Specialist Occupational Therapist – Perinatal Mental Health

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare organization in Nottingham is seeking a Specialist Occupational Therapist for their Community Perinatal Mental Health Team. This role involves providing effective multi-disciplinary interventions to mothers during the perinatal period, developing the OT offer, and ensuring compliance with established standards. Candidates should possess a recognized OT degree, be HCPC registered, and have experience in mental health. The position offers an annual salary range of £47,810 to £54,710, with opportunities for training and personal development.

Benefits

Access to NHS Pension Scheme

Generous holiday entitlement

Flexible working opportunities

Investment in personal development

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in mental health settings, specifically in perinatal care.
• Experience in multi-disciplinary team collaboration and project management.
• Knowledge of risk assessment in mental health.

Responsibilities

• Develop the Occupational Therapy offer within the service.
• Provide holistic, evidence-informed care to clients.
• Support training for health colleagues on mental health awareness.

Skills

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Clinical reasoning skills

Organizational skills

IT skills

Education

Recognised OT Degree/diploma

HCPC Registration

Job description

Specialist Occupational Therapist – Perinatal Mental Health

The closing date is 04 January 2026

Main duties of the job

The Community Perinatal Mental Health Team are part of the Specialist Services directorate and co‑located on the Hopewood site with Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services. We are a Nationally Accredited Service with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We provide assessment and treatment to women with a range of mental health needs related to the perinatal period. The Team provides a service to the City and County of Nottinghamshire and Bassetlaw with clinics located across this geography.

Our core purpose is to work with expectant mothers and mothers to address their mental health needs and mitigate any impact on the unborn baby and infant. We aim to improve the health outcomes for mothers with the provision of a timely, integrated, high quality, effective, multi-disciplinary interventions.

Although the Team covers the whole region, this post will be located to the Newark and Mansfield areas.

About us

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee‑led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in‑house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net‑zero commitment.

Job responsibilities

This is an exciting opportunity to join the leadership team in the Perinatal Community Mental Health Team, with a specific focus on developing the offer of Occupational Therapy. This county‑wide service provides care to women and their families in the perinatal period.

We are keen to recruit people who enjoy working in multi‑disciplinary teams and who are creative, adaptable and responsive to the needs of the service. We are looking for someone who is passionate about working with women and their families and whose values and principles are aligned with the organisation, including compassion, and a person/family‑centred focus.

Within this role you will support the team to maintain the quality of the service in line with NICE and RCPsych CCQI standards. You will be expected to further develop the OT offer within the service, utilising resources within the team, and with third sector organisations when appropriate. The post will have management responsibilities for clinical staff working in the Perinatal CMHT.

You will work closely with the Consultant Psychiatrists, Psychology Lead and allied health professionals from Midwifery, Health Visiting and GP services to provide holistic packages of evidence‑informed care. The post holder will have an active role in training health colleagues in recognising mental health need and making appropriate referrals. The role will also involve supporting the Service Manager in reporting to NHS England, Commissioners and internal quality systems and governance.

This role will require being part of the First On Call rota for the Specialist Services Care Unit. You will be a car owner/driver and hold a current driving licence, unless you have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. In return for your skills and commitment we offer investment in personal development, access to the NHS Pension Scheme, generous holiday entitlement and flexible working opportunities.

A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Person Specification

Valued and behaviours

• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust, Honesty, Respect, Compassion, Teamwork.
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation.

Physical requirements

• Has the ability to perform the full range of duties.
• Able to get around the geographical area covered.
• Physical skills in line with MVA Breakaway.

Qualifications

• Recognised OT Degree/diploma.
• HCPC Registered.

Training

• Portfolio of relevant post‑qualification CPD including specialist knowledge of professional interventions and evaluations.
• Leadership training.
• Clinical educator.
• Post‑graduate training specific to client group.
• Relevant Masters modules or completed programme.

Experience

• Working experience of assessing and managing a complex caseload with young people and/or adults with mental health needs.
• Knowledge of Risk Assessment and ability to ensure effective risk management strategies within specialism.
• Experience of effective multi‑disciplinary/agency working and established interpersonal and negotiation skills.
• Experience of designing and delivering different learning and development opportunities for staff teams.
• Experience in developing evaluation/audit tools and resources as part of profession/multi‑professional team.
• Experience of leading the clinical and professional development of others including students.
• Experience of working with women with mental illness in the perinatal period.
• Experience of leading/managing project work.
• Experience of research, audit, service evaluation and/or quality improvement projects – setting up, evaluating, reporting and application.
• Identifies clinical risks and carries out MDT/Trust Risk assessments and formulation for individuals, groups or services highlighting needs.
• Experience of collaboration across teams, services, and other stakeholders outside of the Trust.

Knowledge

• Highly specialist applied clinical knowledge.
• Applied knowledge of risk assessment within field of clinical practice.
• Knowledge of National Policy and guidance and impact on local practice.
• Applied leadership knowledge.
• Highly specialist knowledge of how mental and physical health contribute to risk assessment and support management.
• Contributed to regional and national clinical projects and/or strategic work.
• Perinatal Quality Network accreditation standards.
• Regional and national standards as they apply to Perinatal Mental Health Services.

Skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Well organised and able to prioritise a high turnover caseload.
• Excellent clinical reasoning skills.
• Autonomous and able to work without direct supervision.
• IT skills – to support clinical and service needs and developments.
• Experience of managing a project or service initiative.

Contractual requirements

• Ability to travel between sites.

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.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

£47,810 to £54,710 a year (pro rata for part time)