Clinical Specialist Paediatric In-Patient Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 29 October 2025
Band 7 Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist - Inpatient Paediatrics
University Hospital of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary
30 hours per week/permanent contract
Are you a passionate and experienced Occupational Therapist with a strong background in paediatrics? Are you ready to take the next step in your career and lead clinical practice in a specialist inpatient setting?
We are excited to offer an excellent opportunity for a Band 7 Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist to join our dynamic and supportive multidisciplinary team working within our inpatient paediatric services and alongside our inpatient physiotherapy team.
The Paediatric Team provides a service to the Children's and Women's Services and the successful applicant will provide care within the following areas: General medicine, High Dependency, Orthopaedics, Oncology, Long Term Ventilation, Neurology, and neurodevelopmental needs.
Join us and make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and their families every day.
Main duties of the job
Serving the population of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, Leicester Children’s Hospital is one of the busiest acute and general paediatric centres in the United Kingdom. Our Children’s Assessment Unit currently sees around 14,000 children a year and this is in addition to the children who attend our Paediatric Emergency Department.
The majority of our wards have recently undergone a full or partial refurbishment and we have benefited from the construction of a brand new Paediatric Theatre Reception, paediatric Recovery area, Paediatric Emergency Department and a paediatric Observation ward.
* Act as the clinical lead for Occupational Therapy within the inpatient paediatric unit.
* Provide highly specialist assessment and intervention for children with complex medical, Long Term Ventilation, Orthopaedic, Oncology neurological, and developmental needs.
* Work closely with families, carers, and the wider MDT to deliver person- and family-centred care.
* Support and develop junior staff through supervision, training, and mentoring.
* Contribute to service development and quality improvement initiatives.
* Be involved in audit, research, and evidence-based practice projects.
* Develop and implement individualized treatment plans based on clinical reasoning and best practice guidelines.
* Utilise a range of therapeutic techniques to address fine motor skills, sensory processing, self-care abilities, play skills, and environmental adaptations.
About us
Our new strategy, developed with the support and feedback of colleagues, patients, and partners, is our compass for the next seven years (2023‑2030).
We have four primary goals:
* high-quality care for all,
* being a great place to work,
* partnerships for impact, and
* research and education excellence
And we will embed health equality in all we do – taking active steps to reduce the avoidable differences in healthcare that some people face, working in partnership with communities.
Our strategy is underpinned by new values and we will work to ensure they are an everyday reality for all:
* we are compassionate,
* we are proud,
* we are inclusive, and
* we are one team
This is an exciting moment as we look to the future with clarity on what we already do well and where we need to focus our energies to make an even bigger difference for the people we serve.
Job responsibilities
The Clinical Specialist will:
•Provide clinical and professional leadership to Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy colleagues in the speciality area
Lead, evaluate, and develop clinical practice within a specialty ensuring compliance with national and local guidelines and frameworks
Be responsible for the clinical standards, evidence based practice and quality metrics within the speciality
Work as an autonomous practitioner to provide specialist therapy assessments, diagnose and develop individualized treatment programmes based on the patient need, using advanced clinical reasoning skills
Be responsible for a clinical caseload; which will include complex cases within their area of specialty
Undertake an active role in developing and promoting Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy within the specialty
Be responsible for the day to day management of the delivery of the Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy specialist team in an efficient and effective way within a fast and pressurised environment
Participate in the planning, development and evaluation of Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy within the specialist team holding responsibility for defined projects
Work alongside the Therapy Specialty Lead / Therapy Clinical Team Leader to develop links between the specialist Therapy team and relevant CMGs within UHL
Ensure the training and development of staff within the Therapy speciality Team
Liaise with colleagues and work across site/cross specialty if appropriate in order to ensure the provision of a seamless equitable service
Deputise for the Therapy Clinical Team Leader as appropriate
Develop the evidence base for practice through audit, clinical effectiveness and research activity
Assist and support the Therapy Leadership team within the service in the improvement and transformation of Therapy services
To be responsible for the advancement of personal skills and knowledge in a clinical and leadership context and to attend post registration training in order to maintain own and others CPDMaintain up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the best available evidence for practice for the specialty
Person Specification
Qualifications
* BSc OT
* HCPC
* Evidence of accredited course or working at masters level in clinical area
Enthusiam for post
* Enthusiasm for working in Paediatrics specialty
* Enthusiasm for working in an acute setting
Experience
* Experience of working in the relevant clinical area
* Evidence of teaching/supervising staff
* Experinece of inputting into student education
* Experience of inputting in to a service development project/audit
Experience
* Evidence of experience of managing and leading a Team
Communication
* Evidence of using communication skills within a professional setting
Trust Values
* Experience of working to trust values
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
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