Occupational Therapist - Development Post

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge is seeking an Occupational Therapist for a development post within the Cambridge Adult Locality Team at Union House. The team works with working-age adults with complex needs, delivering high quality care across diverse settings.

The development post offers a pathway from Band 5 to Band 6, with a competency framework to complete within up to 12 months and support through supervision and appraisal.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent into the OT profession.
• Current HCPC registration.
• Documented evidence of continuing professional development.
• Member of RCOT.

Responsibilities

• Work as an autonomous practitioner within the Cambridge Adult Locality Team and manage own caseload.
• Assess, interpret, plan, implement and evaluate treatment within professional guidelines.
• Provide adaptive equipment, rehabilitation programmes and make recommendations for minor adaptations.
• Keep the patient at the centre of care with patient and carer involvement in decision making.
• Support peers, new staff, non-registered staff and students.

Skills

Autonomous practitioner

Clinical reasoning

Supervision

Driving licence

Education

Degree or equivalent

HCPC registration

RCOT membership

CPD evidence

Job description

Go back Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Occupational Therapist - Development Post

The closing date is 28 September 2026

This post is available as a B6 to experienced practitioners or a B5 development post to someone newly qualified or completing their training.

We are currently looking to recruit an enthusiastic and motivated Occupational Therapist, to join the Cambridge Adult Locality Team at Union House in Cambridge

The service supports working-age adults who have severe affective and psychotic disorders. The teams offer support in a number of ways, drawing from the expertise of such a variety of disciplines.

This is a development post, if you are appointed as a Band 5, you will be provided with a list of competencies to complete and an agreed timescale in which to complete these, up to a maximum of 12mths. Competencies will be reviewed in your supervisions and appraisals. Only on successful completion of these competencies, you will progress to a Band 6.

Main duties of the job

Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.

• We are looking for a self-motivated individual who is able to work as an autonomous practitioner within the Cambridge Adult Locality Team to provide a high standard of care to our patients.
• Your role will include assessing, planning and developing specialist occupational therapist programmes for patients with a wide variety of complex needs.
• You will be responsible for your own caseload, prioritising referrals according to clinical need, signposting appropriately and undertaking assessment of patients with complex and multiple pathologies using, specialist clinical reasoning skills.
• Your role will also include supervision of junior staff and students, overseeing patient intervention and ensuring that Senior Therapy Assistants and Therapy Assistants deliver high quality patient care.

*DVLA have a number ofreciprocalarrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website

About us

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.

Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.

To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities' employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly underrepresented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments for new employees to CPFT are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at https://www.cpft.nhs.uk

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

• To work as an autonomous practitioner within the Cambridge Adult Locality Team and manage own caseload
• To be accountable for assessing, interpreting, planning, implementing and evaluating treatment to patients within professional guidelines, with the support of Senior and Lead Practitioners
• To identify patient needs, agree goals and provide appropriate therapy interventions. Provide adaptive equipment, rehabilitation programmes, and make recommendations for minor adaptations in line with current legislation.
• To keep the patient at the centre of care, ensuring patient and carer participation in decision making.
• Provide support and education to peers, new staff, non-registered staff and students.
• To be accountable for a delegated caseload held by Senior Occupational Therapists
• To provide a high standard of care.
• To work in various community settings, this includes lone working, with access to Senior and Lead practitioners when required

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent, e.g. BSc, MSc or Diploma entry level qualification into the OT professions.
• Current HCPC registration
• Documented evidence of own continuing professional development
• Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapy

Experience

• Clinical experience in a variety of settings
• Clinical supervisor
• Community experience
• Accepts responsibility and and accountability for own work and can define the responsibilities of others
• Recognises the limits of own authority within the role
• Seeks and uses professional support appropriately
• Understands the principle of confidentiality
• Responsible for maintaining registation with HCPC and/or other professional bodies
• SystmOne
• Relevant outcome measures

Other

• Demonstrate empathy for the concerns of others
• Willingness to be flexible in approach and attitude
• Have a range of mechanisms for dealing with stress; can recognise when to use them and does so

Skills & Abilities

• Able to demonstrate commitment to high quality care and service provision
• Able to work flexibly as part of a team
• Able to assess, plan and implement care
• Support Senior Occupational Therapists
• Understanding of clinical supervision

Physical Requirements

• In highly stressful situations keep own feelings in check, take constructive action and calm others down.
• Recognise people's right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect
• Ability to travel independently around the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area meeting required timescales. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential.

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.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust