Specialist Occupational Therapist

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne And Wear Nhs Foundation Trust; North East; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

The Specialist Occupational Therapist role is based at Morpeth within the Secure Care CBU of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. You will manage a caseload with senior clinical responsibility, supervising others and contributing to service development in a wide MDT setting.

You will assess and address occupational needs, lead on interventions, document care plans, and support professional development across pathways within the Mental Health pathway.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration and OT degree are essential.
• Experience in OT services within a multi-disciplinary team.
• Experience supervising students/non-registered staff.
• Knowledge of NICE guidelines and occupational therapy interventions.
• Awareness of equal opportunities legislation and policies.

Responsibilities

• Assess occupational needs and initiate interventions to support pro-social routines.
• Provide comprehensive assessments using standardised tools and observations.
• Set collaborative therapeutic goals and evaluate interventions.
• Undertake 1:1 and group interventions across environments.
• Maintain high standards of clinical documentation.
• Provide supervision and appraisals for staff and students.
• Lead on service improvement and development.

Skills

Written assessments

Risk assessment

Treatment options

Interpersonal skills

Leadership skills

Multi-agency collaboration

Time & case management

Conflict resolution

Autonomy

Teaching/presentation

Education

HCPC Registered Occupational Therapist

Recognised OT degree

Post-registration OT interventions training

RCOT member (Desirable)

Job description

Job summary

The Secure Care CBU is a regional service offering care and treatment to individuals who have either mental health, personality disorder or learning disability diagnoses and have come into contact with the criminal justice system. The service works across medium and low secure inpatient wards, the community and prison. Due to expansion of services we have an exciting opportunity for a specialist Occupational Therapist to join our inpatient team based in Morpeth. You will have responsibility for a caseload; primarily specialist interventions that support the team to have an occupational understanding of needs and initiate interventions that support pro-social occupational routines and interpersonal functioning to aid transition into the community. As a senior member of the team, you will have responsibility for the clinical supervision and appraisal of others and carry out aspects of service development. You will work closely alongside Band 5 Occupational Therapists and Assistant Practitioners to fulfil the needs of your allocated caseload. You will be supported by advanced and lead occupational therapists. This vacancy is within the Mental Health Pathway. As a service we do support and encourage rotation across pathways to support professional development and meet clinical needs.

Main duties of the job

The role of the Specialist Occupational Therapist is to primarily assess occupational needs and initiate interventions that support pro-social occupational routines and aid transition to the next step of the individuals pathway. You will work as a core part of the multidisciplinary and occupational therapy teams to provide:

• An Occupational Formulation of needs
• Comprehensive assessment of occupational needs using both standardised tools and structured clinical observations
• Set collaborative therapeutic goals to support the development of address occupational performance needs.
• Evaluate interventions
• Undertake specialised 1:1 and group interventions in a variety of environments.
• Maintain standards of clinical documentation.

As part of the role you will also

• Provide clinical supervision for registered therapists, assistant practitioners and students.
• Support the development of others, providing appraisals for allocated staff.
• Lead on aspects of service improvement and development.

About us

We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.

Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum

Band: Band 6

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time

Closing date: 3rd November 2026

Person Specification

Education and Qualification

• HCPC Registered Occupational Therapist (Essential)
• Recognised Occupational Therapy degree qualification (Essential)
• Evidence of post-registration training in OT interventions relevant to the post. (Essential)
• Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapy (Desirable)

Knowledge and Experience

• Awareness and understanding of professional accountability, HCPC and RCOT standards and other local and national initiatives
• Proven track record of post registration clinical experience relevant to the post.
• Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of providing Occupational Therapy services.
• Awareness of equal opportunities legislation and policies
• Experience of collaborative working across agencies and professional disciplines.
• Proven ability to manage a clinical caseload in a flexible manner as required.
• Experience of supervising students / non registered staff
• Understanding of difficult to manage/challenging behaviours (Desirable)
• Undertaking Appraisals (Desirable)
• Coordinating and supporting staff in the day to day provision of clinical services. (Desirable)

Skills and Competencies

• Proven ability to carry out and provide comprehensive written assessments of individuals with complex needs.
• Risk Assessment and Risk Management / Safety Planning skills.
• Demonstrate an understanding of effective and appropriate treatment options including a range of evidence based clinical approaches as identified in N.I.C.E. Guidance.
• Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Evidence of a high level of professional, organisational and leadership skills (self and others).
• Effective interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work effectively with other professionals using a multi-agency approach.
• Ability to work autonomously and within a team.
• Effective time and case management skills
• Good conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to adapt within a changing environment.
• Clinical Leadership, Training and Induction of staff (Desirable)
• Delegation skills (Desirable)
• Debriefing skills (Desirable)
• Teaching/Presentation skills (Desirable)

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Contact

Rhona Macleod, Associate Director of AHP / Prof Lead OT, [e-mail], 01670394257