Occupational Therapist - Rural Health

Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand; Ashburton; On-site; NZD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Ashburton Hospital, part of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, is seeking a dedicated Occupational Therapist to join a small, experienced team in a permanent full-time position. You will contribute to inpatient, day patient and community services in a supportive rural health setting.

Applicants must be NZ Registered OT with APC or be completing their degree in 2026 awaiting registration; graduates are welcome to apply. A collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach is central to care delivery.

Qualifications

• NZ Registered Occupational Therapist with APC (or graduating in 2026 awaiting registration)
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality Occupational Therapy services to inpatients, outpatients and community clients within Ashburton and Rural Health Service
• Carry out evaluation, therapeutic and educational services for patients/clients
• Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team and health providers

Skills

Team collaboration

Communication skills

Self-motivated

Māori knowledge

Interpersonal skills

Education

OT degree in Occupational Therapy

Job description

• Useyour broad range of Occupational Therapy abilities to help within atalented multi-disciplinary team.
• Permanent full time position, 40 hours per week (1.0FTE)
• NZRegistered Occupational Therapists withcurrent APC is essential. However, those graduating in 2026 and awaiting registrationare welcome to apply.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

Ashburton Hospital provides a range of Inpatient, Daypatient, Outpatient and Community based health services to the wider mid-Canterbury community.The Hospital has 74 beds and annually admits around 5,000patients, cares for 2,600 day patients and 15,000 patients attend outpatientappointments.

Rural health services employ around 550 full time and parttime staff, which includes a clinical workforce in medicine, surgery andgynaecology, supported by nursing and allied health professionals withextensive experience in a wide range of clinical situations.

This role will involve providing Occupational Therapy toinpatient, outpatient and community services to Ashburton and Rural HealthService. You would be part of a small team of experienced OccupationalTherapists who work together to providea generalist service where no 2 days will be the same.

In this role, you will be responsible for:

• Providinghigh-quality Occupational Therapy services which meets the needs of theinpatients, outpatients and community patients / clients of Mid Canterbury
• Providingevaluation, therapeutic and educational services to patients/clients ofAshburton
• Workingwithin a multi-disciplinary team and liaising with health providers

About You

We are seeking an enthusiastic Occupational Therapist tojoin our team in this full time, permanent position.

Your skills will include:

• Adrive to ensure best health outcomes for people requiring OccupationalTherapists services
• Theability to work within a team and contribute to the provision of highquality care
• Beingself-motivated, organised and enjoy a challenge
• Knowledgeof te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori OR a commitment to startingyour journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth
• Stronginterpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build andnurture relationships with patients, their supports, colleagues andservice leaders

You will be a NZ Registered Occupational Therapistswith a current APC or a completing your degree in 2026 and awaitingregistration

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuringexcellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce thatis diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand andservice our community.We welcome applications from our diverseMāori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

To be eligible for this role you must hold the legal right to work and live in New Zealand, if you do not hold the legal right to live and work in New Zealand your application will be declined. We will be reviewing applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process before the closing date of this advert.

Job details

Job Reference:

Job Reference: PC4535253

Location:

South Island - Canterbury - Ashburton

Job type:

Job type: Permanent Full time

Expertise:

Clinical - Allied Health - Occupational Therapist