Overview
Specialist Children's Occupational Therapist
Do you find joy in turning play into therapy? Imagination is used as a powerful tool for growth and independence in paediatric occupational therapy. If you are inspired by helping children and young people build confidence in self-care, learning, and play, this role offers a creative and meaningful career move. We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join our Community Paediatric Occupational Therapy Team at Buckinghamshire NHS Trust on a fixed-term basis.
In this role, you will deliver universal, targeted, and specialist interventions for children with EHCPs in mainstream settings. You will manage your own caseload, provide specialist assessments and interventions, support colleagues and students, and contribute to training and service development alongside the leadership team. We are seeking a positive, proactive clinician with paediatric experience and a commitment to advancing occupational therapy for children and young people. In return, we offer a supportive team environment that puts patient care first, values professional development, and champions the vital role of occupational therapy in children\'s services.
Main duties
As a Band 6 Paediatric Occupational Therapist, you will manage your own complex caseload of children and young people with a variety of conditions, using specialist clinical skills to provide assessments, interventions, and coaching to families, education staff, and other professionals. You will lead on supporting and training team members, supervise students and therapy assistants, and contribute to service development through evidence-based, multi-agency projects. The role requires strong prioritisation, organisational and communication skills to balance clinical duties with non-clinical responsibilities such as service improvement initiatives, resource development, and training delivery. You will work closely with colleagues in Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, health, education, and social care, as well as the Buckinghamshire Integrated SEND team and tertiary centres, to ensure a successful multidisciplinary approach. You will provide universal and targeted advice within the SEND Code of Practice, design and deliver training to parents and practitioners, and embed yourself within the service\'s clinical pathway by actively participating in team meetings, while ensuring the delivery of a high-quality, child-centred occupational therapy service.
About us
Why colleagues think we are a great place to work!
What does Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust offer you?
As part of our BHT family, you\'ll benefit from learning and development opportunities to support your career progression. Alongside NHS benefits of generous annual leave entitlement and pension scheme, you\'ll have access to NHS discount schemes. We provide a range of health and wellbeing services to promote a healthy, happy workforce.
What do we stand for?
Our vision is to provide outstanding care, support healthy communities and be a great place to work. Our mission is to provide personal and compassionate care every time. We are working hard to increase diversity at all levels within the trust. We believe a diverse workforce can have a positive effect on both staff wellbeing and patient outcomes. We welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates, candidates with disabilities and care-experienced candidates. We are proud to achieve the Gold award for the Armed Forces Covenant and support applications from the Armed Forces Community. Please contact Pam.Daley@nhs.net (our Armed Forces Covenant Lead) if you would like guidance or assistance with your application. We make employment decisions by matching our service needs with the skills and experience of candidates, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.
Job responsibilities
For a comprehensive list of responsibilities, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification by downloading the JD and PS attachment in the advert. If you are an internal applicant there is the option for secondment; all applicants must have endorsement/support of their line manager prior to application. If you have a disability that makes submitting this online application difficult and would like assistance, please contact us on bht.recruitment@nhs.net quoting the vacancy reference number.
Person Specification
Qualifications and registration
* Registered member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT)
* Recognised Occupational Therapy degree qualification or equivalent
* Health Professions Council Licence to Practice
* Evidence of continuing professional development and personal development in working with school aged children
Experience and skills
* Clinical experience of working in a range of settings
* Evidence of good presentation skills
* Evidence of supervision of others
* Evidence of knowledge in safeguarding procedures
* Knowledge of specialist OT assessment tools relevant to the client group
* Knowledge of a range of appropriate therapeutic interventions
* Awareness of roles of other professionals
* Awareness of standards of record keeping
* Experience of coaching
* Experience of delivering intervention/advice in person
Capabilities and approach
* Specialist knowledge of managing occupational performance and participation challenges for children and young people
* Highly developed communication skills, written and verbal, to liaise with the multi-disciplinary team, children, young people and families
* Evidence of CPD and use of evidence base to inform clinical practice
* Understanding of statutory/legal requirements for working with children and families
* Awareness of local, regional and government initiatives relating to occupational therapy
* Empathy, ability to motivate and support children with cognitive or physical disabilities
* Ability to write concise reports/referrals for interpretation by the multi-disciplinary team or Local Authority
* Ability to prioritise and organise own work and monitor delegated work in a skill-mix team
* Enthusiastic about professional and staff development
* Ability to respond flexibly to unforeseen clinical and non-clinical situations
* Knowledge of clinical governance and risk management principles
* Ability to motivate, negotiate and reassure others
* Ability to listen to views of families and work collaboratively to resolve issues
Disclosures
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and a Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) will be required.
Salary: £38,682 to £46,580 per annum (pro rata for part-time roles)
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