Occupational Therapist - CMHA Lead OT

Job overview

We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed Occupational Therapist experienced in working in mental health services for older adults to provide Occupational Therapy leadership to the CMHA (cognition and mental health in ageing) service line.

The service line has skilled and dedicated Occupational Therapists working in inpatient mental health services, community mental health services, memory assessment services and within care home liaison services.

This role would be providing clinical and professional supervision, supporting continuing professional development through regular forums, working to develop and maintain consistent effective services across the 5 boroughs and contributing to audits and service improvement/ quality improvement projects within the service line.

This a great opportunity for an experienced Occupational Therapist to further develop their leadership skills in this area.

This is a new post which would suit someone with significant experience working with older adults in mental health services and with experience and enthusiasm in developing staff and services and improving quality and effectiveness for our service users.

The postholder will be based within one of the CMHA team bases (depending on postholder) but they will be expected to travel between the trust sites and borough teams as needed.

Main duties of the job

The main duties of this role include maintaining and developing high quality Occupational therapy services across our CMHA teams through providing clinical and professional supervision to Occupational Therapists working in the CMHA service line in both inpatient and community settings, organising and facilitating regular professional development forums, working with service line management to identify areas for service quality improvement and service development and being part of ongoing work around productivity, effectiveness and quality.

Although the role does not have a fixed clinical component the post holder will be expected to be flexible in working alongside and jointly with Occupational therapists in the services in order to support development of staff or processes or to support service delivery at times of increased demand or reduced capacity.

The role will also be part of the wider trust OT leadership team and will contribute to and lead projects in wider trust wise Occupational therapy services as appropriate.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To apply a high level of understanding of the effects of disability on occupational performance and provide training and advice on lifestyles changes and environmental solutions to the service user’s social and physical needs.
• To promote equality of outcome for service users that reflect their mental health needs and those of ethnicity, gender, culture physical health and age.
• To promote social inclusion and physical and mental well-being using evidence based practice. This is underpinned by the principles of hope and recovery, health promotion and relapse prevention.
• To independently manage a clinical caseload of service users with complex mental health needs, taking on the role of care co-ordinator and/or vocational lead where relevant.
• To identify occupational therapy goals as part of the overall care plan, using specialist mental health and occupational therapy assessments, including Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) tools.
• To exercise independent clinical professional judgement in complex clinical cases and difficult clinical situation, referring to team members when necessary.
• To consider both physical and mental health needs as part of the occupational therapy process.
• To plan and implement specialist individual and/or group interventions collaboratively, to enable service users to achieve valued goals and satisfactory occupational performance outcome.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications

If you have used AI to support the preparation of your application, please briefly indicate how it was used within your supporting statement or application form.

Please remember, your application is your opportunity to tell us about your skills, experience and motivation for the role. We encourage applicants to complete their application and supporting statement in their own words wherever possible. We recognise that AI tools can be helpful in supporting accessibility, and for improving spelling, grammar and structure.

Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content can become generic and fail to accurately reflect an applicant's individual experience. Applications that clearly demonstrate your own voice, reflections and experiences are often the most effective and help us better understand your suitability for the role.

Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience.

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.