Rotational Occupational Therapist

NHS; Northampton; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust in Northampton is seeking a Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join a busy joint therapy team. Rotations include Acute Medicine, Surgery, Stroke, Frailty, Hand Therapy, and Respiratory, with a 7-day service and weekend working.

You will deliver a professional OT service on your caseload, work with MDT colleagues, and contribute to discharge planning and home adaptations, while developing CPD portfolio and maintaining records.

Qualifications

• Degree-level Occupational Therapy qualification.
• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration.
• Experience in assessing and planning discharges and patient-centered care.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional Occupational Therapy to patients on own caseload under supervision of senior staff.
• Rotations across Acute Medicine, Surgery, Stroke, Elderly Care, and Hand Therapy.
• Contribute to discharge planning and home adaptations as part of the MDT.
• Collaborate with Physiotherapy, Nursing, and other teams to ensure safe patient care.
• Maintain accurate records and complete clinical reports as required.

Skills

Clinical assessment

MDT collaboration

Discharge planning

Education

OT degree

HCPC registration

Job description

Site University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Town Northampton Salary £32,073 - £39,043 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 27/09/2026 23:59

Job overview

Are you a newly qualified Band 5 Occupational Therapist or about to graduate?

Or are you wanting Band 5 experience in a busy acute hospital in a joint therapy team.

We have the job for you.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, well-motivated Occupational Therapist to join us in the Therapy department at Northampton General Hospital, part of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire group. The post will involve working as part of the joint therapy team (OTs, Physios and Support Staff) with rotations including Acute Medicine, Elderly Care, Urgent Care and Frailty, Surgery, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Stroke, Respiratory and Hand Therapy. The successful candidate would be expected to work as part of our 7-day service where weekend working will be required.

As a Band 5 clinician within the team you will be required to take part in delivering a quality Occupational Therapy Service working closely with other members of the Multidisciplinary Team including Physiotherapy, Technical Instructors, Nurses, Medics and the Hospital Complex case discharge Team.

Main duties of the job

· To provide a professional Occupational Therapy service to patients on own caseload, under the supervision of senior colleagues.

· Rotations include: Surgery, Acute Medicine, Elderly Care, Stroke, Hand therapy, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Urgent Care and Frailty and Respiratory.

· To actively contribute to the discharge planning process by selecting and implementing appropriate assessments and interventions to address the needs of patients including those with an acute illness, following injury or surgery and those with chronic disease, palliative illness or undergoing a period of acute re enablement.

· Work closely with physiotherapy colleges and the wider MDT

· Support the team in the day to day running of the therapy service

Provide effective input into the work of the Trust, to support the achievement of our vision and values.

Working for our organisation

We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Supporting Clinical and Patient excellence

Under the regular supervision of senior Therapy colleagues, select, plan and implement assessments and treatment interventions for patients either in the hospital or in their own home or community setting.

Use clinical reasoning to balance risk, safety, patient choice and eligibility for services

Manage a caseload on designated ward/s, seeking guidance from Therapy colleagues as required

Assess patients function for safe discharge, referring on to appropriate community services

Assess and prescribe equipment, adaptations, ongoing rehabilitation and care provision as appropriate and necessary for a safe discharge from the service.

Carry out assessments within patient’s homes as appropriate within departmental guidelines

Communicate effectively with patients, family members, carers, members of the multi-disciplinary team, Therapy colleagues and other agencies

Provide support to patients and carers, sharing information to enable them to make informed decisions regarding Occupational Therapy recommendations and discharge arrangements

Advise patients and carers, through demonstrating the safe use of equipment or other techniques to optimise the patient’s functional ability, safety and independence

Liaise with health and social care professionals and other related statutory, private and voluntary organisations, providing verbal and written reports and referrals where appropriate, in accordance with data protection principles

Respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of patients and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs

Exercise good personal time management, punctuality and consistent reliable attendance

Submit accurate timesheets within set department timescales for additional hours worked

In the absence of Therapy colleagues through planned or unplanned leave, work flexibly to meet the prioritised needs of the Therapy service both within the specific clinical areas and across all service areas

Work to identified guidelines and eligibility criteria relating to the provision of home adaptations, equipment and wheelchairs to ensure equity of service to all patients

Give guidance and training to Therapy Support Workers and Administrative Support staff where required

Assist Therapy colleagues in the induction, training and education of other staff and students within the Therapy services

Maintain accurate and up to date records of clinical interventions, consistent with legal and organisational requirements

Provide formal clinical reports for the multi-disciplinary team as required

Collect, record and submit accurate clinical and personal statistical data in line with departmental requirements and guidelines

Participate in the Therapy in-service training programme, taking the lead in designated sessions as appropriate

Regularly attend and participate in Therapy service staff meetings

Identify own learning and development needs with support from senior Therapy colleagues, contributing to the production of a Personal Development Plan

Build an ongoing Continuing Professional Development portfolio, reflecting on and recording learning outcomes of development opportunities

Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate current Occupational Therapy research and apply this to practice in conjunction with the Therapy team

Contribute to audit and research activity within the Therapy Service as appropriate

Review and reflect on own practice and actively participates in regular supervision and annual appraisal

Corporate responsibilities

Build safe working knowledge of all equipment used to provide safe patient care and participate in maintenance and training.

Contribute to the Therapy Service governance arrangements and to the work of selected departmental groups (eg Risk Management, Health & Safety)

Delegate work tasks appropriately to Therapy Support Workers and Administrative Support staff

To make the best use of the NSH resources

Professional Responsibilities, Quality Assurance and Monitoring

Contribute towards service development activities through participation in team meetings and service development sessions

Propose changes to processes and procedures carried out within the Therapy Service to improve effectiveness and efficiency

Comply with departmental guidelines for the safe use, care and maintenance of equipment and stock

Contribute to audit and research activity within the Therapy Service as appropriate

Maintain and develop professional knowledge and skills to ensure fitness to practice as an Occupational Therapist, in line with competencies detailed in the Knowledge & Skills Framework Outline for this post

Comply with the College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and the Health Professional Council Standards of Conduct, Performance & Ethics, national and Trust policy, protocols and guidelines

Person specification

Education, Training & Qualifications

• Occupational Therapy qualification at degree level (or equivalent)
• Health Care Professions Council Registration (or registration pending)

Knowledge & Experience

• Experience of assessment, goal setting, planning, implementation and review of Occupational Therapy interventions with patients in a physical setting
• Experience of managing a clinical caseload and prioritising work
• Awareness of the role of an Occupational Therapist within an acute inpatient NHS hospital
• Evidence of recent continuing professional development activity
• Experience of conducting cognitive assessments and developing treatment/discharge plans that reflect the cognitive needs of the patient
• Knowledge of the discharge planning process
• Experience of multi-disciplinary team working
• Experience of assessment and provision of equipment, wheelchairs and minor adaptations

Skills

• Skills to communicate effectively with patients, carers, team members, Occupational Therapy colleagues and other agencies
• Skills to produce clear and concise verbal and written clinical reports
• Effective team working skills
• Ability to review and reflect on own practice
• Interest in contributing towards staff and service development
• Ability to drive Trust vehicles for assessments in patient’s homes

At Northampton General Hospital we provide general acute services and hyper-acute stroke, vascular and renal services to people living in Northamptonshire. As well as this we are an accredited cancer centre and provide cancer services to a wider population of Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire.

We are proud to be the first hospital in the UK to have obtained Pathway to Excellence® designated accreditation from the American nurses credentialing centre (ANCC).

We celebrate staff achievements and value the importance of working as one big team. That’s why we talk about Team NGH. It’s all about working together to provide the best possible care for our patients and supporting each other to grow and develop our skills. We are driven to helping you to be the best you can be.

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities. The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative. We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds.This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Our Excellence Values:

• Compassion
• Respect
• Integrity
• Courageous
• Accountable

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust recognises that staff of differing backgrounds and life experiences enrich our workforce and bring different skills and knowledge. We therefore encourage and welcome applications for our vacancies from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

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.