 Occupational Therapist (minimum 18 months)
• Membership of specialist interest group

Knowledge

• Demonstration of knowledge of standards of practice, evidence and best practice guidelines in relation to OT
• Able to demonstrate a good understanding of role of OT in rehabilitation as well as the role of other professionals in MDT

Skills

• IT Skills
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing
• Skills in problem solving, using initiative and working flexibily
• Able to demonstrate clinical and professional development.
• The ability to work autonomously and as part of a team

Personal Qualities

• To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area
• Flexible approach to work.
• Excellent time management skills including an ability to prioritise workload

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

• A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link .

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.

We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans. reservists and military spouses and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.

Equal opportunities employer

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.

We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities.If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email [e-mail].

Correspondence with us

You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.

As part of our recruitment process, we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure consideration.

If you require any additional support during the application process please contact [e-mail]. We are happy to make reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment journey.