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Lead Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 29 March 2026
The East of England Adult Eating Disorders Provider Collaborative is recruiting to the newly remodelled alternative to SEDU admission service - the Adult Eating Disorders Intensive Treatment service (A-EDIT).
We are looking for a band 7 Lead Occupational Therapist who, together with a second Lead OT, will provide Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions including the EMPSA. The post will be permanent.
Although the vacancy is listed as Hertfordshire, the service covers the whole of the east of England region so it would be reasonable for the postholder to live in Essex, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire or Milton Keynes. Your base will be the nearest Trust base to your home address.
The service is hosted by both HPFT and CPFT and this post will be managed by HPFT.
The service will use the EMPSA to assess service users\' management of food and eating and tools such as the MOHO to assess functioning and support people to build the non-eating disordered parts of their lives.
The postholder will work closely with the nurses, dietitian, psychotherapist, Clinical Lead, consultant psychiatrist, support workers and the assistant therapy practitioners to provide a comprehensive and intensive formulation-guided service that will work to support the service user to restore weight and remain at home whenever possible.
The postholder will at times be required to travel to bases across the region, and at times will work online from home or from a local Trust base.
Main duties of the job
* Work with the specialist multidisciplinary team.
* Provide OT and EMPSA assessments for service users of the Intensive service and create treatment plans from them.
* Support Service users to avoid specialist inpatient admission whereever possible
* Advise the multidisciplinary team on learnings from OT interventions and recommended input
* Participate in generic initial assessments for those who might come into treatment
* Coordinate and develop the OT provision
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 post holder will work as an autonomous and highly skilled Specialist Occupational Therapist within the alternative pathway to Specialist Eating Disorder inpatient admission, providing advanced clinical input to adults with eating disorders and their carers.
The primary purpose of the role is to deliver specialist occupational therapy interventions that promote safety, functional recovery, and communitybased stabilisation, thereby reducing the need for inpatient admission.
Using expert knowledge of eating disorder symptomatology, psychopathology, and their impact on occupational performance, the post holder will complete comprehensive assessments, develop robust formulations, and implement evidencebased interventions that enhance engagement in meaningful occupations and support sustained recovery. This includes planning, delivering, and evaluating individual and group interventions, both online and in person, in collaboration with the wider multidisciplinary team.
The post holder will demonstrate advanced clinical reasoning and provide highly specialist advice to colleagues across the A-EDIT team and the wider community eating disorder network. They will maintain excellent communication and effective partnership working with community clinicians and services across the region to ensure highquality, coordinated, personcentred care.
Person Specification
QUALIFICATIONS EDUCATION TRAINING
* BSc/MSc/PG Dip Occupational Therapy
* HCPC registration
* Evidence of clinical post registration training
* Membership of RCOT, including specialist section
* First line management training
* Solution Focussed Brief Therapy training
* Cognitive Behavioural Therapy training
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
* Post registration experience in relevant clinical setting/s at a B6 level
* Applied experience of providing both individual and group work interventions
* Highly Specialist knowledge and experience of using and applying the Model of Human Occupation assessment tools, or others appropriate to area
* Experience of other specialist Occupational Therapy assessment tools, e.g. AMPS, Pool Activity Levels
* Highly desirable - experience of working with people with mental health problems and/or learning disability in a variety of health and social care settings
* Previous experience of working in an eating disorders setting
SKILLS KNOWLEDGE and ABILITY
* Very strong communication skills, written and verbal and the ability to persuade and negotiate with peers and senior colleagues
* Proven track record of working within a multidisciplinary team and applying an understanding of team dynamics to impact positively on team morale and performance
* Knowledge and application of key policy, health legislation and guidelines which impact on OT and mental health/LD practice
* Ability to provide and receive sensitive and difficult information regarding service users care and social situation
* Knowledge of and effective use of appropriate professional relationships and boundaries
ANALYTICAL SKILLS
* Ability to apply broad and specific knowledge of current best practice in OT and mental health
* A highly developed level of problem solving/clinical judgement skills and the ability to analyse professional and ethical issues
* Highly Specialist knowledge and experience of using the Model of Human Occupation Assessment tools and or equivalent in area
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
Address
£50,008 to £56,908 a yearper annum pro rata (Inclusive of 5% HCAS)
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Part-time
Reference number
367-SS-10131
Job locations
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