Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist
St. Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
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Job summary
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Occupational Therapist to join the Frailty Therapy Intervention Team as a senior Band 7 role. You will manage a complex caseload and contribute to service development across frailty pathways.
The post offers opportunities for leadership, supervision of junior staff and involvement in quality improvement projects within a supportive MDT environment.
Qualifications
- HCPC registration as an Occupational Therapist is required.
- Post-registration experience in management of complex frailty.
- Excellent clinical reasoning and decision-making skills.
- Experience supervising or supporting less experienced staff or students.
- Ability to travel between hospital locations by car.
Responsibilities
- Complete comprehensive occupational therapy assessments for patients with complex frailty needs.
- Develop person-centred rehabilitation and discharge plans to promote independence.
- Collaborate with consultants, nursing, ACPs, physiotherapists, social care and community services to deliver coordinated care.
- Provide specialist advice to colleagues across the multidisciplinary team.
- Supervise junior Occupational Therapists, Therapy Assistants and students.
- Lead service improvement initiatives and contribute to audits and quality improvement projects.
- Support evidence-based practice and help shape frailty service direction.
Skills
Education
Job description
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.
As a senior member of the multidisciplinary team, you’ll manage a complex clinical caseload while supporting the ongoing development of the service.
Your responsibilities will include:
- 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.
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.
Our services:
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
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.
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.
- 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.
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
- Bevan Court Specialist Frailty Service
- 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.
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.
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.
- A commitment to delivering compassionate, person‑centred care.
- Enthusiasm for service improvement, quality improvement and professional development.
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.
Choosing the right role is an important decision, so we encourage prospective applicants to arrange an informal conversation or visit before applying.
This is a great opportunity to meet the team, learn more about the service and discuss how your experience and career aspirations align with the role.
For an informal discussion or to arrange a visit, please contact:
- 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
- Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward‑thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.
Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.
We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact
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