Occupational Therapist (Band 6) - Memory Assessment Service - South West London and St George's[...]

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust; London; On-site; GBP 44,000 - 53,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading mental health care provider in London seeks a part-time Memory Assessment Occupational Therapist to work with patients experiencing memory impairment. The role involves conducting assessments, developing interventions, and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team. Ideal candidates will have experience with dementia and be skilled in communication and time management. Join our innovative team dedicated to improving mental health care and supporting service users on their recovery journey.

Benefits

Flexible working

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience of carrying a caseload in a mental health setting.
• Experience of working with multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience working with older people with mental health problems.
• Evidence of post-registration training relevant to mental health.

Responsibilities

• Conduct specialist assessments for patients referred to the service.
• Develop individual and/or group interventions to achieve patient goals.
• Work collaboratively with other OTs in functional assessments.
• Make autonomous decisions on complex presenting problems.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Time management skills

Knowledge of dementia

Ability to work autonomously

Clinical judgement

Education

Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy

UK registration to practice

Job description

Site Cheam Resource Centre Town Sutton Salary £44,485 - £52,521 pro rata per annum inclusive of outer London HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 12/08/2025 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 are seeking to recruit a half time Band 6 Memory Assessment Occupational Therapist to work within the Sutton Memory Assessment Service for local people showing early and more advanced symptoms of memory impairment including those under 75years old. The service offers both clinic and home-based appointments and plays an active role in supporting families/carers through individual sessions and psycho-education programmes. It is a well established and valued role within the multi-disciplinary team.

The service provides Occupational Therapy student placements and so the post holder will share Placement Educator responsibility, as well as enable shadowing opportunities for other trainees who visit the wider service.

You would be thoroughly inducted in the team and well supported by the Memory Assessment team and the wider OP CMHT. There are established team development sessions, supervision structures and reflective practice sessions.

The Service is seeking MSNAPP accreditation and so the role will also provide opportunities to develop skills in service review and development.

Main duties of the job

You will work alongside other OT’s in offering specialist Occupational Therapy functional assessments for patients who are undergoing assessment for diagnosis of a possible dementia or for those who have been diagnosed with a dementia. This input will assist in the formulation of the diagnosis through the assessment of functional skills, review of the patient’s home environment, exploration of purposeful occupation and provision of small aides and adaptations as required. The role will require a good knowledge of local services as it will include liaison with and sign posting to patients and their carers as well as developing strong links with other statutory and non-statutory agencies. Due to the multi-faceted needs of this client group this role will help the post holder to develop skills in physical health awareness, the impact of cognitive changes as well as mental health needs on a patients functioning and wellbeing.

The applicant will ideally have previous experience of working with Older People in a community setting and experience of working with people with dementia. The applicant will have excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritise work, excellent communication skills, be able to work autonomously and confidently, demonstrate a keen interest in dementia, be able to work flexibly to meet the needs of the wider service and demonstrate motivation in the work setting and be passionate about high quality care delivery for the users of our service.

Working for our organisation

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. The 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 variety ofbenefits 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

• To be responsible for carrying out robust specialist assessments to those referred to the service.

• To be responsible for making clear autonomous decisions based on an analysis of complex presenting problems and judgement about available options from and OT perspective.

• To utilise a wide variety of clinical skills appropriate to the needs of individual patients and the clinical setting in which they are required to be seen.

• To apply a high level of understanding of the effects of disability on occupational performance and provide training and advice on lifestyles changes and adaptations to the client’s social and physical environment.

• To promote equality of outcome for service users that reflect their mental health needs and those of ethnicity, gender, culture physical health and age.

• To promote social inclusion & recovery and physical and mental well-being using evidence-based practice. This is underpinned by the principles of hope and recovery, health promotion and relapse prevention.

• To develop and maintain a high standard of practice, based on assessment, through the use of a range of psychosocial approaches, within a health and psycho-social framework.

• To exercise clinical professional judgement in complex clinical cases and difficult clinical situation, referring to senior staff when necessary.

• To consider both physical and mental health needs as part of the occupational therapy assessment.

• To plan and implement specialist individual and/or group interventions collaboratively, to enable service users to achieve valued goals and satisfactory occupational performance outcome.

• To identify any significant risk factors in line with local policies, with support from senior staff

• To contribute to and work within clinical pathways and protocols.

• To evaluate effectiveness of therapy interventions and quality of clinical decisions in conjunction with service users/carers, other professionals etc.

Person specification

Experience

• Experience of carrying a caseload in a mental health setting
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team
• Experience of maintaining a written record of continual professional development
• Experience of working with people with dementia and other conditions affecting cognition.
• Experience of working with older people with mental health problems
• Experience of participating in a service development project
• Experience of working in a range of mental health settings
• Successful completion of preceptorship
• Experience of being a practice placement educator

Qualitification

• Diploma or degree in Occupational Therapy
• Registration to practice in the UK
• Evidence of post registration training relevant to mental health practice
• Practice placement educators course within one year of appointment
• Apple registration

Knowledge & Skills

• Developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed & maintained with service users who have multiple & complex needs
• Proficient standard of written communication skills
• Ability to reflect upon and critically appraise own performance
• Ability to work in a way that minimises risks to health, safety & security of self, service user & members of the public
• Ability to monitor work areas & practices to maintain a healthy, safe and secure working environment.
• Audit skills
• Working knowledge of model of human occupation tools

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

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.