
Job overview
Are you looking for a new challenge or ready to move your career to the Community setting? Are you passionate about providing excellent care to older people? If so we have an exciting opportunity for a forward-thinking Occupational Therapist at Avon House to work with our service users in Later Life. This Community Mental Health Team covers a diverse area of Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the North Cotswolds, therefore the ability to travel independently is essential.
We are looking for an enthusiastic team player with good communication skills and the willingness to learn and develop in this exciting field of mental health.
This is an exciting opportunity to work within a highly skilled and experienced multi-disciplinary team to provide specialist evidence based Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention to a defined caseload underpinned by the Model of Human Occupation.
Your role will enable you to provide specialist Occupational Therapy to service users with severe and complex mental health needs either on an individual basis or within groupwork. You will also act as a Care Co-ordinator to a number of service users who have a high level of occupational need and will be supported to develop your clinical skills and knowledge to cover Duty and triage referrals into the team.
We welcome applications from newly qualified individuals.
Main duties of the job
You will be provided with a comprehensive induction and supported and supervised by a senior Occupational Therapy colleague within the team as well as a Band 7 clinical specialist Occupational Therapist. You will also have opportunity to partake in a regular countywide Occupational Therapy Later Life Continuing Professional Development forum.
You may already have the necessary skills and experience to work autonomously in the community, or this may be your first community post.
The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Gloucestershire Health and Care is committed to embedding and providing personalised care through all of its services as part of our high-quality care strategy. The purpose of personalised care is to empower people to lead the lives they want to live. Personalised care starts with a conversation with people about what matters to them. It builds on what people can do, as well as addressing their health needs. Including new ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our people’s skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care. So we want to know What Matters to You and that you will share our values and join us on this very important journey.
We provide a Multi-professional preceptorship programme that is aligned to the National Preceptorship Framework for Nursing and have been awarded the Interim quality mark from NHS England. Our programme is provided to all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners. In addition to the programme we also offer all preceptees the opportunity of enrolling and completing the level 7 (Masters) 15 credit validated module “Preceptorship for Healthcare” (AP7026).
Newly qualified Social Workers are offered the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment programme (ASYE) which is similar to a preceptorship programme.
Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.
The Trust is required to work in line with the Government’s UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit - https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Person specification
QUALIFICATIONS
Essential
- Health Profession Council (HPC) Registration
- Degree / Diploma in Occupational Therapy
Desirable
- Accredited training in Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), Sensory Integration and other evidenced approaches used relevant to the field
- European Computer Driving license
LENGTH AND / OR NATURE OF EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Minimum on commencing role, undergraduate placement experience working with service users with severe / complex mental health needs and / or learning disabilities
- Knowledge and awareness of the needs of people with Mental Health and / or Learning Disabilities, and a commitment to client centred working practices
- Able to work independently
- Experience of working in Multi-Disciplinary teams
Desirable
- Experience in a range of Mental Health and / or Learning disability settings
- Experience as a Fieldwork educator
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Community Occupational Therapist with Gloucestershire Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust in Gloucester, South West, England. It is listed as a Band 5 Occupational Therapist role. The advertised salary is £32,073 - £39,043 per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 04 Aug 2026.
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