Occupational Therapist

NHS; Nuneaton; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust invites applications for an enthusiastic Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join the Community Response Service. The role focuses on supporting hospital discharges and working with urgent and routine therapy services, delivering care in patients' homes across Warwickshire.

Successful candidates will work within the Integrated Community Health Service across a seven day service with flexible hours, including weekends.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in Occupational Therapy.
• HCPC registration required.
• Member of professional body (COT).

Responsibilities

• Deliver a high standard of Occupational Therapy intervention and manage a caseload.
• Follow professional standards, agreed therapy pathways and best practice.
• Collaborate with Community & Specialist Nursing, GPs and hospital teams to support discharge and therapy goals.
• Provide education and supervision to OT support staff and fieldwork placements.
• Contribute to service development and recruitment/retention of staff.

Skills

OT assessments

OT models of practice

Clinical experience

Interpersonal skills

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

HCPC registration

COT membership

Job description

Go back South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 20 September 2026

South Warwickshire Foundation Trust is committed to bringing care closer to home. Due to new and exciting service developments within the North of Warwickshire, a vacancy is now available for an enthusiastic and experienced Band 5 Occupational therapist to join our community response service (CRS) with the main focus to support hospital discharges, as well as working with the urgent therapy response and routine therapy service

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a dynamic and forward thinking service and a good opportunity to develop into an inspiring senior Occupational therapist. You will be well supported and encouraged to continuously develop to meet the needs of our service and your profession.

The successful candidates will work with patients in their own homes to deliver an integrated rehabilitation pathway across community services. You will liaise and work closely with Community & Specialist Nursing Colleagues, General Practitioners and the acute hospital, as well as with other therapists within the Integrated Health Teams.

The Integrated Community Health Service operates a seven day service from 08:30 - 22:00, so flexible working is required including weekends and bank holidays. The ability to travel independently across Warwickshire is required, must hold a full British driving licence and have access to a vehicle.

Main duties of the job

To provide an effective service delivery and to be responsible for Occupational Therapy support staff within the speciality.

To follow the recognised professional standards, the agreed therapy pathway and best practice in your designated area of speciality.

To manage an agreed caseload of clients within the service speciality area under the supervision of a senior Occupational Therapist.

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Job responsibilities

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

To deliver a high standard of Occupational Therapy intervention and maintain service delivery by flexible, effective and efficient prioritisation based on clinical and professional judgement.

To have knowledge of an apply the principles of the Mental Capacity Act in order to gain consent for intervention for those patients who have capacity or best interest decision for those who lack capacity to consent.

To negotiate with client / carer to identify and formulate client centred, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely (SMART) goals using the specialist assessment information and to complete designated outcome measures.

To select and apply standardised and non-standardised Occupational Therapy and other professional assessment tools.

To plan, implement and review client centred individual and/or group interventions, using meaningful graded activity based on knowledge of best practice, clinical reasoning and knowledge of Occupational Therapy models of practice.

To interpret and analyse clinical, social and environmental factors to recommend the best course of intervention and the development/review of treatment and discharge plans.

To have a working knowledge of relevant external agencies eligibility criteria and Trust policies and procedures to be able to effectively refer the client to these services

To have a good knowledge and be safe and competent in the use of equipment for daily living, evidenced in the individual Medical Devices Log and to be responsible for ensuring support staff and clients / carers attain competency prior to use.

To have knowledge of appropriate legislation and comply with the Professional Code of Ethics, Conduct and Standards for Occupational Therapy and ensure that support staff are aware of these.

Measurable Result Areas

To comply with Health and Safety guidelines, Medical Devices Policy and maintain safe environment, equipment and working practices. To carry out the risk assessments and implement the outcomes in designated therapy areas

To ensure verbal and non-verbal, written and electronic client records, reports and activity data including those of support staff are maintained, contemporaneous and reported back in appropriate forums, in accordance with professional and Trust record keeping standards.

To contribute to the Key Performance Indicator targets and ensure that they are recorded for the designated speciality area in line with the Trust policies and service protocols.

To prescribe and order equipment for daily living in line with the policies and procedures of the Integrated Community Equipment Service within the authorised budgetary limit.

To identify stock and non-stock to maintain departmental resources and assist in the annual stock take in line with OT service procedures and Trust financial instructions.

To participate in research opportunities, demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate current research, apply to practice disseminating findings at a local level. To assist in the implementation of Occupational Therapy objectives in line with Divisional and Trust objectives.

To participate in the recruitment, selection and retention of staff.

Communications and Working Relationships

To develop an effective therapeutic relationship through the use of a good range of verbal and non-verbal communication skills.

To be an accredited Occupational Therapy fieldwork educator and to provide and support Occupational Therapy fieldwork placements.

To provide and support opportunities for teaching and training of staff, other students for example medical, nursing, work experience and other professionals.

To assist in the induction of all new Occupational Therapy staff and students.

To facilitate the identification of training needs of the Occupational Therapy support staff through supervision and appraisal and contribute to the development, formation and delivery of the Occupational Therapy training plan.

To notify the Principal Occupational Therapist of staff absences when senior staff are not available.

To respect the equality, dignity and diversity of the individual, and be responsible for the provision of a service which is sensitive to these needs.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in Occupational Therapy
• State Registration with Health Care Professions Council
• Member of Professional body (COT)

Experience

• Clinical knowledge/ training through degree course /work experiences to support Band 5 rotation
• Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team
• Previous Band 5 experience

Skills

• Specialist knowledge and application of OT assessments and interventions
• Comprehensive clinical experience & knowledge of OT models of practice and outcome measures
• Good interpersonal and organisational skills and an ability to prioritise own workload
• Ability to problem solve and manage an independent caseload of complex cases
• Ability to comprehend and work within the Trust's policies and procedures, including data protection, equal opportunities and health and safety
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and national priorities and current professional issues
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Good understanding of the OT role and service needs
• Basic knowledge of clinical governance and its application
• Ability to monitor and evaluate own performance and initiate changes to work practice

Personal Qualities

• Ability to build effective working relationships within multi-disciplinary team and with other professionals.
• Ability to work as a team member
• Understanding of professional conduct
• Ability to work flexibly to meet the demands of the service
• Ability to implement change
• Ability to organise and manage self and others
• Ability to manage difficult and distressing clinical situations

Other

• Willingness to work in a variety of locations
• Independent means of transport
• Evidence of CPD and commitment to personal development
• Physically able to carry out the duties of the post

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.

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust