Lead Occupational Therapist

Tewv; Tees Valley; Hybrid; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Lead Occupational Therapist for Adult Mental Health Urgent Care. The post covers acute inpatient wards at Lanchester Road, West Park and Roseberry Park hospitals.

The role is full time (37.5 hours/week), permanent, with management of an OT caseload and cross-site leadership. Salary ranges £49,387–£56,515 per year pro rata, with opportunities for service development.

Qualifications

• Significant experience of supporting people with mental health issues, learning disability or autism.
• Significant understanding of the needs of service users with mental health conditions or learning disabilities or autism.
• Complex clinical risk assessment and application in practice.
• Substantial knowledge of evidence-based practice in occupational therapy.

Responsibilities

• Lead OT service delivery across designated areas and provide specialist advice to staff and the MDT.
• Triages and prioritises complex referrals; conducts evidence-based assessments and interventions.
• Participate in supervision, contribute to service improvement and governance networks.
• Lead on OT learning and governance activities to ensure fidelity to core OT delivery.

Education

Pre-registration qualification in occupational therapy

HCPC registration

Post-registration master's level learning or equivalent experience

Job description

Go back Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Lead Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 25 October 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full time Lead Occupational Therapist within Adult Mental Health Urgent Care portfolio. The post covers acute inpatient wards at Lanchester Road Hospital, West Park Hospital and Roseberry Park Hospital. As a Lead Occupational Therapist in TEWV you will provide clinical and professional leadership for occupational therapy in the designated service areas. This will also include managing your own small highly complex occupational therapy caseload. You will ensure the professional standards of care are maintained in your own occupational therapy caseload and that of those you lead, always demonstrating adherence to the Trust Values, and operating as a leader in the teams, services and organisation.

Candidates must hold a minimum 18 months post qualifying experience of occupational therapy delivery (at the point of application).

This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route. However, sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements, therefore, we recommend that you assess your eligibility before applying for this position. Visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

Main duties of the job

The post is full time, 37.5 hours per week, permanent and the work base could be at any of our sites in the area of leadership.

The successful candidate will be responsible for the delivery of occupational therapy services across the designated service area. They will provide specialist advice to occupational therapy staff and other members of the multi-disciplinary team and wider.

The post holder will be responsible for receiving complex requests for occupational therapy, triaging and prioritising these, completing evidence-based assessments and interventions to address key occupational areas of self-care, productivity and leisure.You will use client-centred approaches to co-producing negotiated occupational goals and evaluate these with service users collaboratively.

You will participate in and provide clinical/professional and management supervision, contribute to multi-disciplinary team working, contribute to and lead on service improvement and quality initiatives, use the Trust electronic patient record system, abide by all Trust policies and procedures and be able to respond flexibly and creatively to challenges.

About us

We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.

From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care --our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.

We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.

We're committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

We are looking for an occupational therapy lead who can work flexibly to meet service need and has the vision, energy and inspiration to develop creative, imaginative solutions to delivering occupational therapy.

The post holder will provide and lead the delivery of evidence-based occupational therapy assessment and interventions as part of the OT pathway in their area of clinical responsibility.

Applicants must be committed to providing the best possible care for the people we work with and their families/carers.

The ability to engage and communicate with people with mental health issues, as well as the family/carers and system around them is essential. Applicants must be able to demonstrate significant experience in the delivery of occupational therapy, keenness to continually develop themselves and others, and a particular interest in this clinical area of occupational therapy delivery.

We are able to support the use of transferrable occupational therapy skills and experience from a range of clinical settings.

Clinical/professional supervision is provided by the Trust professional head of occupational therapy, and the postholder will be a core member of the Trust wide occupational therapy leadership group.

The post holder organises and leads an occupational therapy learning and governance networks for the staff they lead to ensure fidelity to core occupational therapy delivery, enhance CPD and contribute to wider OT service developments.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Pre-registration qualification in occupational therapy (relevant professional field) as recognised by HCPC)
• Registration with HCPC
• Evidence of post-registration master's level learning
• Or in the absence of master's level learning o equivalent experience in relevant area. E.g., relevant level 7 courses, researcher role, quality improvement activity, leading service development, project management, strategic leadership, NICE involvement, service evaluation

Knowledge

• Significant experience of supporting people with mental health issues, learning disability or autism
• Significant understanding of the needs of service users with mental health conditions or learning disabilities or autism
• Complex clinical risk assessment and application in practice
• Substantial knowledge of evidence- based practice in occupational therapy

Experience

• Substantial clinical experience of complex occupational therapy delivery in relevant specialist area in collaboration with service users, families, and relevant others
• Experience of working in Multidisciplinary Team (SW essential criteria)

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.

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Covers Lanchester Road Hospital, Roseberry Park Hospital and West Park Hospital

£49,387 to £56,515 a yearpro rata, per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

346-TSA-131-26-A

Job locations

Covers Lanchester Road Hospital, Roseberry Park Hospital and West Park Hospital