Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner - Frailty
The closing date is 27 October 2025
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has an exciting opportunity for an Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join our Frailty and Medicine for the Older Person Therapy Team at The Alexandra Hospital Redditch.
Following appropriate training and achievement of competencies, you will assess and treat inpatients on the Frailty wards.
Working as part of an integrated therapy team, you will work with qualified therapists and other assistants, as well as independently with patients within your scope of practice.
This role requires excellent assessment and communication skills, together with the ability to prioritise your workload and thrive in a busy environment. You will implement and monitor treatment interventions and care plans, always striving to put patients first.
The therapy team follows a Home First ethos, supporting safe discharge at the earliest opportunity. You will be confident in making discharge decisions within your role and liaising with all stakeholders to ensure discharges are timely and safe.
You will also coordinate and supervise assistants and contribute to the service-wide training programme.
UK Visa and Immigration Sponsorship: Please note that we do not offer UKVI sponsorship; applicants must already have the right to work in the UK.
This post is currently under review through the Trusts Management of Change process and may transition to a Therapy Assistant Practitioner role. The Job Description and Person Specification may be revised to reflect this change.
Main duties of the job
* Working as part of the Therapy team to provide high quality therapeutic care through the delivery of specified assessment and treatment techniques to a defined group of patients. This will involve working unsupervised at times as well as working with qualified and unqualified staff.
* To assess, treat and progress treatment of patients in line with competencies set and assessed by the Senior Occupational Therapist and to use this knowledge to contribute to effective discharge planning as part of the Multi-disciplinary Team.
* To co-ordinate, supervise and assist with the training and management of other Occupational Therapy assistants, thus providing a quality and effective support service to the Occupational Therapy Team.
* To participate in the weekend service. The speciality depends on experience. This service may include the treatment of children.
* Working hours will be dependent upon the service provided within each speciality, this may include 7-day working or participation in a relevant weekend /bank holiday rota.
About us
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester.
Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.
* Being open and honest
* Ensuring people feel cared for
* Showing respect to everyone
* We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.
DBS Checks and Costs
Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.
Job responsibilities
* To hold responsibility for own caseload within the defined area of work, at times working without direct supervision. Support available by bleep.
* Following appropriate training and demonstration of competency to work unsupervised to assess patients with mobility and functional impairments.
* To obtain an accurate and full social history to facilitate early discharge planning, liaising with family/care agencies as needed.
* To accurately assess range of movement, muscle power, sensation, sitting and standing balance and transfer abilities.
* To assess and progress patients mobility including issuing and training in the use of walking aids as appropriate.
* To safely assess a patient’s ability on the stairs where needed and correct technique as appropriate.
* To develop and safely deliver individualized treatment programmes.
* To prepare patients for treatment including undressing/dressing and toileting.
* Using own knowledge and reasoning to analyse the patient’s condition and needs and modify treatment accordingly.
* To monitor the effectiveness of treatment and use clinical knowledge to progress the patient within defined protocols.
* To identify the need for ongoing rehabilitation/support and liaise with the MDT and patient flow centre to recommend the appropriate level of care on discharge.
* To assist and encourage patients with routine breathing exercises and chest clearance techniques after completion of appropriate competencies.
* To maintain accurate and contemporaneous treatment records including valid consent to interventions.
* To ensure that patient confidentiality is always maintained.
* To be aware of limitations of own knowledge and refer to the supervising therapist where appropriate.
Person Specification
Other Job Requirements
* Ability to meet the physical demands of the role
* Able and willing to work contracted hours over 7 days as required
* Able to contribute to the Occupational Therapy weekend rota
* The post holder must have a full driving licence and access to a vehicle in order to work flexibly across all sites
* Applicants must have a valid UK visa and already have the right to work in the UK.
* Standard Clauses
* A Disclosures and Barring Service check will be carried out where the position is eligible for a Disclosures and Barring Service Check in accordance with the 2012 Protection of Freedom Act and the guidance issued by the DBS.
* All posts working with children or vulnerable adults are required to have an Enhanced DBS checked including checking against DBS / ISA Vetting and barring lists.
Personal Qualities
* Shows commitment to the role
* Professional manner and appearance
* Shows initiative
* Good inter-personal skills
* Ability to problem solve
Qualifications
* Functional Skills (level 2) or Maths & English GCSE (grades 9-4 or A-C)
* And
* A foundation degree Health and Social care or equivalent level 5 qualification and A-Levels and GCSEs or equivalent(s)
* Or as a level 5 apprenticeship (e.g. Assistant practitioner apprenticeship)
* Or equivalent clinical experience/expertise within an AHP profession underpinned by theoretical and practical experience
* A relevant further education qualification eg BTEC (Therapy Support Worker) or NVQ 3 in Healthcare or equivalent
Experience
* Proven experience as a Senior Therapy Assistant working with different client groups
* Experience of working in an acute setting
* Evidence of work using a wide range of required skillsEvidence of thorough, relevant self-development
* Experience of managing own caseload
* Experience of organising and or providing training to others
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.
Employer name
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
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