Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist

Mersey And West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Nhs Trust; Knowsley; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

The Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Advanced Occupational Therapist to join the Frailty Therapy Intervention Team as a Band 7 post. This permanent, full-time role offers 37.5 hours per week and a chance to lead assessments and discharge planning for older adults living with frailty.

You will work closely with multidisciplinary colleagues to deliver coordinated care, supervise junior staff, and contribute to service improvement and audits within

Qualifications

• HCPC registration is mandatory.
• Band 7 experience in frailty is preferred.
• Experience supervising or mentoring junior staff.
• Excellent clinical reasoning and MDT collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Perform comprehensive OT assessments for complex frailty cases.
• Develop person-centred rehabilitation and discharge plans.
• Collaborate with consultants, nursing staff, A/C Practitioners, physiotherapists, social care and community services.
• Provide specialist advice to the multidisciplinary team.
• Supervise junior OTs, Therapy Assistants and students.
• Lead service improvement initiatives and audits.

Skills

HCPC registration

Frailty care

Clinical reasoning

Autonomous working

Supervision

Communication

Service improvement

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

MSc in relevant health studies

Job description

Job summary

Advanced Occupational Therapist - Band 7

Frailty Therapy Intervention Team

Permanent | Full-time | 37.5 Hours per Week

Ready to take the next step in your career?

We're looking for an experienced Occupational Therapist who is ready to take on a rewarding senior role within our Frailty Therapy Intervention Team at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. This is an exciting opportunity to join a service that continues to evolve and grow. You'll play a key role in supporting older adults living with frailty, helping them maintain their independence, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions where possible, and return home safely following illness. If you're an experienced Band 6 Occupational Therapist looking for your first Band 7 role, or an existing Band 7 looking for a new challenge, we'd love to hear from you.

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

What will you be doing?

• Completing comprehensive occupational therapy assessments for patients with complex frailty needs.
• Developing person-centred rehabilitation and discharge plans that promote independence and reduce unnecessary hospital stays.
• Working closely with consultants, nursing colleagues, Advanced Clinical Practitioners, physiotherapists, social care and community services to deliver coordinated care.
• Providing specialist advice to colleagues across the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Supporting and supervising junior Occupational Therapists, Therapy Assistants and students.
• Leading service improvement initiatives and contributing to audits, quality improvement projects and service evaluation.
• Supporting evidence-based practice and helping shape the future direction of frailty services within the Trust.

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Details

• Date posted: 10 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 7
• Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: 409-7703142-G
• Job locations: Whiston Hospital, Warrington Road, Prescot, L35 5DR, United Kingdom

Job description

Frailty is one of the fastest developing areas of healthcare. As services continue to expand, Occupational Therapists have an increasingly important role in assessment, rehabilitation, discharge planning and admission avoidance.

This post offers the opportunity to work across the full frailty pathway, providing a breadth of clinical experience that few roles can offer.

You'll work across a range of services including:

• GP Assessment Unit
• Medical Assessment Unit
• Frailty Reablement Unit

No two days are the same. You'll work with patients who present with complex physical, cognitive and social needs, requiring advanced assessment, clinical reasoning and collaborative decision-making.

About our team

We're a supportive, approachable and ambitious team that values collaboration and shared learning. Our therapists work closely together, drawing on each other's experience to manage complex clinical situations and continuously improve patient care. We encourage new ideas, value professional curiosity and actively support staff who want to develop specialist interests or leadership skills.

You’ll receive regular clinical and management supervision, opportunities for continuing professional development and encouragement to become involved in quality improvement, teaching and service development.

Whether you’re developing your leadership skills, expanding your clinical expertise or contributing to innovation within frailty care, you’ll find opportunities to grow here.

Who are we looking for?

We're looking for someone who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment and thrives on clinical challenge.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• HCPC registration as an Occupational Therapist.
• Post-registration experience in management of complex patients in frailty.
• Excellent clinical reasoning and sound decision-making skills.
• Confidence in working autonomously while recognising the value of multidisciplinary working.
• Experience supervising or supporting less experienced staff or students.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Enthusiasm for service improvement, quality improvement and professional development.

What can we offer you?

Joining our team means becoming part of a service that is committed to both excellent patient care and staff development.

We offer

• A welcoming and supportive multidisciplinary team.
• Regular clinical supervision and leadership support.
• Opportunities for specialist training and continuing professional development.
• Involvement in quality improvement, research and service development.
• Opportunities to present work locally and nationally.
• A varied and rewarding clinical role where your contribution genuinely makes a difference to the lives of older people every day.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC registration
• Clinical Educators Certificate or equivalent/experience
• MSc in relevant health studies or equivalent qualification/experience
• Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence based practise in relevant health setting
• Awareness of own strengths and limitations
• Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
• Experience of leadership of a team including change management
• Evidence of effective working within an MDT
• Experience of Service development
• Demonstrate experience of problem solving approaches
• Audit and research in a clinical area
• Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
• Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
• Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
• Have a flexible approach to working with good time management

Other

Essential

• Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

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.

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 (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).