Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity to appoint a senior occupational therapist to work across our vascular, orthopaedic & surgical wards.
You will be working alongside a knowledgeable team of MDT professionals. The role aims to empower patients’ pre & post operatively & facilitate discharge. We welcome progressing band 5’s to Band 6’s looking to develop in these specialities.
The aim is to will provide an inpatient service driven by evidence based practice & enhanced recovery principles.
Vascular
The rehabilitation of all vascular patients within the acute hospital. This will include primary amputees & those with multiple limb loss. To be involved in patients entire inpatient journey from pre-assessment & to patients home assessments. Be responsible for wheelchair assessments & referrals.
Trauma & Orthopaedic
This includes preoperative assessments of total hip, knee replacements & complex elective cases like joint revisions. The team also works on the fractured neck of femur unit, which also covers a variety of trauma cases.
General Surgery
These wards include a caseload of colorectal, head & neck, urology & breast surgery patients. We also receive patients post critical care for rehabilitation.
The successful candidate will provide cover across the specialties as needed & support is provided to upskill as required. Opportunities include attendance at Tracheostomy study day, head injury management courses, spending time with our stoma team & colleagues the limb fitting centre.
Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will be responsible for managing their own caseload and supervising rotational band 5 occupational therapists, support staff, students and apprentices. There will also be opportunities to support the band 7 team in team management and staff training. Regular support and supervision for you will be available from the Band 7 Occupational Therapist & Physiotherapists within the specialty.
You will be required to work with other qualified and non-qualified staff to provide a seven day service including Bank Holidays, with a commitment of 1 in 4 weekends with days off in lieu. The service provides cover 8:00-20:00 Mon- Friday and 8:00-16:00 at weekends
This post will allow you to develop a wide range of clinical, managerial, organisational, teaching and supervision skills. You will play an active role in audits and service development. We offer a well-established supervision and appraisal structure. We encourage individual progression within the Band 6 role and have a firm commitment to in service training and CPD as well as supporting staff to attend relevant external courses and conferences.
The Luton and Dunstable Hospital Therapy Department are a friendly, forward thinking and innovative department with a well-established Clinical Governance programme and a focus on developing staff.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see job description and person specification provided. If further information is required, please speak to our contact on advert.
Person specification
Skills
Essential
- Understand the legal responsibilites of the profession
- Ability to organise, prioritise and delegate appropriately
- Ability to comprehend and work within the Trust’s policies of data protection, equal opportunities and health and safety and meet the differing needs of the patients
Desirable
- Awareness of wider local and national agendas and impact on OT
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working in an acute hospital environment
- Evidence of broad based postgraduate experience to include experience in orthopaedics or elderly care
- Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Work experience, student or therapy assistant supervision
Desirable
- Experience of supervising junior staff or non-qualified
- Experience within the NHS
- Knowledge of working in liaison with community therapy services and intermediate care services
Communication
Essential
- Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills
- Ability to communicate where there may be barriers to understanding
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Dip COT or BSc (Hons) in OT
- HCPC registration
- Evidence of CPD maintained in a portfolio including attendances at recent post graduate courses/ in-service trainings relevant to the speciality
Desirable
- Membership of BAOT/RCOT or similar
- Practice educators certificate
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Senior Occupational Therapist - Vascular, Orthopaedics & Surgery with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Luton, East of England, England. It is listed as a Band 6 Occupational Therapist role. The advertised salary is £39,959 - £48,117 per annum. The contract type is Permanent: Will include late shifts and weekend working. The application deadline is 03 Jul 2026.
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