Occupational Therapist

Job overview

Are you an enthusiastic Occupational Therapist looking to develop specialist skills within a highly innovative and rewarding service? An exciting opportunity has arisen within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist as part of the ACORN Service at HMP Whatton on a 12-month maternity cover basis.

This is a specialist treatment service for individuals with personality difficulties and a history of sexual offending. The service is part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway and is jointly delivered by NHS and Prison partners. This role offers a unique chance to work within a well-established multidisciplinary team delivering specialist psychological and occupational therapy interventions to individuals with personality difficulties and a history of sexual offending.

Main duties of the job

The ACORN service is a comprehensive specialist service offering a range of therapeutic interventions on an outreach basis at HMP Whatton to individuals with problematic personality traits which are linked to difficulties with progression or risk. The service offers a suite of therapies including Schema Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitiation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT), and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) within tiered phases. Therapies, including socially creative sessions, psychoeducation and both group and 1:1 therapy are provided with an emphasis upon the importance of relationships and the environmental setting. There is a comprehensive OT pathway which runs within this with a focus on the development of functional daily living skills and issues relating to offending, relational difficulties and emotional management.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As part of the ACORN team, you will:

• Work alongside highly skilled psychologists, occupational therapists, and prison colleagues within a specialist therapeutic environment.
• Deliver and further develop occupationally focused interventions that promote functional skills, emotional wellbeing, relational understanding and meaningful engagement.
• Gain experience in a wide range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches, including Schema Therapy, EMDR, DBT, RO-DBT and TF-CBT.
• Contribute to both individual and group interventions, including socially creative and psychoeducational programmes.
• Receive regular professional supervision, support and opportunities for continuing professional development within a specialist forensic setting.
• Develop expertise in trauma-informed and psychologically informed practice.

The OPD Pathway is built on the belief that high-quality, psychologically informed services can make a genuine difference to individuals within the criminal justice system. Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust delivers a range of OPD services in partnership with HMPPS, including ACORN at HMP Whatton, a Therapeutic Community at HMP Gartree, SOLAR service at HMP North Sea Camp, Intensive Intervention and Risk Management Services (IIRMS) and CORE community consultation services across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

We are committed to working in partnership with HMPPS- this service is a joint enterprise so relies on collaborative working to improve health, support justice and reduce re-offending behaviour. The OPD Pathway Team truly believes it can make a difference to the lives of individuals in the criminal justice system by offering consistent, equitable, high-quality services to individuals. If this sounds like a pathway you would like to join- we would like you to be part of our team. We are looking for someone who is:

• Person-centred and recovery focused.
• Motivated, resilient and adaptable.
• Passionate about occupational therapy and making a difference.
• Interested in working within complex and rewarding forensic and personality disorder services.
• Committed to collaborative, multidisciplinary working.

Previous experience or knowledge of personality disorder services, trauma-informed approaches or forensic settings would be advantageous but is not essential. We welcome applications from Occupational Therapists who are keen to learn, develop and contribute to this specialist area of practice.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

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.