# Occupational Therapist - Surrey Prisons > NHS job listing from Job Clerk for Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. ## Canonical URLs - **HTML:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/occupational-therapist-surrey-prisons/181cf03a-8ed1-411e-9459-2ccb68e87daa - **Markdown:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/occupational-therapist-surrey-prisons/181cf03a-8ed1-411e-9459-2ccb68e87daa.md ## Summary - **Status:** Live - **Employer:** Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust - **Location:** HMP Bronzefield - **Workplace type:** onsite - **Profession:** Occupational Therapist - **Grade:** Band 6 - **Salary:** £45,953 - £54,254 per annum inc. HCAS (pro rata if P/T) - **Contract type:** Permanent - **Employment type:** Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Health & Justice Services work to a 7 day working week) - **Closing date:** 2026-10-31T23:59:00.000Z - **Posted:** 2026-09-24T10:41:16.946Z - **Source information URL:** https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/London/Surrey/Central_North_West_London_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Health_Justice_Services/Health_Justice_Services-v8319539 - **Application URL:** https://apps.trac.jobs/job-advert/8319539?ShowJobAdvert=&feedid=9002 - **Employer website:** https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk ## Job Content ### Job overview Make a Difference with CNWL Health & Justice CNWL is a Top Employer Award Winner, delivering high-quality healthcare to diverse communities across London and beyond. We are looking for a motivated and compassionate Occupational Therapist to join our supportive Health & Justice team across the Surrey Prisons Cluster. This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of people in secure settings, helping to improve health outcomes, promote wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Working within our prison healthcare service, you will be part of a forward-thinking multidisciplinary team providing high-quality care across a 7-day service. Guided by our motto, “Caring, Not Judging,” we work alongside the criminal justice system and partner agencies to deliver responsive, person-centred primary care and mental health services that support recovery, rehabilitation and social inclusion. Join an award-winning team where your skills, compassion and expertise can have a lasting impact. Find out what it's like to work with us: Hear from our Health & Justice staff ### Main duties of the job The Occupational Therapist (OT) will oversee the development and implementation of occupational therapy within the mental health services within their location(s) of work. They will be supported by a Band 7 OT who will be overseeing the growth of OT services in our Surrey prisons. They will manage a caseload of patients in prison with complex, severe and enduring mental health needs, providing interventions which support and promote improved health. The caseload will be OT specific work, utilising an effective referral process. They will also provide input into the Neurodiverse pathway of care. The post holder will work in conjunction with the multi-disciplined team to promote the understanding of the OT perspective and its application to working with this client group. The post holder will work alongside senior staff in the MDT to support the development of services. They will also support directorate wide development of OT as part of a supportive and friendly Health and Justice OT network. The post holder will provide an Occupational Therapy perspective whilst engaging and contributing to professional meetings such as CPA, multi-agency case reviews, risk management meetings, and any other meetings related to the care and treatment of the prisoners in our care. The post holder will also act as an educator to students on practice placement, as part of the AHP fair share agreement. ### Detailed job description and main responsibilities Clinical - To provide specialist OT clinical knowledge in the assessment, treatment & evaluation of people within prison. Applying an understanding of the effects of multiple, enduring & complex mental health needs on occupational performance. - To carry out mental health & risk assessment, for a caseload of service users & offer regular monitoring of mental state. - To work autonomously providing clinical professional judgement in clinical cases & referring to team members when necessary. - To contribute in the development of specialist individual & group programmes, supporting service users in achieving valued goals & satisfactory occupational performance outcome. Providing advice & support on lifestyle changes &d adaptations where necessary. - To select & use validated, evidence based standardised assessment tools (Occupational Therapy assessment, screening tools, sensory profiles etc) routinely &, exhibit, advanced clinical reasoning skills. - To monitor & evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions & the agreed mental health interventions against clear aims. - To facilitate smooth transitions for service users between prisons & different service settings (i.e. prison to community). Establishing links & working in collaboration with partner agencies in order to contribute & manage aspects of an individual’s care plan. - To support service users & colleagues in ensuring care plans are developed in partnership with service users & that they reflect ‘personal recovery’ goals. These should be strengths-based & oriented towards reinforcing a positive identity and developing valued social roles. - To provide care which is culturally appropriate & sensitive, demonstrates trauma awareness & recognises the needs of the individual with regards to accessibility - To proactively undertake & ensure rigorous risk assessment & risk management strategies are applied. To ensure maximum ‘risk tolerance’ facilitates the individual’s recovery, in line with risk policies & local guidelines. - To be aware of & sensitive to safeguarding needs at all times, & knowledgeable both about potential indicators of abuse or neglect & about what to do if they had concerns about a persons welfare. - To facilitate the development of, & to work within, clinical pathways & protocols with particular reference to the CNWL Occupational Therapy care pathways & the Health and Justice OT pathway. - To be aware of medication issues in line with the CNWL OT Medication Management guidelines - To provide specialist OT input into the Neurodiverse pathway, working alongside CNWL colleagues & HMPPS Neurodiverse Service Manager for each site. Communication - To demonstrate excellent communication skills with service users, forming positive therapeutic relationships, using warmth & empathy, enabling service user empowerment. - To develop & maintain effective professional communication structures with other professionals & agencies in order to ensure a comprehensive & consistent approach to client care. - To provide & receive highly complex, sensitive, condition related or distressing/unwelcome information to service users and carers demonstrating empathy and reassurance. - To ensure careful & efficient forms of communication skills when assessing & managing risk procedures within & beyond the prison service, inline with confidentiality agreements. - To demonstrate skills and resourcefulness in communication when barriers to understanding are present. - To promote the role of OT within services; representing an OT clinical perspective in all clinical meetings - To participate in OT, multi-disciplinary, clinical and business meetings - To ensure timely response to emails & requests for information. - To work in close co-operation with OT colleagues within the Trust contributing to relevant OT business/training meetings, both locally & trust-wide. - To provide feedback, to OT & MDT colleagues, from specialist interest groups & committees. Documentation - To ensure that up to date, accurate, concise & informative records are written & maintained in the service user’s notes, on Prison & health care systems (CNOMIS and System One). - To attend & actively participate in relevant meetings, conferences & events, relating to patients health & care programmes. - To maintain accurate supervision records (junior staff & students) as defined in the Trust OT Guidelines, including the maintenance of a supervision record log. Management And Leadership - To provide input into the recruitment of staff where appropriate. - To contribute to the writing of local protocols with regard to specialist OT knowledge. - To participate in OT & department specific training packages to promote awareness & understanding of health wellbeing within a prison population. Personal and Professional Development - To keep abreast of changing clinical practice, new developments, evidence based practice & research - To contribute to activities, which continue to build on a culture of shared learning & evidence based practice - To undertake activities of Continuous Professional Development including identifying own learning needs & recording learning outcomes in a portfolio. - To assume personal responsibility for maintaining a working knowledge of new statutory guidelines that influence clinical practice. - To maintain a professional knowledge base & act as a resource to others regarding specialist areas of expertise i.e. occupational therapy, perinatal mental health conditions, parent infant interaction, child development, parenting skills assessment, health promotion, recovery & social inclusion. Supervision and Appraisal - To review & reflect on own practice & performance; & that of others, through effective use of supervision, reflective practice, operational management supervision, CPD & appraisal - To participate in the Trust’s supervision and appraisal systems in conjunction with service managers/Head Occupational Therapist, ensuring that relevant training needs are identified and met through timely access/delivery. - To ensure a robust framework for the provision of regular and qualitative supervision and appraisal for students, junior staff, volunteers & sessional workers as required. - To offer learning and development opportunities to other professionals with regard to occupation within perinatal mental health, and other OT specialist skills - To be an educator for OT students on practice placement, in line with local guidelines, ensuring that practice placement educators facilitate placements for the required number of weeks as per the AHP fair share agreement. - To contribute to effective peer supervision if relevant - To ensure timely booking and attendance of mandatory and statutory training. Failure to do this may preclude further learning and development opportunities. - To contribute to multi-disciplinary training initiatives Clinical Governance - To be knowledgeable about best practise for safeguarding, with support of supervision and the directorate Safegaurding lead and support forums - To apply national and Trust wide guidelines/standards of practice in line with Trust and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ standards and guidelines - To work as an autonomous practitioner, assuming accountability for own clinical practice - To maintain and observe confidentiality of all information relating to service users as laid down in the confidentiality and Caldecott principles. - To ensure compliance with relevant guidelines and policies e.g. safety and risk, DOLS, care act, Mental Health Act etc. Service Development and Delivery - To contribute, as part of the MDT to new initiatives and service development - To ensure comprehensive knowledge of the service’s KPIs, quality and performance initiatives; ensuring timely response and contribution of the OT Service provision. - To ensure comprehensive knowledge of the Trust Recovery agenda e.g. Recovery and Wellbeing College - To contribute to defined projects as directed by the Health and Justice Lead Occupational Therapist - To contribute to and participate, as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, to the operational design and delivery of quality improvement initiatives within the service - To autonomously maintain a working knowledge of new statutory guidelines, particularly those relating to perinatal mental health - To take an active role in seeking user, carer and stakeholders feedback to help shape and influence the further development of the services. Research And Development - To participate in local & Trust-wide OT service activities that promote & contribute to the building of knowledge & evidence base for the benefit of the professional body of occupational therapy. - To include making use of the support networks available throughout the Trust e.g. Special Interest Groups, forums and sub groups; & MDT team training sessions - To undertake, participate in & disseminate research & audit activities in line with local service priorities. - To participate in & implement service activities related to clinical effectiveness via evaluation, audit, research & evidence based practice; ensuring active participation of the OT Team in such activities. - To take a lead, within the MDT, in promoting a culture that focuses on all service users’ occupational needs, recovery principles & social inclusion Professional Ethics - To adhere to the HCPC & RCOT Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct, demonstrating professional competence and fitness to practice - To maintain knowledge of legislation that affects clinical practice within prison health care such as MHA Act, Emotional Effort - To provide care for service users who maybe come distressed or present with challenging behaviour. - To use available resources & protected spaces to support own wellbeing. Work Conditions - To have the ability to work within an environment that may expose individuals to verbal & physical abuse. ### 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 ### OTHER **Essential** - Ability to promote anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practices ### PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE **Essential** - Post qualification experience working in mental health services - Experience in participating in audit / research projects - Experience in developing service activities - Experience in using a range of standardised OT assessments - Experience of effective partnership working, with external providers, in promoting socially inclusive opportunities for service users. - Experience in completing Risk Assessment Tools **Desirable** - Experience in prison and/or secure settings - Experience of supervising students/junior staff ### EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS **Essential** - Degree or equivalent in Occupational Therapy - HCPC registered Occupational Therapist **Desirable** - Post graduate training specific to mental health - Qualifications/training in specialist skills eg. therapeutic/sensory interventions - Practice placement educators course ### SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES **Essential** - Ability to deal with sensitivities and complexities, using interpersonal skills - Excellent communication skills i.e. written, verbal, listening and proficient use of up to date systems of communication i.e. IT systems, e-mail, fax, telephone etc. - Knowledge of personal recovery principles and their application to service delivery - Clear concept of Occupational Therapy and models of practice - Ability to work autonomously, on own initiative and under pressure to meet deadlines; & to make and action decisions independently within agreed time frames - Ability to regularly identify and undertake appropriate learning and development opportunities as part of ongoing CPD - Ability to determine the impact of mental and physical conditions on a service user’s functional ability and undertake assessment/make recommendations with regards to the provision of equipment/aids and adaptations **Desirable** - Delivery of formal presentations and teaching sessions ### ATTITUDES, APTITUDES PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS **Essential** - Demonstrates a commitment to personal development - Demonstrates an enthusiasm for the post - Ability to work independently and is self motivated ## Documents - [jd (pdf, 360.6kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10640979) - [cnwl values (pdf, 182.9kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=1162) - [cnwl staff charter (pdf, 684.7kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2868) - [cnwl staff networks (pdf, 320.0kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=1160) - [cnwl reward and wellbeing handbook 2020 (pdf, 1.1mb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=1773) - [cnwl culture scarf behaviour framework (pdf, 710.2kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2869) - [accommodation information for new starters (pdf, 120.6kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?ddoc=2438) ## Agent Notes - This Markdown page is generated from the same Job Clerk job record as the HTML job detail page. - Use the canonical HTML URL for user-facing references. - Use the application URL when the user wants to apply on the source NHS site.