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
The post holder will be an experienced registered occupational therapist, responsible for patients allocated to them and will assess, manage, plan and deliver care while being professionally and legally accountable. They will take a key role in the development and implementation of high standards of clinical care ensuring the service provided is needs-led, compliant with national guidance and is viewed positively by service users.
The post holder will support the team in understanding and valuing others’ roles and contributions. They will enable others to contribute effectively, acknowledging the nature of and context of their work, sharing and taking account own and others’ knowledge and skills, and differences in working and professional practice
Main duties of the job
1. To provide a range of specialist occupational therapy assessments and one-to-one/ group interventions for autistic adults, taking into consideration the individual’s physical, cognitive, sensory and psychological abilities and needs, to identify their abilities and areas of difficulty.
2. To lead on providing pre- and post-diagnostic support, in particular specialist occupational therapy assessments and interventions, including those addressing clients’ sensory needs and their impact on daily living.
3. To provide specialist assessment services to individuals referred to the adult autism service.
4. To be responsible for organising and prioritising own caseload in the day-to-day allocation of work, whilst being able to work flexibly to meet the needs of clients, their relatives and carers and the service
Working for our organisation
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:
5. We are kind.
6. We are respectful.
7. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of 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 will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include 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 focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15%of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata for part time).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
8. To promote the empowerment and education of clients in relation to their holistic health. This focuses on the promotion of social inclusion, health promotion and relapse prevention.
9. To deputise when required in the absence of the team clinical /service lead(s)
10. To have organisational knowledge relating to Trust protocols and procedures and adhere to them.
11. To be responsible for providing accurate records of information required by the Trust for audit purposes.
12. To ensure effective risk management at team level by accident/incident reporting, assessing and controlling risk and ensuring residual risks are added to the Trust register.
13. To provide specialist clinical advice to other team members on the suitability of various assessments and intervention methods where appropriate.
14. To provide consultation and liaison to other professionals working with autistic adults in the Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest localities, both community and in-patient based.
15. To take a lead role in the education, supervision and training of more junior members of staff, support workers and occupational therapy students,
16. To act as a role model for occupational therapy, raising the profile and value of the role within the service.
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 to this when completing your application.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI
during the recruitment process.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
17. Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy
18. Current HCPC Registration
19. Evidence of Continuous Professional Development, including post-graduate training at masters’ level
20. Qualification in sensory integration or equivalent experience and in-post training.
Desirable criteria
21. Post graduate training in autism
Experience
Essential criteria
22. Experience of working as an occupational therapist in a range of clinical settings
23. Experience of working with autistic adults, people with cognitive disorders or in other relevant service area
Desirable criteria
24. Experience of managing staff
Skills
Essential criteria
25. Advanced clinical reasoning skills – ability to decide and establish appropriate action
26. ability to adapt own communication to meet the needs of autistic individuals
Desirable criteria
27. Leadership skills
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:
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.