Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
Urgent Community Response Senior Occupational Therapist Wanted! 🚨
Join our dynamic Urgent Community Response Team working in South West Essex and play a vital role in Admission Avoidance as a Senior Occupational Therapist!
We're looking for an experienced, passionate professional who enjoys the thrill of unplanned care and direct rewards of helping transform lives by providing urgent, person-centered care in the community.
This is a 7 day service with work patterns of 8am to 8pm
Main duties of the job
What You'll Do:
1. Deliver high-impact, prompt OT assessments and interventions to prevent hospital admissions.
2. Work closely with our multidisciplinary teams which includes urgent response Nurses, Social workers and healthcare assistants, providing comprehensive support.
3. Empower our patients, families and carers to overcome crisis scenarios focusing on enabling independence and improving immediate quality of life.
4. Make a direct difference in the heart of our community and support our ambulance service with people who may be acutely unwell or have fallen and are unable to get up off the floor.
5. Provide tailored, urgent OT interventions to support people’s basic needs and activities of daily living, collaborating with our pathway services to recognise therapy goals beyond our admission avoidance input.
💡 What We Need:
6. Senior OT experience, ideally in community or urgent, emergency and crisis care settings.
7. Quick, critical, clinical decision-making skills and a creative approach to problem-solving complex cases.
8. A passion for making a real impact on people’s lives, improving patient outcomes and preventing admissions to our local A&Es.
9. A collaborative, positive attitude!
Working for our organisation
🌟 Why Join Us?
10. Be part of a supportive, friendly, innovative team making a direct impact in health and social care.
11. Help shape the future of urgent, emergency and crisis community healthcare in South West Essex.
12. Competitive salary and benefits.
13. Opportunity for career development and growth.
If you're ready to make an immediate impact, we want to hear from you! Apply now and help us keep patients at home and out of hospital!
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
14. We are kind.
15. We are respectful.
16. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period.
NELFT place great importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks, including mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
High Cost Area Supplement - Fringe
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £1,303 to a maximum of £2,198 pro rata for part time).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Job Description
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
17. Active HCPC Registration as Occupational Therapist
18. Evidence of updating professional knowledge and skills (CPD)
Experience
Essential criteria
19. Significant previous post registration experience
Desirable criteria
20. Minor Injuries/ Minor Illness/ Clinical Assessment & Diagnosis
Knowledge
Essential criteria
21. Understand the importance of MDT urgent/crisis assessment and community therapy rehabilitation
Desirable criteria
22. Demonstrate clinical knowledge base and experience within a community-based setting including an awareness of onward referral pathways RAFT/Virtual Frailty Ward, District nursing/ICT, Hospice/EOL care, A&E
Other
Essential criteria
23. Willingness to participate in 7 day working
24. To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
25. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
26. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
27. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
28. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.