Specialist Community Occupational Therapist

Job summary

Available Community Occupational Therapy Posts

Community Occupational Therapist Community Rehabilitation

Full-time 37.5 hours

Base:

Chester-le-Street Community Hospital

You will work alongside:

Physiotherapists

Associate Practitioners

Therapy Assistants

The role includes:

Independent and joint working

Community-based rehabilitation

Visits to:

o Patients own homes

o Care homes

o Extra care housing settings

Community Occupational Therapist Intermediate Care

Two full-time equivalent posts 37.5 hours

(Part-time working may be supported)

Locations include:

Chester-le-Street

Bishop Auckland

Seaham

You will work within multidisciplinary Community Therapy Teams alongside:

Physiotherapists

Associate Practitioners

Therapy Assistants

Pharmacy Technicians

These roles will primarily support:

Intermediate care beds within care home settings

Community-based work will also be required as needed.

Main duties of the job

The successful applicant will be expected to independently manage a caseload that includes highly complex patients providing holistic, short term, goal led intervention following a comprehensive assessment. Patients will present with a wide range of with a range of physical dysfunction/or disabilities resulting from injury, illness, surgery or chronic disease.

Opportunities to:

Develop skills in holistic assessing beyond the scope of your traditional Occupational Therapy practice.

Develop your supervisory, leadership and service development skills.

To support junior and assistant staff and to help with their development

Lead and participate in peer support and in service training

Work within a dynamic Multi-Disciplinary Team

The successful applicant would predominately work Monday to Friday but will also at times need to support the crisis response service, this is a Monday to Saturday service.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

Details

• Date posted: 27 May 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 6
• Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum, pro rata
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: C9439-2627-683
• Job locations: Chester Le Street Community Hospital, Front Street, CHESTER LE STREET, County Durham, DH3 3AT, United Kingdom, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Cockton Hill Road, BISHOP AUCKLAND, County Durham, DL14 6AD, United Kingdom, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, SEAHAM, County Durham, SR7 7TT, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Maintain specialist clinical skills and provide expert advice to the community teams in relation to identified specialism

To organise and prioritise own workload and to monitor those you clinically supervise within a defined area

To independently screen, prioritise and plan interventions for routine and urgent referrals received within the specialist area

To use sound clinical judgements to prioritise patients within a demanding and unpredictable environment ensuring effective use of resources.

To assist staff under your supervision to prioritise their caseloads and advise them on appropriate interventions in response to urgent/and or complex cases on a daily basis

To undertake holistic and comprehensive specialist assessments of patients including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi pathologies that change across the caseload. To utilise analytical and clinical reasoning skills and manual assessment techniques to provide accurate diagnosis of their condition, these skills may be advanced; interpret facts and select the appropriate treatment and implement rehabilitation programmes

To be operationally managed on a day to day basis by your designated clinical lead, and will receive formal supervision from a B7 therapist either within group or individual sessions.

To work within established Service / Trust policies and procedures and contribute / propose changes for the development of operational procedures / working practices relevant to the team and services it provides.

To provide supervision, education and assessment of therapy students; this would be to a graduate standard and involve working with universities to ensure the standard of practice and teaching meets the standard set by the degree level qualification