
Job overview
Are you ready to step into a leadership role as an Allied Health Professionals team lead? We are looking for an Occupational Therapist or a Physiotherapist to lead our inpatient mental health team at Woodlands in Ipswich.
This exciting opportunity will allow an experienced Allied Health Professional to oversee delivery of recovery-focussed intervention's in an acute mental health setting.
We are looking for a flexible and dynamic candidate who has excellent clinical and leadership skills who wants to make a real impact on patient outcomes and staff retention.
You will lead an established team of Occupational Therapists, a band 7 Physiotherapist and support staff across two adult acute mental health wards, our older people ward and our psychiatric intensive care unit. The team deliver clinically effective, evidenced based treatment and interventions to groups and individuals. You will also work alongside pyschologists and art therapists You will balance team management with retaining some clinical work, particularly in complex cases.
Woodlands is an exciting and innovative place to work with ambitions to improve patient experience at all levels. The AHP team works across all wards to support discharge planning, therapeutic activity and purposeful admission. There is an ADL kitchen and gym on site, as well as an outdoor games area. The team also facilitate community activity and engagement.
Main duties of the job
- You will provide leadership to a therapy team within the multidisciplinary team context. You will have a high degree of autonomy, with a key role in supporting the development of skills of staff across the inpatient wards. You will also be contributing to service and policy development within the service and reporting on team governance.
- Ensure a responsive, high-quality service is provided to patients, their families and carers within the clinical environment and maintain compliance with key performance indicators.
- Provide line management supervision to the AHP team including recruitment, development and supervision.
- Provide specialist clinical input across the service including support for complex cases. You will work with adult inpatients and older people who have organic (Dementia) frailty and functional presentations such as psychosis, anxiety and mood disorders. You will have the opportunity to use your physical health training alongside the ability to communicate and engage with service users living with complex mental and physical health needs including frailty and work to tackle health inequalities.
- Role model and foster strong working relationships between the AHP and the MDT, to ensure that care is integrated and results in the best possible outcomes for service users. Oversee the therapeutic timetables for the wards and coordinate the allocation of activity worker resource across the site.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be working with a diverse multidisciplinary team and have regular support from local AHP leads. It is an exciting time for AHPs at NSFT following a significant investment to increase the number of posts and profile of AHPs in mental health, which includes significant AHP leadership to support you in this role.
If you are ready to take on this rewarding leadership opportunity and play a key role in shaping the future of AHP provision in mental health, we would love to hear from you! We welcome informal discussions, and visits, prior to application or interview.
(HPCP registration is required)
The trust supports the professional development and welfare of all staff. You will be supported with regular supervision and have various opportunities to undertake training aligned with your professional interests and career pathway.
- The successful applicant will be encouraged to join and actively contribute to our Allied health professional networks. These provide support to develop your service and provide opportunities to connect with other AHPs.
Applicant requirements
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.
Person specification
Skills
Essential
- Establish performance management team structures and systems
- Develop recovery-focused practice
Experience
Essential
- Legislation and policy regarding the provision of mental health care services and other relevant legislation
- Management or leadership of a multi-professional service
- Collaborative working between services and working in partnership with statutory and voluntary services
Desirable
- Experience in providing leadership in a mental health care environment.
Qualifications
Essential
- Nursing degree or equivalent, Dip SW or Dip OT or equivalent
Desirable
- Higher degree or postgraduate certificate in area of clinical / therapeutic practice relevent to the role
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for AHP Clinical Team Lead - Inpatients with Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in Woodlands. It is listed as a Band 7 Allied health professionals role. The advertised salary is £49,387 - £56,515 pa/ pro rata. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 27 Aug 2026.
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