Senior Occupational Therapist

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a dynamic Band 6 Occupational Therapist for the Acute Older Adult Inpatient Unit at the Harbour, Blackpool. You will manage caseloads, assess patients in hospital and home settings, and support patient-centred care with timely discharges.

The role emphasizes developing interventions, mentoring colleagues, and liaising across teams to improve occupational outcomes for older adults with mental health needs.

Qualifications

• OT degree (Diploma/BSc) with ongoing professional development.
• Evidence of continuing professional development (CPD).
• Competence in assessment and fitting of simple assistive equipment or willingness to train within 12 months.

Responsibilities

• Deliver group and individual interventions for adults with mental health needs.
• Balance specialist OT duties with team efficiency and leadership.
• Liaise across service boundaries and settings; promote evidence-based practice.
• Mentor junior staff and provide fieldwork opportunities to students.

Skills

Mental health knowledge

Older adult focus

Clinical governance knowledge

Mentoring

Research awareness

Education

OT degree (Diploma/BSc)

CPD evidence

Equipment fitting training (within 12 months)

Tools

UK professional registration

Job description

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive range of services, including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults, including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
• Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Extensive community physical health and well‑being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long‑term condition management.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,500 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health, general nurses, children’s nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers, as well as those specialising in learning disabilities and community physical health services.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is an exciting place to be an Occupational Therapist, and it is a highly valued role in our Trust’s approach to multi‑disciplinary care. We have sound professional structures to lead and inspire our Occupational Therapy workforce. We are committed to delivering excellent services, putting occupation at the centre of our work and championing peoples’ rights for occupational needs to be recognised and addressed.

We are seeking a dynamic and enthusiastic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to work in the Acute Older Adult Inpatient Unit at the Harbour, Blackpool, delivering care to service users who are experiencing mental health problems. The successful candidate will be responsible for caseloads, assessing patients within the hospital and home environments and supporting with patient‑centred care and timely discharges to home or the most appropriate placement.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will deliver a range of group and/or individual interventions drawn from relevant frames of reference, demonstrating sophisticated clinical reasoning skills. They will prioritise planning and delivering interventions for adults whose mental health problems have a marked impact on their occupational functioning and who have complex occupational needs. This senior position requires achieving an appropriate balance between the provision of specialist occupational therapy and taking on shared roles that contribute to the efficient functioning of the team.

As an emergent leader and skilful communicator, the post holder will liaise and negotiate across service boundaries and in varied settings. They are research aware, and use evidence to support and develop practice. The post holder will provide regular fieldwork opportunities for occupational therapy undergraduates, and contribute to the learning of other team members or students from other disciplines. They have responsibilities for mentoring and/or developing others and supervise more junior practitioners and support staff, delegating work to add to the effectiveness and efficiency of the team.

Working for our organisation

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under‑represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi‑time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

• Diploma/BSC (Hons) in Occupational Therapy (OT).
• Documented evidence of continuing professional development (CPO).
• Demonstrable competencies in the delivery of assessment of and fitting of simple assistive equipment or the willingness to complete this training within 12 months of appointment.

Knowledge

• Detailed knowledge of how mental health problems impact on occupational performance and how occupational therapy theory informs practice within mental health settings with a focus on older adult mental health and the clinical needs of this population
• Knowledge of current best practice in older adult inpatient mental health and awareness of relevant government directives and legislation
• Detailed knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and its application.

Experience

• 2 years post registration experience with at least 1 years in mental health.
• Extensive clinical experiences including individual and group work in mental health specialties.

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.