CYPS Specialist Occupational Therapist

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; Cheltenham; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A dedicated health service provider in Gloucestershire is seeking a CYPS Specialist Occupational Therapist to manage a clinical caseload for children and young people. The ideal candidate will hold HCPC registration, demonstrate strong clinical reasoning skills, and have experience with diverse physical healthcare needs. This role involves collaboration with a supportive team, and providing supervision to OT Support Workers. The position is full-time and emphasizes a trauma-informed approach to care, working effectively with children and families.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration and ability to travel within Gloucestershire is essential.
• Experience in working with children and young people with physical health needs.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed care.

Responsibilities

• Manage a full clinical caseload providing assessment and intervention.
• Liaise with education and social care agencies.
• Provide supervision to OT Support Workers.

Skills

Clinical reasoning

Working with children

Care planning

Effective communication

Education

State Registered Occupational Therapist

Completion of Clinical/Practice Educators Course

Postgraduate learning in relevant CYPS field

Job description

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

CYPS Specialist Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 02 January 2026

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Occupational Therapist to join our friendly team providing occupational therapy to children and young people in Gloucestershire.

Children and Young People's Occupational Therapy Services is part of an Integrated Children's Directorate providing services for children and young people with challenges to their physical health and also those with learning disability and autistic spectrum conditions within health, social care, education and the local acute hospital.

Your role will involve managing a full clinical caseload, providing assessment and intervention programmes for children with a range of need. Your care planning will utilise a range of treatments, skills and options for use in the community and school settings.

The role is the perfect opportunity for those who already have children's experience and want to work alongside a supportive team of other children's occupational therapists.

HCPC registration and ability to travel within the county is essential.

Main duties of the job

Independently manage a specialist clinical caseload with support and supervision provided by senior staff via various methods e.g. face to face contact, email, telephone. This will include providing clinical assessment and the delivery of treatment programmes for children and young people with a diverse range of physical healthcare needs.

Demonstrate a commitment that the "voice" and lived experience of the child and young person is at the heart of all CYPS decision making and clinical care planning.

The post holder will provide supervision and support to OT Support Workers as appropriate.

The post holder will liaise with other agencies including education settings, social care and voluntary agencies.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About us

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will work under the clinical supervision of an appropriately experienced and qualified CYPS Practitioner and well as line management responsibilities being held by a senior member of staff.

Provide a range of health care based assessment and treatment interventions for children and young people (0-18yrs) and their families/carers within the designated team. Provision will be in accordance to the application of a range of profession specific models of clinical practice. This will include:

• Providing a holistic clinical/health assessment, consultation, advice and the delivery of intervention programmes for children and young people with a diverse range of needs.
• Care planning will utilise a wide range of treatment skills and options for use in both the home, community and school setting alongside using a personalised and coproduction approach when working with families, parents and carers.
• Clinical care will take a trauma informed approach with knowledge and understanding of Adverse Child Experience (ACES) that may be impacting on presenting needs.
• Undertaking comprehensive and accurate assessment/formulation of children and young people (including diagnostic where required), using investigative, analytical and effective clinical reasoning skills.
• Demonstrate effective profession based core skills and competencies including effective clinical decision making and articulating rationale behind decision making. This includes consideration and identification of safeguarding needs and taking further action where required.
• Contributing to team based referral screening/Front Door pathway.
• Providing effective and safe clinical risk assessments & risk management planning as part of routine clinical work.
• Undertaking accountability, responsibility and independent managing a clinical caseload of children/young people and their families. When allocated, the clinician is responsible case holder and has overall responsibility and accountability as well as a duty of care for assessment, treatment and review of the child/young person/family until the point of onward referral or discharge.
• Expected roles, responsibilities and activity/performance expectations are outlined within a personal (team based) job plan. This job plan will be reviewed regularly and may be adjusted to meet team or service led requirements.

Person Specification

Shortlisting

• State Registered Occupational Therapist and be registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Completion of Clinical/Practice Educators Course or equivalent
• Evidence of formal post graduate learning within a relevant CYPS field or skill

Shortlisting criteria

• Significant post graduate clinical experience and demonstrate specialist clinical knowledge and experience of working with complex physical health issues (including LD & ASD) and applying specialist clinical assessment and interventions within a personalised care planning approach
• Demonstrate experience and knowledge regarding delivering evidence based/ best practice clinical interventions within childrens community healthcare setting
• Demonstrate profession based and specialist clinical reasoning, knowledge, skills and competencies regarding a range of CYPS therapeutic interventions, including current evidence based/best practice

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust