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Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 29 March 2026
Due to an expansion of the Specialist Learning Disability Service, an exciting opportunity has arisen for an innovative and highly motivated Occupational Therapist. You have the chance to work as part of a dedicated, specialist and innovative multi-disciplinary team, where you will help to improve the lives and wellbeing of individuals with a Learning Disability who have had contact with the Criminal Justice System.
The post sits within the Specialist Offending Behaviour Intervention team but will be part of the wider, highly dedicated and creative Specialist Learning Disability Occupational Therapy service. You will be able to use your core OT knowledge to promote participation and independence in activities of daily living, whilst having the opportunity to strengthen and develop specialist areas such as Criminal Justice, Sensory Integration and Positive Behaviour Support.
With direct support from the Occupational Therapy Professional Lead, your role will be to grow, develop and innovate an evidence based Occupational Therapy provision within this specialist service.
We are a supportive and forward-thinking team, with great peer networks. We actively promote learning and professional development with opportunities in both clinical and leadership fields of work.
Main duties of the job
As a Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist, you will be required to develop the role and benefits of Occupational Therapy in this specialist Service.
You will be required to work confidently and autonomously with a varied and sometimes complex caseload.
This role is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of both service and role development, whilst offering the opportunity to use core Occupational Therapy skills. The main duties of the Occupational Therapist within the OBIS team include the ability to manage a caseload of clients with complex OT needs, using evidence based/client-centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in clinic and community settings and on home visits. You will be required to work collaboratively with service users to identify OT goals as part of the overall recovery plan and include these within the wider MDT care plan. The role will offer the opportunity to work alongside a multi-disciplinary team, including Nurses, Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Psychiatry.
Having not had an Occupational Therapy post sit within the service for some time, with support from the Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy, you will be required to have a senior oversight of the needs of the service user group and develop services accordingly using an evidenced based approach.
An exciting opportunity for someone looking for service development and leadership opportunities.
About us
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of Outstanding from the Care Quality Commission.
Our family of over 4,500 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:
Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.
Job responsibilities
The Offending Behaviour Intervention Service is an integral part of the wider Specialist Learning Disability Community Assessment and Treatment team. It will provide evidence based interventions and support for people with a learning disability that have had contact with the Criminal Justice System and who present an active and high risk to others. The Occupational Therapist will be required to develop and integrate Occupational Therapy as a meaningful intervention whilst driving the objectives for the service. These include:
* Reduce the offending and reoffending rates of people with learning disabilities
* Prevent inappropriate admissions to inpatient services, where risk is indicated, but no mental ill health
* Increase access to a specialist forensic specialist advice supporting positive practice with service users, rather than containment and restrictive practice
* Increase the capacity and capability of community providers to work with people with a forensic history or where risks are identified.
* To provide high quality, comprehensive Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention for specified service user group with complex needs.
* To carry a caseload as a member of a multi-disciplinary team.
* To develop Occupational Therapy provision within the service with support from Professional Lead Occupational Therapist.
* To provide supervision, management support and leadership to Occupational Therapists, Assistant Therapy Practitioners and students within the work setting.
* To manage a caseload, using evidence based/client principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in clinic and community settings and on home visits.
* To formulate and implement plans for the formal Occupational Therapy treatment and/or management of a clients personality disorder and risk based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings
* To provide specialist Occupational Therapy advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to a clients formulation, diagnosis and case management plan.
* To establish and maintain robust networks of communication with HPFT and partner agencies.
* To liaise with Team Managers and Senior Clinicians to advise on Occupational Therapy clinical and operational issues and promote awareness of the role of Occupational Therapy in the community forensic learning disability service
* To provide interpretation and dissemination of Legislation, Policies and Procedures to staff in relation to their operational impact.
* To work with a caseload of clients with complex forensic and mental health needs to identify occupational performance goals, using specialist mental health and occupational therapy assessments.
* To contribute to the formulation and implementation of a multi-disciplinary recovery based care plan within the Care Programme Approach.
* To plan and implement individual and/or group interventions using selected and graded activity to achieve therapeutic goals.
* To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.
* To demonstrate a high level of understanding of offending behaviour, the effect of mental illness and disability and to provide advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the clients social and physical environment.
* To have responsibility for the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of occupational therapy and interventions within the Service.
* With support from the Service Lead and Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy, be able to reintegrate and develop the Occupational Therapy role within the Specialist Learning Disability Service.
Person Specification
KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:
* State registration with HPC
* Evidence of having met the full KSF Full Gateway (or equivalent) for Band 6
* Significant Postgraduate Training relevant to Mental Health
* Membership of RCOT
AREAS OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE:
* Specialist knowledge and application of current best practice in Occupational Therapy and Mental Health
* Experience of mental health / learning disability and personality disorder conditions
* Understanding of treatments and interventions commonly used in mental health
* Effective leadership skills, including the ability to manage conflict, good communication, planning and decision making skills and organisational skills
* Experience in providing advice, support and clinical supervision to junior staff and/or students
* Project Management/CQI
* Change Management Skills
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.
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
£50,008 to £56,908 a year per annum pro rata (inclusive of 5% HCAS)
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