Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Specialist Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 10 February 2026
Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist
Trauma and Orthopaedic Therapy Team
33.5hrs / 0.89wte
Fixed term contract from March 2026 to end of February 2027
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, hardworking, motivated Occupational Therapist to join our Trauma and Orthopaedic Team.
The team provides an inpatient service to three dedicated Orthopaedic wards - elective surgery, trauma and fractured neck of femur. We also cover a day case ward, a paediatric ward and outreach and out patient clinics.
This post is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Band 5 or a current Band 6 looking for a challenge and aiming to develop not only their specialist skills but also managerial and leadership skills.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.
Main duties of the job
As a forward-thinking team, we provide a 7 day service, including a later hours service, up to 6.30pm to help facilitate patient discharge. The successful candidate will participate in the weekend and later hours rota, working 5 days a week over the 7 days that the service is provided.
The successful candidate will have some experience in the trauma and orthopaedic field, be able to communicate effectively and have good organisational and time management skills. The ability to work both individually and as a member of a team and to prioritise activity is a key requirement of this post.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
* Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
* Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
* National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Job responsibilities
* Deliver a high standard of evidence based care
* Be confident in their assessment and decision making
* Work with the MDT in leading and supporting others in the discharge planning process including making recommendations about individual rehabilitation needs and discharge/placement requirements.
* Work closely with senior therapy colleagues to ensure the efficient running of the team and department. This will include coordination of the workloads within the team.
* Identify areas to improve and develop and lead in projects to achieve change.
* Supervise therapy assistants, rotational Occupational Therapists and students on clinical placement within the speciality.
* The ability to work closely with Physiotherapists and undertake generic therapy assessments and treatments to a high level.
* Have previous experience of working with Orthopaedic patients.
* Have the ability to work flexibly and adaptably to changing working patterns.
Our philosophy is to keep the patient at the heart of everything we do. We look for people who are willing to go the extra mile, not because they are asked to, but because they are committed to being part of a healthcare team that delivers an excellent caring service to our patients.
In return for your hard work and dedication we can offer a friendly and welcoming team and all the support and continuing professional development you will need to make a difference to patients and staff. We have an innovative service of AHPs with an excellent staff supervision system enabling our staff to be committed to developing both their service and themselves. Clinical Governance, research and audit activities are encouraged within the service.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Degree in Occupational Therapist
* HCPC registration
* Clinical Educators Certificate
* Post Grad accredited study e.g. MSc in relevant health studies
Experience
* Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
* Awareness of own strengths and limitations
* Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
* Experience of line managing a team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and co-ordination
* Evidence of effective working within an MDT
* Experience of Service development
* Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
* Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
* Audit and research in a clinical area
Skills
* Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
* Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
* Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
* Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
* Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
Other
* Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver
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.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
£38,682 to £46,580 a year pro rata
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