East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust delivers expert healthcare in people’s homes, community hospitals and local settings across the East of England. Our nurses, therapists, clinicians, support teams and partners work together to provide coordinated care that supports independence, recovery and wellbeing. We believe people are best cared for close to home, in the communities where they live and belong. By combining professional expertise with strong local relationships, we help people stay well, feel supported and access the right care at the right time. Expert healthcare, close to home, trusted by our communities. Different ideas, experiences and backgrounds make us stronger and more creative and applications from all walks of life are welcomed. Our processes ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process. East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is committed to creating a modern and inclusive work environment. We actively promote flexible working opportunities where possible to meet the needs and wishes of our workforce and maintain and improve their wellbeing. We also offer flexible working patterns and we would encourage you to discuss this with the recruiting manager before or during the application process if this would interest you. We welcome applications from people who share our values and can help us deliver outstanding care in our local community. Before applying for this vacancy, please make sure you’re familiar with ongoing GOV.uk sponsorship eligibility criteria which will impact the organisations ability to provide sponsorship, whether this is currently or in the future. Please note, our selection processes are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right values and skills. Please be advised that the use of AI in applications i monitored. We remain watchful of candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills. Job overview Are you our next Paediatric Occupational Therapist looking to make a real difference? Join our friendly Community Children’s OT Team in Luton & Bedfordshire and help children and young people (0–19) reach their full potential! What you’ll do: Assess and provide therapy for children with developmental, physical, sensory and neurodiverse needs, including SEND. Manage your own caseload and deliver evidence-based, family-centred interventions. Support EHCPs, report writing, statutory processes and goal-setting. Work in mainstream and special schools, clinics and early years settings Collaborate with families, schools, MDTs and partner agencies Responsibilities: Contribute to service development, audit and quality improvement. Mentor and supervise colleagues. Work within CCS clinical governance, safeguarding and professional standard. About you: HCPC-registered Occupational Therapist with paediatric experience. Strong clinical reasoning, communication and organisational skills. Community or SEND experience desirable. We offer the opportunity to work for a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC in a supportive, flexible working environment, with progression opportunities, and the chance to improve outcomes for children and families across Luton & Bedfordshire “If you want to know more about CCS come to a webinar held 1st Friday of every month, 12:30 – 13:30hrs. To book on email [email protected] ” Advert Should we receive a high number of applications we reserve the right to close this vacancy at any point after 9th March 2026. Job Purpose: The post holder works as part of the Community Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service. The post holder works autonomously with emphasis being placed on multi-disciplinary working and multi-agency collaboration under the supervision of a Band7 Occupational Therapist, they have specific responsibility for:- · Holding their own clinical caseload. · Clinical supervision and development of more junior staff Working for our organisation Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives. There’s one reason why our services are outstanding – and that’s our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey. If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development. Detailed job description and main responsibilities Main Duties and Responsibilities Patient contact: The post holder will participate in regular supervision from a Paediatric Occupational Therapist of a higher grade but will be expected to work autonomously to: · Provide specialist, evidence-based assessment, treatment and/or advice to children (aged 0 - school leaving age), referred to the Paediatric Occupational Therapy team in liaison with families and other professionals within a multi-agency framework. Children may present with life limiting, physical, multi-sensory disabilities and present with long term postural, functional and independence needs. · Appropriate involvement in Education Health Care Plans and the Education Tribunal process. · Be responsible for the prioritisation and management of a specialist clinical caseload (children with highly complex needs) using specialist paediatric knowledge and evidence based practice. · To work with and provide specialist information to members of the multi-disciplinary team regarding the child’s functional ability in order to:- - reach a working diagnosis - enable subsequent management of relevant functional difficulties - deliver a comprehensive and co-ordinated treatment programme to each child. This is based on their clinical need and may include, where appropriate participation in case conferences, school reviews and discharge planning. · Use clinical judgement/reasoning for the assessment and recommendation, of specialist equipment e.g. postural seating and toileting equipment, from budgets such as education. To review and monitor the specialist equipment to ensure it meets the child’s changing needs. To report any issues affecting health and safety to the provider. This includes the training of children and staff in the safe use of the equipment. · Work with children and families to identify Occupational Therapy child centred SMART goals and to formulate and recommend the best course of intervention. These should address Occupational performance and skill deficits, enabling children to develop/improve in the areas of self-care, access to the National Curriculum, life skills, play and leisure activities. · To facilitate a child’s return to school following discharge from Hospitals (local and Regional) following acute admissions and surgery in liaison with relevant services including Hospital staff, Special Needs Community Nurse, Physiotherapist, Education Staff and Speech and Language Therapists. · To follow Trust procedures for incident reporting, and safeguarding asking for support from appropriate other personnel, in order to report the incident · To provide advanced specialist assessment, treatment, and/or advice to children referred to the Paediatric Occupational Therapy team in liaison with families and other professionals within a multi-agency framework. Children may present with physical, learning, social/emotional and behavioural difficulties e.g. neuromuscular conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, developmental conditions, perceptual difficulties and genetic abnormalities, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autistic Spectrum Disorder. · To take an active role in and help organise/present as appropriate: o staff meetings o peer review o external courses · Will be expected to manage and prioritise own workload balancing other clinical, non-clinical and professional demands. Often working under pressure and to tight deadlines. Will use supervision with a more senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist as needed. · To triage referrals as delegated. Not for mat leave cover · Work alone in different environments including patient’s own homes, nurseries, and schools; following CCS Paediatric Occupational Therapy Lone Working Policy. · Refer on to other professionals / agencies as required. · Seek assistance from colleagues where further advice or support is sought with regard to patient care. · Decide on appropriate clinical and non-clinical tasks to be delegated e.g. to assistants, carers, admin staff, school staff. · Professionally and legally be responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work. · To demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate and benchmark current clinical practice against national guidelines, standards and Evidence Based Practice and Best Practice. · Interpret conflicting information (within specialist area) and recommend the best course of Occupational Therapy intervention to multi agency staff e.g., health, education and social care. Project work · To contribute to/lead on projects as required · To participate in the Paediatric Occupational Therapy teams’ clinical governance arrangements and quality agenda · To adhere to and apply the Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice, Conduct and Ethics (RCOT Version 2/2021). · To participate in the implementation of changes to the service which may have an impact on other services e.g. OT referral criteria, as appropriate. · To have an understanding of national guidelines and legislation relating to health and social care and their impact on local service provision. Communication · Communicate effectively and appropriately with patients, families, carers, the public and all members of the extended health services, social services and education teams. This involves using a range of verbal, non-verbal, written and presentation skills as required. · Use appropriate communication skills to overcome language and cultural diversity issues/barriers to effective communication which will regularly be evident, including: English as a second language, cognitive impairment, expressive and receptive communication difficulties, embarrassment, anxiety, pain, fear and visual/hearing impairment. To implement strategies to overcome these barriers. · Communicate condition related information to patients / relatives which can be of a highly sensitive or complex nature e.g., prognosis and rehabilitation prospects in chronic or life limiting conditions. · Represent and promote the Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service. · Participate in working with various stakeholders, the co-production and service redesign teams to coordinate, develop, audit and review aspects of the service. · To contribute a written report to the Educational Health and Care Plan for all children on caseload requiring one. · To provide any additional written advice required for the Education Tribunal process. · To be able to answer questions within an Education Tribunal, to provide clarification and enable further discussion regarding Occupational Therapy recommendations as required. · Important Relationships: · Countywide Paediatric Occupational Therapy Team · Children and their families/carers · Parent Carer Forums · Co-production Team · Multi-agency teams · Education staff within special and mainstream school and pre-school settings · Social Services staff · Wheelchair Services · Acute hospital · Voluntary organisations e.g. REMAP · Specialized Units/Hospitals e.g. Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children Augmentative Communication Services Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Second Skin NB) This is an illustration of the important relationships and is not an exhaustive list. · To maintain up-to-date and accurate, comprehensive case notes (including treatment records) in line with professional standards, local trust policies and medico-legal criteria including what equipment has been issued. · To provide written and verbal reports on all children on caseload, at appropriate intervals, including following assessment and at end of intervention. Equal Opportunities - We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion. Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Disability Confident Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification). All sites are Smoke Free. If you need this application in an offline format, please let us know. Immigration Status – East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is a diverse employer and welcomes all job applications. However, potential applicants should note that although the Trust is registered with the Home Office as a sponsor organisation for migrant workers, sponsorship can only be offered against eligible roles. If you are an applicant from outside the UK and do not already hold a self-gained right to work, we recommend you check the Home Office eligibility requirements before making an application. Please note: Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for some job roles, and this will be identified through filtering questions at the start of any job application on the Trac recruitment system. Our safe recruitment pre-employment checks are undertaken before an appointment is confirmed and may include a DBS check. Where the role requires you to drive, we'll ask you to validate your driving licence online via the DVLA. Redeployment - Please note that in the first instance priority for this vacancy will be given to staff who are on the Trusts Redeployment Register. Closing and Interview Dates -This vacancy may close early if sufficient applicants are received. Data Protection - A privacy notice detailing how we will handle your data is attached to this advert as a document. Your application will be transferred to our recruitment management system (Trac) once the advert has closed and you will receive notification then detailing how Trac will handle your data. Our safe recruitment pre-employment checks are undertaken before an appointment is confirmed and may include a DBS check. Where the role requires you to drive, we'll ask you to validate your driving licence online via the DVLA. In submitting an application, you authorise East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed. ALL CORRESPONDENCE will be via the e-mail address on your application form. If you have not been invited to interview within 2 weeks of the closing date, you unfortunately haven’t been successful on this occasion, but keep an eye on our vacancies as a job that’s just right for you may appear!