Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner - medicine/surgery team

NHS; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A role has opened up for an Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner at a leading NHS Trust in Nottingham. You will manage a caseload, support patients' discharge planning, and work collaboratively within a diverse team. This full-time role offers opportunities for personal development and aims to maintain independence for patients through supportive rehabilitation.

Qualifications

• Significant experience of working as a therapy support worker.
• Experience of managing own caseload.
• Previous experience working as a Band 4 assistant practitioner.

Responsibilities

• Managing a caseload of patients independently.
• Completing functional assessments and providing rehabilitation.
• Working collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team.

Skills

Communication

Empathy

Organizational skills

Education

Level 2/GCSEs in English and Maths

NVQ/QCF level 3 in healthcare

Foundation degree in Health and Social Care

Job description

Go back Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trusts

Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner - medicine/surgery team

The closing date is 02 July 2025

We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated individual to join the Medicine and Surgery Occupational Therapy team as a Band 4 OT assistant practitioner, based at QMC. This post is full time.

We are a referral-based team and cover a range of wards and specialities including vascular, ENT, renal, hepatobiliary and gastroenterology. There will also be opportunity to be involved in rehabilitation for vascular lower limb amputees and other long stay rehab patients. This can include access and discharge visits within a patient's home.

The purpose of the role is to complete OT assessment and discharge planning with the aim of supporting patients to be discharged from hospital safely, maintaining their independence where possible.

Previous experience as a Therapy Assistant Practitioner is desirable as you will be expected to manage an independent caseload suitable for your skill set and lead on assessment and treatments. Support from a qualified OT will be available and provided as required for learning and development.

Main duties of the job

Core responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Managing a caseload of patients independently, completing assessment and treatment independently with support from a qualified OT as required.
• Creating therapeutic relationships with patients from all backgrounds with differing care needs.
• Completing information gathering with patients, families and carers regarding previous level of function and their ability to complete activities of daily living.
• Completing functional assessments, including transfers on and off furniture.
• Providing creative, meaningful, occupation focused rehab for long stay rehab patients.
• Identifying and provide equipment to support and maintain independence at home.
• Identifying support required for discharge e.g. packages of care, community therapy, signposting and referrals.
• Working collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team to provide excellent patient care.
• Supporting team with admin/office based tasks.
• Ensuring mandatory training remains up to date and participating in annual appraisals.

About us

With over 19,000 staff, we are one of the biggest employers in the city with a central role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our local population. We play a leading role in research, education and innovation.

Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team in order to deliver world class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!

The Occupational Therapy service is part of the Therapies, Outpatients and Phlebotomy Services (TOPS) Directorate, within the Specialist Clinical Services care group. We are a diverse directorate of AHPs, nursing and support staff, employing around 1000 staff, working together to deliver the high quality care we aspire to. Our HCPC registered AHP professionals comprise of physiotherapists, dietitians, occupational therapists, orthotists, prosthetists and speech and language therapists. We have a Chief AHP to lead us on our strategic direction, and many of the directorate leadership team have AHP backgrounds to support our staff. There are also Practice Development Therapists to support career development for all.

We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH.

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the job description and person specification.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work within a welcoming and diverse team. The Medicine and Surgery OT team work collaboratively together, demonstrating strong team work that maintains job satisfaction and morale. We strive to implement the trust values and behaviours and provide a working environment where everyone feels, involved, supported and a sense of belonging.

We hope that joining our team will provide you with ample opportunities to work across many specialities to support learning, advance clinical skills and create a passion for working in adult medicine.

Role is permanent and full time, 37.5h per week. Core hours are Monday to Friday, 8-4pm.

Additional duties will include participation in weekend working alongside a qualified OT. Weekends are rostered with expected frequency of approx. 2 shifts within a 6-month period.

Person Specification

Training and qualifications

• Level 2/GCSEs grade 4 or higher English and maths (Grade C or above prior to 2017) or equivalent Functional Skills
• NVQ/QCF level 3 in healthcare or equivalent relevant qualification e.g. A-level / BTEC.
• Foundation degree in Health and Social Care, or equivalent level 5 qualification

Physical skills

• Able to undertake therapeutic moving and handling procedures
• Experience of using Information Technology (e.g. basic word processing skills).

Experience

• Significant experience of working as a therapy support worker (Band 3)
• Experience working in a rehabilitation or relevant healthcare setting
• Experience of managing own caseload
• Previous experience working as a Band 4 assistant practitioner

Analytical and judgement skills

• Understand the scope of practice as an Assistant Practitioner, seeking help and direction when necessary
• Take an active role in supervision and reflective practice

Planning and organisation skills

• Ability to work on own initiative

Other requirements

• Must be flexible with working requirements. Working patterns will be dependent on each clinical setting and may be over 7 days.

Communication and relationship skills

• Effective written, verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• Able to communicate complex information with patients who have impaired communication abilities
• Able to empathise with and motivate others

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.

Employer name

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trusts