Clinical and Operational Lead High Dependency

Leicestershire Partnership; Enderby; Remote; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Occupational Therapist to lead the Community Therapy High Dependency Team within a forward‑looking discharge to assess service. You will oversee complex caseloads, provide expert guidance, and work with partners to drive service transformation.

The role combines advanced clinical practice with operational leadership, supporting workforce development and continuous improvement across the service.

Qualifications

• Provide specialist clinical leadership in community therapy for the High Dependency Team.
• Lead complex Occupational Therapy caseload and contribute to service development.
• Support supervision, governance, quality improvement and workforce development.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist clinical leadership for the Community Therapy High Dependency Team.
• Lead referral management, caseload management and discharge planning; support independence and quality of life.
• Deliver supervision and mentorship to therapists and support staff; participate in audit and research.

Job description

Job Overview

Are you an experienced Occupational Therapist with a passion for leadership, innovation and service development? If you have experience within a community setting and are ready for a new challenge, we are seeking a motivated and dynamic Occupational Therapist to lead our highly regarded High Dependency Discharge to Assess Service. This innovative service supports people with complex needs to transition safely from acute hospital care, maximising recovery, independence and discharge home.

Working within a multidisciplinary team alongside NHS, Adult Social Care and Local Authority partners, you will play a key role in delivering high-quality care while contributing to service, pathway and workforce development, as well as quality improvement initiatives.

This is a unique opportunity to lead a specialist therapy team within one of the county's most innovative intermediate care services. The unit was the first in the county to provide dedicated therapy input within a high dependency discharge setting and has received national recognition through an HSJ Award nomination for its innovative patient care and system-wide partnership working.

The role combines advanced clinical practice with operational leadership, offering opportunities to lead service transformation projects, influence system-wide pathways and champion the value of therapy within patient care.

Job Description Summary

Provide specialist clinical leadership for the Community Therapy High Dependency Team, ensuring high-quality, person-centred, evidence-based care. Support a complex Occupational Therapy caseload, including specialist assessment, intervention planning, outcome evaluation and discharge planning for individuals with physical, cognitive, mental health and functional needs.

Apply advanced clinical reasoning to provide expert advice, consultation and support to colleagues, multidisciplinary teams, service users and carers. Lead referral management, waiting list prioritisation, care coordination and caseload management, promoting independence, recovery and quality of life. Provide specialist guidance on functional ability, risk management, equipment, adaptations and accessibility needs.

Deliver supervision, mentorship and leadership to Occupational Therapists, support staff and students. Work collaboratively with service users, carers and partner agencies to ensure coordinated care. Lead and contribute to service development, quality improvement, audit, research and evidence-based practice across community therapy. Support recruitment, workforce development and performance management. Maintain accurate records and compliance with professional and governance standards. Investigate incidents and risks, promote continuous improvement, contribute to policy and service development, and deputise for the Clinical/Service Lead as required.

About Us

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) provides a range of community health, mental health and learning disability services for people of all ages. Delivered through over 100 settings from inpatient wards to out in the community, our 6,500 staff serve over 1 million people living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

We aim to develop a workforce that reflects our community. We actively implement equal opportunities in employment and service delivery and seek people who share our commitment. We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from underrepresented groups.

Details of our benefits, leadership behaviours and other important information including AI in our recruitment process can be found in the Information for Applicants document attached.

We will consider requests to work alternative hours or varied working patterns in line with our flexible working policy.

For all substantive roles, new staff (excluding medical staff) are appointed subject to a 6-month probationary period (see Probation Policy).

All jobs will require permission to work in the UK.

For all jobs the cost of any DBS disclosure required will be met by the individual. This will be deducted from salary once started.

Applicants at risk within the local NHS who meet essential criteria will have preference for interview.