Specialist Occupational Therapist

NHS; York and North Yorkshire; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist to join the York & SHAR Community Response Team. In this role, you'll deliver holistic interventions to patients in their homes, aiming to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions. The ideal candidate should possess relevant occupational therapy qualifications, strong communication skills, and experience in working as part of a multidisciplinary team. This position offers a contract of 12 months with competitive NHS benefits and opportunities for personal development.

Benefits

Access to NHS Pension Scheme

27 days holiday

Generous relocation package

Employee Assistance Programme

Learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience managing a range of conditions through training and supervision.
• Developed clinical skills in relevant areas.
• Experience in audit and service improvement.

Responsibilities

• Undertake specialist assessments for patients in the York Community Response Service.
• Determine clinical needs and deliver necessary interventions.
• Support and train junior staff and students.

Skills

Effective communication

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Ability to engage with patients

Education

HCPC Registered Occupational therapist

Postgraduate CPD evidence

Postgraduate training in specialist area

Job description

Job Summary

Are you passionate about supporting patients in their own homes, and committed to improving their quality of life? Do you feel ready for a new challenge and to make a difference to others alongside a fun, supportive and friendly team?

We are seeking a Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist to join the York & SHAR Community Response Team – to deliver high standards of holistic and physiotherapy interventions to patients within their own place of residence to prevent avoidable admissions to acute care and to support discharges.

Our well established team consists of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses and support workers and works alongside primary care and partners to provide urgent care response, frailty hub as well as short term reablement/rehabilitation programmes with effective short term goal setting.

This role will involve using health coaching skills to effectively engage with the patient and their family to ensure expectations are appropriately managed.

Please note this post is available for secondment as fixed-term 1 year contract. If applying as part of a secondment opportunity, please ensure you have sought line managers approval.

Responsibilities

• To undertake specialist occupational therapist assessment and management of patients referred to the York Community Response Service.
• To determine clinical diagnosis/need and deliver physiotherapy intervention as indicated.
• To provide support, specialist advice and training to more junior members of staff and students.
• To act as a resource within the department and Trust, providing specialist information and advice regarding patients.
• To maintain records as an autonomous practitioner in accordance with legislation, professional and service policy.
• Provide support to other colleagues when dealing with this group of patients.
• To be responsible for a defined area of service working without direct supervision. Clinical work is not routinely evaluated, however it will be evaluated in line with Trust and service objectives. Access and advice is available from senior professional colleagues if required.
• Initiate evidence-based audit and projects to evaluate and improve clinical practice. Initiate and evaluate user involvement and where appropriate make local service changes.

Required Transport and Vehicle

The ability to transport yourself and equipment across the locality during the course of a normal working day is required for this vacancy. Access to a vehicle that can be used for business purposes and hold a full and valid driving licence (role will involve travel to).

About us

To find out more about what it is like to work for our Trust please visit the following link: https://yorkhospitals.pagetiger.com/hdjgxd

Our benefits

• Access to the NHS Pension Scheme, providing generous benefits upon retirement, as well as a lump sum and pension for dependants
• 27 days holiday rising to 33 days (depending on NHS Trust service)
• A generous relocation package of up to 30% of salary (capped at £18k) to support with relocation expenses for hard to fill positions where relocation would be an expectation to undertake the role fully. If you would like to discuss a potential relocation package, please speak to the recruiting department/manager.
• A variety of different types of paid and unpaid leave covering emergency and planned leave
• Confidential advice and support on personal, work, family and relationship issues, 24/7, from our Employee Assistance Programme
• NHS Car Lease scheme and Cycle to Work scheme
• An extensive range of learning and development opportunities
• Discounts on restaurants, getaways, shopping, motoring, cinema and finance from a range of providers.

Working for the Trust

Across our organisation, people are guided by values that were co-developed with staff: we are kind; we are open; and we pursue excellence.

Our values play into our ambition to develop a more diverse workforce, truly representative of our communities. We welcome applications from everyone, while working with our Staff Networks – including our Race Equality, LGBTQ+, Disability and Carers Networks – to increase the number of applications we receive from different backgrounds. If there is anything we can do to make our application process more accessible to you, please contact [e-mail].

As part of seeking to become more inclusive, we will consider requests for flexible working from the start of your employment. It may not be suitable for every role, but we will try and be supportive where we can. We would encourage you to speak to the recruiting manager named within this advert to discuss any requirements you may have.

Armed Forces Friendly Employer – We are holders of the Gold Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which is helping actively promote SaBRE – Supporting Britains Reservists and Employers. This means that we have made a statement of intent to support all Defence personnel, including with applications for employment.

Person Specification

Education, Qualifications and Training (Essential)

• HCPC Registered Occupational therapist
• Evidence of relevant specialist post graduate CPD activities
• Evidence of post graduate training within specialist area

Education, Qualifications and Training (Desirable)

• Practice placement supervisor qualification

Experience & Knowledge Required (Essential)

• Experience in a relevant junior role, including the management of a range of conditions, with evidence of additional knowledge acquired through formal and informal training and supervision.
• Developed / Specialist clinical skills within relevant area
• Delivery of relevant audit and service improvement

Experience & Knowledge Required (Desirable)

• Experience of training/supporting others (including students) within specialist clinical area
• Delivery of relevant research projects

Skills & Attributes (Essential)

• Ability to demonstrate appropriate engagement with others and understanding of the impact of good and poor communication
• Ability to work as an effective member of multidisciplinary team
• Car driver with valid UK licence

Skills & Attributes (Desirable)

• Evidence of personal development in relevant area

Additional Information

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 (opens in a new window).

Employer Details

Employer name: York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Job locations: York Community Response Team – White Cross Rehabilitation Unit, Wilsons Drive, York, YO31 8FT

Employer website: https://www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk

Reference number: 419-7634148-SOT-FH

Contract: Fixed term (12 months)

Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Band: 6

Salary: £38,682 to £46,580 a year Per Annum / Pro Rata

Date posted: 08 December 2025