Occupational Therapist & Groupwork Practitioner

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is seeking a Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join the Community Transformation Groupwork Team. You will co-facilitate psychoeducational and skills-based groups for adults with emotional distress across Leeds.

The post is based in the Community Transformation Therapies - Group Work Team, with flexible site options and a portion of home working. Prior group work experience is desirable; training will be provided.

Qualifications

• Masters, degree or diploma in Occupational Therapy with HCPC registration.
• Understanding the importance of the therapeutic relationship when supporting people with complex mental health needs.
• Experience in group work or willingness to training in structured group models.
• Holistic occupational therapy in individual and group contexts.

Responsibilities

• Triage, screening & assessment of service users for group work.
• Co-facilitating a range of therapeutic groups.
• Engaging in regular clinical supervision/consultation group.
• Working in partnership with other organisations across the city.
• Developing materials and resources.
• Contributing to evaluation of the interventions.
• Using multiple Electronic Patient Record Platforms.
• Delivering training.

Skills

Therapeutic relationship

Group work

Mental health

Education

Occupational Therapy qualification

Job description

Are you looking for mental health jobs in Leeds, York or with one of our regional services operating across the country? We have a range of NHS Job opportunities, placements and specialities in our clinical, research, and professional support teams across Leeds and York.

At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT), we strive to provide high-quality mental health and learning disability services as an employer of choice. We can only achieve this by putting our staff and the people using our services at the centre of everything we do. This starts with the people we employ. We recruit based on values and qualifications (where required) and believe lived experience is an advantage. We look for potential, not perfection, and this means that together, we are as diverse as the communities we care for.

Simply put, we seek out people who care, act with integrity and have the right skills. We want to add to our incredible colleagues, students and volunteers who share these principles, with people like you, who find empathy comes easily and who treat everyone with respect without thinking.

Occupational Therapist & Groupwork Practitioner

5

Main area Community Transformation Groupwork Grade 5 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 173-51926-COMM

Site Community Transformation Groupwork Town Leeds Salary £32,073 - £39,043 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 04/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 22/10/2026

Job overview

An exciting opportunity for a Band 5 Occupational Therapist has arisen within the Community Transformation Therapies - Group Work Team; employed by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The Community Transformation Programme, Leeds, aims to support the national priority of increasing access to psychological therapy, psychologically informed care and reducing inequality. As part of supporting service user recovery an innovative groupwork programme is being provided.

We are looking for a dedicated, enthusiastic Occupational Therapist to become part of the group work team. Successful applicants will co-facilitate a range of psychoeducational, skills based & therapeutic groups with adults experiencing emotional distress across Leeds. Previous experience of group work, a good working knowledge of group process and or training in a structured group model are all highly desirable but not essential as training will be given. This role is full time and currently the post holder will split their time between the group work team and the Journey Programme hosted within EMERGE Leeds.

This post will be based flexibly across several community venues with the option to work from home for a portion of the week.

Main duties of the job

The role will be varied but will include:

• Triage, screening & assessment of service users for group work.
• Co-facilitating a range of therapeutic groups.
• Relevant individual work with users of the community transformation therapies service.
• Engaging in regular clinical supervision/consultation group.
• Working in partnership with other organisations across the city.
• Developing materials and resources.
• Contributing to evaluation of the interventions.
• Using multiple Electronic Patient Record Platforms.
• Deliver training

Working for our organisation

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.

There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.

We also have a bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.

Applicants should be aware that individuals requiring a visa to work in the UK, the Trust only provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles(this does not include Healthcare Support Workers). This is an essential requirement, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you do not meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.

So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Have masters, degree or diploma level of Occupational Therapy qualification and registration as an Occupational Therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Skills

• Understand the importance of the therapeutic relationship in working with people with complex mental health / psychological difficulties, and the skills to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships.

Experience

• Experience of working with people with complex mental health / psychological difficulties or evidence of transferrable experience from working with other groups.

Knowledge

• Understanding of and the ability to provide holistic occupational therapy in both individual and group contexts

Values

• Tell us about a time when you spotted something small going wrong and did something to stop it becoming a bigger issue.
• Tell us about a time when you realised a colleague or someone you know needed a bit of support and you offered to help.
• Tell us about a time when you showed someone kindness or understanding.

Applications are welcomed from candidates who wish to apply for a position based on a smarter (Hybrid) or flexible working arrangement. Where candidates are successful at interview, flexible working arrangement requests will be taken into consideration and may be accommodated where the needs of the service allow.

Fixed Term Contracts for existing NHS Employees – temporary contracts for employees of LYPFT, or colleagues joining from another NHS Trust, will be offered on a secondment basis wherever possible. In the event this is not possible, an FTC would be issued and this would require a break in service of two weeks.

The purpose of a temporary is role could be for maternity cover, temporary funding or some other reason. At the end of which the need for the temporary work will cease. Temporary roles can stop, be extended and/or made permanent at any point during the period of work. Should the role become permanent then the post-holder will be informed of the process to be followed to convert the position to a permanent one.

All new employees are required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

Patient Safety is a priority at LYPFT with a focus on system-based improvement and creating opportunities for learning. We will ensure compassionate engagement with all those involved in an incident and all incidents are met with a proportionate response. LYPFT is committed to upholding its’ statutory responsibilities in relation to safeguarding adults and children. Please refer to job description for further information.

LYPFT is a member of the Disability Confident scheme and is committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.

As part of the Trust's commitment to its Gold Standard Armed Forces Covenant status, members of the Armed Forces Community are entitled to a guaranteed interview subject to meeting the role criteria.

We welcome applicants with lived experience of providing unpaid care and/or support to a family member or friend with a disability, health condition, frailty, mental health problem, addiction or other health needs.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received. It is in the candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible. In submitting an application form, you authorize Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed to the post.

In applying for a role please ensure that you only declare qualifications that are relevant to the role itself. We reserve the right to check all declared qualifications on an application form, whether they are directly relevant to the role or not.

Please note: The Trust does not offer reimbursement of interview expenses.

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.

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