Occupational Therapist

Job overview

Are you an Occupational Therapist who strives for excellence and wants to make a real difference? Join our pioneering trauma-informed community mental health team in Harrow.

This role offers the opportunity to deliver a specialist Occupational Therapy service within an Assertive Outreach model, working with adults experiencing severe and complex mental health needs who are at risk of disengaging from services. You will manage a small, high-intensity caseload, providing proactive, person-centred and evidence-based interventions focused on engagement, recovery and meaningful participation.

You will work with individuals presenting with complexity such as non-engagement, recent admissions, substance misuse, housing instability and increased risk. Using a strengths-based and trauma-informed approach, you will support people to rebuild routines, roles and independence, within a structured framework that promotes clear goals and measurable outcomes.

Working both autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will contribute your specialist occupational perspective to care planning while delivering coordinated, compassionate care alongside service users, families and carers.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an innovative service and make a lasting impact in a dynamic community setting.

Main duties of the job

Provide specialist Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions for individuals experiencing significant occupational dysfunction, including barriers to participation and limited access to meaningful roles. Deliver intensive, time-limited assertive outreach support with frequent, proactive contact during periods of risk or disengagement, using creative and flexible approaches to maintain engagement.

Plan and deliver interventions within a structured framework with clear goals, outcome measures and transition planning. Contribute to risk assessment and management, balancing positive risk-taking with safety in complex presentations. Manage referrals autonomously within the multidisciplinary team, including prioritisation and delegation.

Apply Occupational Therapy models such as MoHO alongside evidence-based approaches to guide practice. Use outcome measures to evaluate impact and inform care planning. Ensure service users remain central to formulation and goal setting, involving carers where appropriate, and provide culturally responsive, inclusive care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will deliver a specialist Occupational Therapy service within an Assertive Outreach function embedded in Harrow Community Mental Health Hubs (CMHH), providing evidence-based, person-centred assessment and intervention for adults with severe and complex mental health needs who are at risk of disengaging from services.

The role focuses on direct clinical care, managing a small, high-intensity caseload and delivering time-limited, intensive interventions through proactive and persistent engagement. Practice will be guided by Assertive Outreach principles, including flexibility, collaborative risk management and a strong focus on sustaining engagement.

The post holder will work with individuals presenting with high levels of complexity, including disengagement, medication non-adherence, recent admissions, housing instability, substance misuse and escalating risk. They will deliver occupationally focused, strengths-based and trauma-informed interventions to support participation and recovery, within a structured outreach model that includes clear goals, outcome measurement and planned step-down to routine CMHH care.

Working both autonomously and within a multidisciplinary team, the post holder will contribute specialist occupational perspectives to care planning and deliver high-quality, coordinated care in partnership with service users, families and carers.