Job overview
An exciting opportunity for a full time Band 6 Occupational Therapist has arisen within the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in the Trafford directorate of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).
The post holder will deliver holistic occupational therapy assessments and interventions to service users being cared for on the PICU establishing levels of function, identifying and engagement in their roles and meeting their values, evaluating and reducing risk and facilitating occupational performance to support recovery and enable the individual to prepare for discharge from PICU/hospital. This may also include completion of occupational therapy assessments to support applications for housing or alternative hospital settings and to identify any longer term occupational therapy/rehab needs that would require support from other statutory NHS services
The post holder will be an active member of the Trust Network for PICU pathways and will be involved in developing and implementing OT pathways.
Trafford PICU is a 6 bedded male PICU based on the Moorside Unit at Trafford general Hospital.
We are looking for skilled and dynamic Occupational Therapist to join our fully integrated multidisciplinary team. The successful candidate be an enthusiastic, committed and highly motivated team player with excellent communication skills, providing evidence based clinical assessments and recovery focused interventions.
Main duties of the job
Job Summary/Purpose
·To provide functional and cognitive Occupational Therapy assessments and interventions to support the recovery of service users in the PICU.
·Deal with complex physical and mental health needs, using evidence based/client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate and record all interventions in line with relevant clinical pathways.
·To work with service users and their carers/family members on a 1:1 basis or in a group setting.
·To provide professional advice for junior and support staff, as well as students on placement.
·To participate in the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of the OT pathway within PICU.
·To regularly supervise Occupational Therapy students on placement.
·To abide by HCPC standards, the Royal College of Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Royal College of Occupational Therapy Professional Standards for OT Practice.
Working for our organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 7000 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 122 locations.
We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.
Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.
Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.
Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical:
1. To provide functional and cognitive Occupational Therapy assessments to service users.
2. To manage a caseload of clients with complex mental health and physical needs.
3. To contribute to comprehensive risk assessments and risk management plans for clients at risk of vulnerability, self-harm or risk of physical, sexual or emotional harm to others
4. To work with clients to identify Occupational Therapy goals using specialist mental health and OT assessment tools.
5. To assess the occupational performance needs of a defined client group, and establish and evaluate appropriate treatment programmes.
6. To plan and implement individual and/or group interventions in collaboration with the client, using graded activity to achieve therapeutic goals.
7. To ensure that Occupational Therapy input is clearly documented and evaluated in the individuals’ care plans and communicated with those involved in their care.
8. To apply a high level of understanding of the effects of ill health and apply this when making recommendations to address the clients physical, psychological and social needs.
9. To assess for, provide, fit, demonstrate and risk assess aids to daily living within professional competencies
10. To respond to and take an active role with complex social and community care responsibilities.
11. To respond to and manage clinical and social crises.
12. To share knowledge and skills across the MDT and apply where appropriate.
Governance and Quality:
13. To promote a service philosophy based on a balanced model of care, recovery and personalisation.
14. Establish quality standards relating to the service user and carer experience.
15. Maintain quality assurance systems to monitor and audit these standards.
16. To participate in complaint investigations, incident reviews and comprehensive Serious Untoward Incident Reviews when required.
17. To ensure that Patients Charter Standards, Local Service Standards, Purchaser Quality Standards and Trust Quality Standards are maintained.
18. Contribute to the writing of shared guidelines/protocols of care.
19. To contribute to the Trust, Directorate and Professions Clinical Governance arrangements and quality agenda.
20. To lead and support quality improvement projects.
21. To apply national guidelines/legislation relating to health and social care in mental health Comply with the own Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, Professional Standards and National, Trust and local Policies and Procedures.
22. To comply with research requirements of Royal College of OT, regularly undertaking research activity to evaluate current theory/research/evidence and apply findings to improve practice.
23. To personally contribute to the evidence base by engaging in local research projects and service audit.
24. To actively promote a research culture .
25. Keep up-to-date with research and evidence based practice and actively share gained knowledge
Communication:
26. To demonstrate high-level communication skills
27. To utilise highly developed interpersonal skills, including specific skills to facilitate effective communication when there are barriers to individuals’ understanding sensory or cognitive impairment or in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive situation.
28. To establish and maintain robust communication networks with clients, carers, colleagues, other health care workers and external agencies.
29. To promote the role of Occupational therapy within the local service area/team and the wider community.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
30. Minimum one year post qualification experience
31. Experience of working in inpatient mental health
Desirable criteria
32. Experience of working in a PICU environment
33. Experience of supervising junior staff/support workforce
Qualifications
Essential criteria
34. Qualification in Occupational Therapy
Desirable criteria
35. Completion of MOHO training/knowledge of use of MOHO
36. Further mental health based qualifications post registration
The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.
The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications
A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application. The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.
We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.
Sponsorship
We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – click .
If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.
The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it.
Do you have experience outside the NHS?
We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.
We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment.