Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist

Transformation Unit; Hailsham; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist to join the Integrated Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service (IHEWS) at Lansdowne Secure Childrens Home in Sussex. You will work with young people aged 12-17, in collaboration with a clinical psychologist and mental health nurse.

The role focuses on timely, targeted OT interventions to stabilise risk, support recovery and enhance engagement in meaningful activity, with supervision and development

Qualifications

• Degree/Diploma in occupational therapy.
• Evidence of post qualification study.
• Registration with the HCPC as an occupational therapist.
• Practice Education training.
• Training in the use of standardised occupational therapy assessment tools.

Responsibilities

• Provide Occupational Therapy assessment, consultation and interventions for young people aged 12-17 in the Lansdowne setting.
• Support meaningful activity, sensory understanding, adaptive strategies and environmental modifications.
• Work within the MDT to plan and deliver interventions to stabilise, reduce risk and support recovery.

Skills

Communication

Teamwork

Adaptability

OT knowledge

Education

Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy

HCPC registration

Post-qualification study

Training in standardised OT tools

Tools

Standardised OT assessment tools

Job description

Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 7

Come and join us

We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.

At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.

We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.

We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.

Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page .

We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.

Job overview

We are seeking to recruit an experienced, creative Occupational Therapist to join the Integrated Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service (IHEWS) team at Lansdowne Secure Children's Home. You will be a core member of a Multi-Disciplinary Team supporting the young people in residence at Lansdowne. The focus is on providing timely, targeted and effective interventions to support the young people to live safely back in the community.

You will work closely with our Clinical Psychologist and Mental Health Nurse alongside the care team, the young people, and their families. Supporting the care team and wider network of professionals to assess, formulate, plan and deliver interventions to stabilise, reduce risk, support recovery and resilience building and enhance relationships.

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for the provision of Occupational Therapy assessment, consultation and interventions to our cohort of young people aged 12-17 years old.

You will support the young person to explore and/or return to meaningful and valued activity through the provision of support to understand sensory need, sensory strategies, adaptive strategies, re-motivational process and occupational adaptation and environmental modifications

Working alongside colleagues as part of the MDT you will be responsible for the provision of Occupational Therapy assessment, consultation and interventions. You will support the young person to explore and/or return to meaningful and valued activity through the provision of support to understand sensory need, sensory strategies, adaptive strategies, re-motivational process and occupational adaptation and environmental modifications.

Working for our organisation

You will employed to work as part of the IHEWS team at Lansdowne Secure Children's Home, an integrated multi-agency service between run by East Sussex County Council, and Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust.

As a heath practitioner you will be employed by Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust and integrated into the existing governance arrangements for posts within Lansdowne.

Sussex Partnership provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex. The trust is rated as ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for caring by the CQC.

SPFT encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/lie balance brings about huge health related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.

To support your development in the post we have allocated funding to purchase one module of the Sensory Integration Training (SI Module 1,2 or 3 as appropriate) on appointment

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In order to be a successful Occupational Therapist in our team you will be:

Registered with HCPC

Comfortable working in a fast-paced and varied role

Able to communicate effectively in complex and challenging circumstances to support professional decision making

Adaptable, organised, compassionate and a team player

Experienced working in a multi-disciplinary children and young person's environment

Experienced working with families who are facing tough times and have a particular affinity for working with young people aged 11-17.

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details of the role.

You will receive supervision from the CAMHS Occupational Therapy professional lead within the wider CAMHS services and have opportunities to network with Occupational Therapists across young people services in Sussex.

The trust

This is an excellent time for Occupational Therapists to be joining Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as we have launched our first AHP Strategy and can offer the following to you:

• Regular professional supervision
• The opportunity to participate in a range of quality improvement work and service innovations.
• Access to a wide range of training and CPD opportunities including
• A programme of AHP specific training
• Quarterly Occupational Therapy CPD Hubs
• Communities of Practice (AMPS and Sensory Strategies)
• Have a look at our AHP strategy and view our film at https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/AHP

Informal discussion is encouraged prior to application.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Degree/Diploma in occupational therapy
• Evidence of post qualification study
• Registration with the HPC as an occupational therapist
• Practice Education training
• Training in the use of standardised occupational therapy assessment tools

SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.

Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.

SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.

If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.

In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.

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.