Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Specialist Occupational Therapist Palliative Care
The closing date is 14 May 2026
We have the perfect opportunity for an OT or Physiotherapist to join our team.
Are you looking for a role where you can spend time getting to know your patients?
Will you enjoy seeing patients in a variety of settings – Community, Inpatients, Hospital Palliative Care Team, and Living Well Service?
Do you enjoy multi-professional team working?
Would you like working in modern hospices nationally recognised for quality teaching programs?
Would you like to work alongside a broad range of highly skilled and experienced professionals?
The Specialist OT / Physio plays a key role in the multidisciplinary specialist palliative care teams by contributing their unique knowledge, skills and expertise to patient care.
A full driving licence, access to a car for work purposes is essential, as is the ability to work within Oxfordshire and South Northamptonshire.
The Therapy service currently covers 6 days a week with the possibility on increasing to 7 days a week in the future. Weekend and extended hours working will be required, with cross cover for the palliative care specialist therapists across the service.
We welcome full or part time applicants.
Main duties of the job
* Performs holistic assessment of patients including those with complex presentations, and from this formulates a treatment plan, which is carried out as an autonomous practitioner.
* Provides rapid assessment and intervention to prevent admission, facilitate discharge, support carers and families, manage symptoms, improve function and quality of life and ensure safety.
* Maintains a clinical caseload of complex patients as an autonomous practitioner.
* Communicates and collaborates with others involved in the care of patients, and non-clinical activity.
* Works as part of the MDT with patients known to Palliative Care across the settings of Community, Living Well Services, Inpatient Unit, Hospital palliative care team and Outpatients.
* Participates in the supervision, teaching and appraisal of junior / student Occupational Therapists and Therapy Assistants.
* Participates in maintaining and improving all aspects of evidence-based practice and quality assurance, which may involve change management.
* Contributes to services development, clinical governance, audit, research and CPD.
Job responsibilities
Clinical Practice:
* Works within their scope of practice within the specialist service and practice autonomously as well as within the multi-disciplinary specialist palliative care team.
* Initiates and co-ordinates the assessment, planning, delivery and evaluation of the holistic needs of patients and families, to optimise health and wellbeing, following agreed policies, protocols and guidelines.
* Provides specialist care and uses range of knowledge in complex decision making to determine evidence-based recommendations and therapeutic interventions to promote a high standard of Occupational Therapy practice.
* Plans, prioritises and manages complete episodes of care, working in partnership with others, delegating and referring as appropriate to optimise health outcomes and resource use, providing direct support to patients and clients.
* Uses professional judgement in managing complex and unpredictable care events.
* Draws upon an appropriate range of multi-agency and inter-professional resources in their practice.
* Appropriately defines boundaries in practice in collaboration with Senior Specialist OT.
* Practises a high standard of communication including highly sensitive and complex information to develop and sustain partnership working with individuals, groups, communities and agencies. Utilises evidence based information through a variety of communication media.
* Maintains adequate patient documentation for all patients seen and advice given in any practice setting and contributes to clinical activity/data collection as required.
Leadership/Management:
* Collaborates with the multi-professional members of the specialist palliative care team to develop a shared vision of the service.
* Act as a role model and resource using skilled clinical evidence based practice.
* Works collaboratively with colleagues to help develop effective documentation, pathways, protocols and guidelines for care.
* Demonstrates a commitment to share expertise and disseminate information.
* Actively participates in the development of the team and the service to continuously improve patient care.
* Participates in implementing national standards and frameworks at a local level.
* Networks locally, regionally, and nationally and seeks opportunities to develop the OT role.
* Uses effective change management skills to initiate and assist in implementing service and practice development.
* Maintains involvement and active input in multidisciplinary meetings and appropriate local bodies / forums to contribute to practice and service development.
Education/Training:
* Maintains, advances and develops personal theoretical knowledge, high standards of clinical competence and professional development through ongoing self-education and attendance at relevant courses of study.
* Develops and maintains a peer network of support, information and learning with therapists and other palliative care specialists at a local and national level.
* Maintains own professional portfolio.
* Contributes to the development and acquisition of specialist knowledge and skills to enhance and extend the practice of other therapists, nurses and health care professionals within the service and beyond.
* Role models lifelong learning and relishes opportunities to share best practice.
* Identifies and addresses the educational needs of patients, families, carers and staff involved in the delivery of this service.
* Contributes to the teaching and support of students from the multi professional team within relevant educational programmes.
* Provides an appropriate learning environment, including mentorship, coaching and preceptorship.
* Contributes to relevant educational programmes and in-house study days.
Improving quality and developing practice:
* Contributes to ongoing service review and evaluation, including seeking and monitoring patient experience and outcomes.
* Participates in research / audit to generate new evidence in area of speciality.
* Assists in evaluating clinical practice in relation to its evidence base and clinical effectiveness including policy and guidance.
* Develops and sustains appropriate multidisciplinary working relationships to improve health outcomes and healthcare delivery systems.
* Helps identify areas of risk and poor quality, and asks for support in addressing these through appropriate governance structures and forums.
* Participates and actively seeks peer review in practice and sound evidence for assurance purposes.
* Has responsibility to ensure annual appraisal, agrees objectives which reflect local and national service needs and develops personal development plans.
* Develops personal and professional knowledge through critical self-appraisal, clinical supervision and networking with other health care professionals locally, nationally and internationally.
* Advocates and contributes to a working environment that promotes continuous learning and development, evidence based practice and succession planning, as well as identifying learning opportunities at local and national levels.
* Has a high level of communication skills to enable the participation in the dissemination of practice through conferences and professional publications.
* Ensures statutory and mandatory training updates, as well as role /speciality updates are completed and necessary records maintained.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Degree / Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
* State Registration Health and Care Professions Council.
Experience
* Previous experience working with patients with palliative care needs.
* Previous experience of end of life care.
* Previous experience working with patients with palliative care needs.
* Supervision of staff and students.
* Experience of Service/ Experience of complex assessment, treatment and discharge planning, mentoring and supporting other staff, Practice innovation.
* Experience of contributing to audit and research.
* Previous experience working in a Palliative Care setting.
* Previous experience working in the community setting.
* Membership of speciality groups.
Skills and Abilities
* Ability to work autonomously with individuals.
* Knowledge and understanding of activity/occupation in relation to work and well-being.
* Application of Occupational Therapy models of practice and evidence based practice.
* Demonstration of risk management application to clinical practice.
* Experience working within a multi-disciplinary team.
* Demonstrate autonomous practice with defined caseload.
* Accurate patient record and data recording.
* Ability to prioritise multiple demands.
* Excellent communication skills or willingness to attend advanced communication skills course.
* Demonstrate ability to manage conflict.
* Computer literate.
* Understand values and principles of audit and research.
* Ability to present information in a formal and informal educational setting.
* Ability to support the supervision and education of students on practice, Occupational Therapy Assistants.
* Able to draw upon and apply previous experience to identify and address problems with clients, and provide rationale for the chosen theoretical framework in which intervention is to be based.
* Experience of collating data for service development.
* Experience with spreadsheets.
Personal Qualities
* Willingness to work flexibly.
* Good personal organisational and time management skills.
* Proactive, problem solving approach.
* Commitment to lifelong learning.
* Understanding of the impact of an emotionally challenging area of work.
* Resilient and has the ability to support this in others.
Other
* Adherence to Royal College of Occupational Therapy and HPCP guidelines and codes of ethics and professional conduct.
* A full driving licence and access to car for work purposes.
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.
Address
£39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum pro rata
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time, Part-time
Reference number
321-SW-7930870-B6-EXT
Job locations
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