Job summary
This exciting opportunity will give the successful applicant the chance to lead significant change within the Darlington Community Mental Health Teams; Darlington Community HUB and Darlington Community Treatment & Intervention Team. We hope to create a true Occupational Therapy offer within our service and hope you would like to join our positive and supportive team to help us make this happen.
As a Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist in TEWV you will be professionally and clinically accountable for a complex caseload, assessing occupational performance and delivering specialist occupational interventions, providing clinical leadership and advice in own specialist area, demonstrating adherence to the Trust Values at all times and operating as a leader in the team, service and organisation.
Main duties of the job
To provide clinical leadership and advice in own specialist area.
To provide clinical supervision and specialist training for occupational therapy staff within the designated specialty and other healthcare professionals.
To be responsible for managing a highly specialist caseload, triaging and prioritising referrals, completing evidence-based assessments and interventions to address key occupational areas of self-care, productivity and leisure.
To use client-centred approaches to co-producing negotiated occupational goals and evaluate these with service users collaboratively.
To contribute to multi-disciplinary team working
To contribute to and lead on service improvement and quality initiatives
To use the Trust electronic patient record system
To abide by all Trust policies and procedures
To be able to respond flexibly and creatively to challenges.
To oversee and supervise a Band 6 Occupational Therapist and a Band 3 Occupational Therapy Assistant (not yet in post) - working across the Darlington Teams.
About us
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a competent, confident, and enthusiastic Band 7 Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist to join our teams.
We are looking for an OT who can demonstrate a highly developed knowledge and understanding of, and experience working with a wide range of mental health conditions and support us to develop our OT provision and offer to the population of Darlington.
The post holder will provide evidence-based OT assessment and interventions as part of the OT Pathway. They will have the vision, energy, and inspiration to develop imaginative solutions to delivering occupational therapy in this clinical specialty. They will contribute to collaborative plans to manage risk as part of the MDT.
They will be part of the leadership team where an expectation of ability to utilise skills including supervision of staff, development and delivery of training and service evaluation and development both within the team and wider within the trust and local sectors.
Supervision is provided by the Trust Professional Head of OT and lead OT for the service. The post holder will attend Learning and Governance Networks to ensure fidelity to core OT delivery, enhance CPD and contribute to the wider OT service developments.
Details
Date posted
26 November 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 7
Salary
£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours
Reference number
346-DDA-123-25-A
Job locations
West Park Hospital
Edward Pease Way
Darlington
DL2 2TS
Job description
Job responsibilities
Professionally accountable for own occupational therapy caseload, working autonomously in a variety of community settings. Service users have complex needs that require highly specialist occupational therapy skills to enable them to maintain, restore or create a balance between their abilities and the demands of their occupation and environment in the areas of self-care, productivity and leisure. Service users have diverse presentations and a range of mental health conditions and/or learning disabilities.
To have responsibility for ensuring that the highest professional standards and attitudes towards the care of service users and their carers are maintained at all times and that care is delivered in accordance with evidence based practice and a client-centred approach by all members of the occupational therapy team.
To provide clinical leadership and advice in own specialist area.
To have responsibility for providing clinical supervision and specialist training for occupational therapy staff within the designated specialty and other healthcare professionals, as agreed.
To lead clinical audit, development of professional practice and quality improvement in own specialist area.
To promote at all times a positive image of people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities.
To promote at all times a positive image of the Occupational Therapy Service and the wider Trust.
Additional contact :- Paul Meylan - Lead Occupational Therapist Durham and Darlington Adult mental health -
Person Specification
Qualifications/Experience
Essential
1. Pre-registration qualification in occupational therapy as recognised by HCPC)
2. Registration with HCPC.
3. Evidence of post-registration Masters level learning
4. Or in the absence of masters level learning o equivalent experience in relevant area.. relevant level 7 courses, researcher role, quality improvement activity, leading service development, project management, strategic leadership, NICE involvement, service evaluation
5. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) level 7 (SLT =8) for International recruits
6. And the following - Substantial clinical experience of complex occupational therapy delivery in relevant specialist area in collaboration with people who use our services, families, and relevant others.
Desirable
7. Experience of working in Multidisciplinary Team
8. Complex clinical risk assessment and application in practice
9. Comprehensive awareness of professional standards and their application to practice.
10. Experience of participating in quality improvement activities, service development, and/or project management.
11. Experience of participating in clinical governance activities including clinical audit, quality assurance of practice
12. Participation in research and development ., critical appraisal of research papers, service evaluation, small scale or large-scale research.
13. Highly competent in clinical supervision of staff and/or students.
14. Substantial experience in design and delivery of high quality and effective training
15. Substantial experience of application of relevant legislation (. Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act) in practice
Knowledge
Essential
16. Significant experience of supporting people with mental health conditions, learning disability or autism
17. Significant understanding of the needs of people who use our services with mental health conditions or learning disabilities or autism
Desirable
18. Substantial knowledge of evidence- based practice in designated specialist area