Occupational Therapist

SWLStG; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is seeking a Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join the Jasmines Ward, an older people’s inpatient unit in London. You will work with a Band 6 OT and an Activity Coordinator to deliver short-term OT interventions promoting recovery and independence.

The role offers a supportive MDT, preceptorship and opportunities to rotate across acute, rehab and community services, with supervision and ongoing CPD.

Qualifications

• Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy and registration to practice in the UK are required.
• Experience in physical and mental health settings and working with older adults is essential.
• Experience with dementia care and multidisciplinary teamwork is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Manage a defined caseload and assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.
• Act as the Disability Champion on the ward and lead the MDT in Disability Equality matters.
• Promote recovery and social inclusion and support robust discharge planning.
• Contribute to care pathway from admission to discharge and involve families.
• Develop and evaluate the ward activity timetable and supervise junior staff.

Skills

Multidisciplinary working

Older adults

Dementia care

Group work

Individual work

Education

Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy

Registration to practice in UK

Job description

Site Springfield University Hospital Town London Salary £38,488 - £46,852 per annum inclusive of Inner London HCAs Salary period Yearly Closing 02/11/2026 23:59

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.

We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ however we aim to be ‘outstanding’.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is "making life better together".

When you join us, you’ll be part of something special – an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

We currently have an exciting vacancy for a motivated and enthusiastic Band 5 occupational therapist to join the team at our older people’s inpatient ward, Jasmines Ward.

Jasmines Ward is a mixed functional and organic acute admissions ward for older people. You will be working alongside a highly experienced Band 6 OT and an Activity Coordinator.

You will join our supportive and friendly group of multidisciplinary staff as well as our wider team of occupational therapists. We use the Model of Human Occupation as well as other assessments to review the client’s environment, sensory preferences and physical disability. The successful candidate would carry out short-term specific occupational therapy work to promote recovery goals and facilitate independence, including signposting to external agencies and liaising with multi agencies.

We are working towards having a menu of high-quality interventions to develop expertise and consistency across the service lines and proactively promote occupational therapy within multidisciplinary teams.

We have regular OT forums for professional support and development and can arrange staff to shadow OTs in other services for development opportunities. You will be the team’s Disability Champion to promote awareness within the multidisciplinary team, ensuring client’s views and reasonable adjustments are implemented within their care. The successful candidate will be offered supervision from the lead occupational therapist.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will join our wider occupational therapy service which includes our community, learning disability, specialist, national and forensic service lines. We meet quarterly for occupational therapy training events which have recently included training around sensory profiling and MOHO.

We have a preceptorship offer recognised by NHSE and awarded the Quality Award. We hold monthly Band 5 development and support groups to aid ongoing CPD learning opportunities.

We work closely with our service-user involvement team who support service-users and carers to co-design and co-produce work within the Trust. We have also collaborated with our colleagues from St. George’s Hospital occupational therapy department where we engage in shared learnings.

We offer an informal rotation where candidates can gain experience in areas such as acute and urgent care, forensic, rehab, community and other specialist services.

Our rotational opportunities are within:

• On our specialist rehabilitation in-patient unit
• Adult acute wards
• An innovative “fast track” preceptorship programme to prepare individuals for community OT roles within our Liaison, Home Treatment and Recovery Support Teams.
• Forensic Inpatient Services

Working for our organisation

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. T he Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a varietybenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key areas of responsibilities:-

• To manage a defined caseload, using evidence based / client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in the hospital setting and on home visits.
• To act as the designated ‘Disability Champion’ on the ward, leading the multi-disciplinary team in Disability Equality matters within the service and other areas as required.
• To promote recovery and social inclusion.
• To contribute to the care pathway from admission through to discharge in keeping with the principles of the team.
• To plan for robust, sustainable discharge and aftercare, involving clients and their families in this planning and evaluating the care given.
• To contribute, from an occupational therapy perspective, to individual care plans.
• To maintain clinical records.
• To participate in the acute care forum.
• To develop and evaluate the ward’s activity timetable
• To supervise junior staff e.g the activity coordinator

Person specification

Education, Training & Qualifications

• Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy
• Registration to practice in UK

Experience

• Fieldwork experience in physical and mental health settings at undergraduate level.
• Experience of multidisciplinary working at undergraduate level
• Experience of individual & group work
• Experience of working as an occupational therapist in an Older Adults team or mental health team
• Experience working with adults with Dementia
• Experience working with Older adults

At South West London St Georges Mental Health Trust we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Committed Employer, and welcome applications from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

As part of the Trust's commitment to Equalities and Diversity, the Trust supports the establishment of Staff Networks groups to promote diversity in the workplace:

• BME (Evolve) Staff Network
• DiverseAbility
• Mental Health Staff Forum
• Women's Staff Network
• LGBTQIA+

We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.

Please note:

• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3 rd party e-recruitment system
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That your employment is offered subject to successful completion of a Probationary Period depending on your Band (except medical roles)
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. The contact details published on our official website are the Trust’s authorised contact channels and should be used for all recruitment communications, job applications, and verification of employment offers.

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.