Specialist Occupational Therapist

Merseywestlancs; St Helens; Remote; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Working

Generous pension scheme

27 days annual leave (pro rata)

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking a Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist to join the Seddon Suite Specialist Rehabilitation Unit at St Helens Hospital. The role offers full-time 37.5 hours with potential for part-time consideration, working within a dynamic MDT to deliver high‑quality rehabilitation services.

You will lead clinical care, supervise staff, and contribute to service development while maintaining a strong commitment to training, professional

Qualifications

• Registered as an Occupational Therapist with HCPC.
• Minimum 2–3 years post-qualification experience.

Responsibilities

• Join a multidisciplinary team of therapists and specialists.
• Provide specialist OT assessment, treatment and rehabilitation.
• Lead and support professional development and training of rotational staff and students.
• Commit to evidence-based practice and service development.

Skills

Communication

Teamwork

Lead/Motivate

Deadline management

Documentation/IT skills

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy

HCPC registration

Clinical Educator Certificate

Postgrad study e.g. MSc

Job description

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations.

Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Job overview

Band 6 - Specialist Occupational Therapist

Seddon Suite Specialist Rehabilitation Unit – St Helens Hospital

Full time 37.5 hrs pw (part time considered)

Are you a confident Occupational Therapist who would like to explore a more rewarding clinical challenge in a highly specialist rehabilitation service? Are you ready to further develop your clinical and leadership skills?

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Specialist Occupational Therapist to join our team at Seddon Suite Specialist Rehabilitation Unit, St Helens Hospital.

Seddon Rehab Unit offers a dedicated seven-day rehabilitation service as part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Rehabilitation Network, providing specialist assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for adults following traumatic injury or serious illness. Rehabilitation is active and is provided at a level of intensity and duration that can be tolerated by the patient to enable the achievement of optimum functional potential. Our team work closely with patients and families to achieve the best possible level of independence and quality of life. In addition to the inpatients service, the unit also offers out-patient therapy services.

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

Please note- it is the applicant’s responsibility to seek authorisation from their current manager to be released for the secondment before a formal application is made

Main duties of the job

We are looking to recruit an exceptional Occupational Therapist to this specialist post. The successful applicant will be part of a motivated, forward thinking, close interdisciplinary team of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Dietitians, Rehabilitation Assistants, Clinical Psychologists, a Rehabilitation Coordinator, Social Worker and Rehabilitation Nurses. The medical team is led by a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine.

You will be joining an established OT team and will have access to support and supervision from a Clinical Lead (Band 7) Occupational Therapist. We have an excellent staff supervision system enabling our staff to develop both the service and themselves. The appropriate candidate will also demonstrate a strong commitment to training rotational therapists, rehabilitation assistants and undergraduate staff.

Continuous evidence-based practice and service development is fundamental to the team, and you will be passionate in identifying, leading and driving forward new projects.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Successful Candidate should:

• be a registered Occupational Therapist with the HCPC (Health Care Professions Council)
• have a minimum of 2-3 years post-qualification experience
• have a n in-depth knowledge and understanding of Occupational Therapy process / interventions and an ability to apply these skills
• have e xperience in the field of Neurology / Rehabilitation
• h ave experience of continued professional development
• have e xperience of service development, audit and research
• be a ble to effectively work as part of a team
• have e xcellent communication and time management skills

• be p assionate about student education

All posts are subject to an Enhanced DBS check with barred lists for both adults and children.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Degree in Occupational Therapist
• HCPC registration
• Clinical Educators Certificate
• Post Grad accredited study e.g. MSc in relevant health studies

Our Values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Experience

• Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
• Awareness of own strengths and limitations
• Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
• Experience of line managing a team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and co-ordinationEvidence of effective working within an MDT
• Experience of Service development
• Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
• Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
• Audit and research in a clinical area

Skills

• Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
• Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
• Have a flexible approach to working with good time management

Other

• Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under-represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [e-mail]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

eVisa Update For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK. Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account. Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

• Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

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.

Name Ian Rotheroe Job title Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist / Team Lead Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 01744 646185