Specialist Occupational Therapist

Transformation Unit; Cambridge; Remote; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Part time

Job summary

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist to join Willow Ward at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge. This part-time role (34 hours per week) offers a varied caseload within Older Adult Acute Inpatient Mental Health Services, focusing on recovery, independence and wellbeing.

You will assess, treat and discharge plan with a MDT, delivering person-centred care and upholding HCPC standards, with opportunities for professional development in

Qualifications

• Hold a degree in Occupational Therapy and HCPC registered.
• Experience in mental health services, ideally with older adults.
• Collaborative, person-centred approach with commitment to dignity and independence.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist OT assessments and interventions.
• Manage autonomous caseload with complex needs.
• Support discharge planning and rehabilitation to promote independence.
• Promote recovery-focused care and evidence-based practice.
• Provide supervision to junior occupational therapists.
• Travel within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough as required.

Skills

HCPC registration

OT degree

Clinical assessment

MDT teamwork

Recovery-focused care

Education

Bachelor level OT degree

Job description

Employer Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Willow Ward Town Cambridge Salary £39,959 - £48,117 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 19/10/2026 23:59

Specialist Occupational Therapist

Band 6

Job overview

Part time - 34 hours per week

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join Willow Ward at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge.

This is an exciting opportunity to work within a well-established multidisciplinary team in our Older Adult Acute Inpatient Mental Health Service, supporting patients on their recovery journey.

The Role

You will manage a varied occupational therapy caseload, working closely with patients, carers, and colleagues to deliver high-quality, person-centred care. You will contribute to assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, and discharge planning, helping to create a therapeutic environment that promotes recovery, independence, and wellbeing.

About You

You will:

• Hold a degree in Occupational Therapy.
• Be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
• Demonstrate strong assessment, clinical reasoning, and decision-making skills.
• Be passionate about delivering compassionate, recovery-focused care.
• Work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.

We Welcome Applications From Occupational Therapists With:

• Experience in mental health services, ideally with older adults.
• Strong assessment, intervention, and clinical skills.
• A collaborative and person-centred approach.
• A commitment to promoting dignity, independence, and quality of life.

If you are looking to develop your skills while making a meaningful difference to older adults experiencing mental health challenges, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expected to deliver the following: -

• To deliver Occupational Therapy and expertise, providing specialist Occupational Therapy interventions underpinned by the Model of Human Occupation and the principles of recovery.
• To provide Occupational Therapy assessments, advice and interventions to support the patients to engage in occupational activity and increase function.
• To be able to act autonomously in the assessment and treatment of patients, who may have complex needs, this will include patients with a wide range of mental health conditions, including dementia.
• To ensure safe, efficient and effective delivery of patient focused care in line with identified evidence-based practice, local and national standards. To have a high level of understanding of recovery and re-ablement.
• To work collaboratively within the Multidisciplinary and team
• To demonstrate a flexible approach to working in support of the whole inpatient team

Working for our organisation

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 under represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments 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

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

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.

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

• The post holder will provide specialist occupational therapy assessments and interventions underpinned by the Model of Human Occupation and the principles of Recovery.
• The post holder will maintain standards of occupational therapy practice as directed by the Trust AHP lead and in accordance with HCPC and COT standard.
• The post holder will use specialist skills and specialist clinical reasoning to manage patients with complex needs, working with a high degree of autonomy and referring to senior staff when necessary.
• The post holder will plan and implement individual and/or group interventions working collaboratively with patients, to enable them to achieve their goals.
• Be professionally and legally accountable and responsible as an autonomous practitioner and to undertake a significant clinical workload, providing care to patients with a range of psycho-social, physical and emotional problems.
• The post holder will promote equality of outcome for service users that reflect their mental health needs and those of ethnicity, gender, culture, physical health and age.
• The post holder will promote social inclusion and physical and mental well-being using evidenced based practice.
• The post holder will work collaboratively with all disciplines as part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to assure a high standard of care for service users and their relatives/carers.
• The post holder will provide leadership to junior occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistants within area of specialism and designated work area, through professional supervision and appraisal.
• The post holder will undertake the supervision of occupational therapy students on practice placements.

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

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

• Occupational Therapy bachelor level qualification
• HCPC registered OT

Experience

• Experience of working with people with a range of mental health problems or learning disabilities and being able to build therapeutic relationships.
• Experience or knowledge of working within the legal framework of the Mental Health Act.
• Ability to plan, prioritise and manage their own caseload workload
• Experience of clinical and managerial supervision of junior staff
• Experience of developing a therapeutic timetable of interventions that would meet the needs of this client group
• Understanding and knowledge of a wide range of occupational therapy assessments, interventions and practice models relevant to the client group
• Understanding of safeguarding, commissioning of care and Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity act
• Understanding of research in field

Skills & Abilities

• Specialist knowledge of OT assessment, intervention, and practice models relevant to this client group.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to summarise information and communicate with OT/MDT colleagues
• Ability to communicate effectively with people with mental health conditions, in distress or have communication difficulties
• Able to demonstrate commitment to high quality care and service provision
• Basic understanding of physical health conditions that affect this client group
• Good understanding of IT skills and a willingness to learn system specific to the role.
• Understanding and knowledge of a wide range of occupational therapy assessments, interventions and practice models relevant to the client group
• Understanding of safeguarding, commissioning of care and Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity act

Physical Requirements

• Routine and regular use of computer.
• Ability to travel independently around Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area meeting required timescales. A Full driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential.

Other

• Willingness to be flexible in approach and attitude.
• Recognise peoples right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect
• Positive approach to working with older people

Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services.

We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including:

• Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people;
• Specialist mental health and learning disability services;
• Children’s community services in Peterborough;
• Ground-breaking research

We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/equalityanddiversity .

CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances.

Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a ‘Red List’ country.

Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over.

If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation.

All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

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.