Job Summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and creative individual to join the Inpatient Occupational Therapy Teams within the Mental Health Care Division. The post holder will provide leadership and support across the inpatient services within the Acute wards in St. Helens and Knowsley Place.
Working within these areas, the post holder will support therapists to provide specialist Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention as part of a team approach to supporting service users. You should have an expert knowledge and skill set in working with people who require an inpatient admission in relation to their mental health and recovery, in working age adult populations. You must be able to demonstrate the ability to work as part of a Multidisciplinary Team, and demonstrate proven leadership skills.
Main Duties of the Job
To support therapists and undertake:
* Occupational therapy assessments, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits in areas of self-care, productivity and leisure.
* Plan and implement individual and/or group interventions, using selected and graded activity to develop the client's skills in identified areas of deficit.
* Comprehensive risk assessment with clients, and record the rationale for therapeutic risk taking in the OT care plan.
* Highly specialist reports to inform statutory bodies
* Highly specialist assessments, and compile OT reports, on behalf of the MDT to inform interventions, diagnosis and outcomes for clients with the most complex needs.
* Ensure ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the occupational therapy process in line with sound evidence based practice.
* Provide advice on issues related to ADL for other professionals and carers.
* Work closely with OT colleagues from other clinical settings / teams, providing individual and peer group support.
* Provide support to occupational therapy staff within relevant Place regarding capacity and flow, complexity, acuity, and service delivery.
About Us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Details
Date posted: 26 March 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum, pro rata
Contract: Secondment
Working pattern: Part-time, Flexible working
Reference number: 350-MHC7848939-A
Job locations: Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre, Whiston, L35 5DR
Person Specification
Qualifications – Essential:
* Diploma/Degree or equivalent Occupational Therapy qualification
* Evidence of post-qualification study/short courses and Continuing Professional Development
* Health and Care Professions Council Registration
Qualifications – Desirable:
* Post Graduate Certificate in Occupational Therapy, Leadership and/or Organisational Change up to Master level Practice Placement Educator Training
Knowledge/Experience – Essential:
* Current legislation and national initiatives related to older adults with mental health problems
* Clinical and environment assessment & management of clinical risk
* Knowledge of Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended by Mental Health Act 2007)
* Knowledge of Mental Health Capacity Act 2005
* Minimum of three years post qualifying experience as an Occupational Therapist
* Supervision of staff and students
* Development of Occupational Therapy services
* Application of Occupational Therapy Models of Practice and Standardised Assessments & Outcome Measures
* Involvement in research and clinical audit
Knowledge/Experience – Desirable:
* AMPS training
* OCAIRS
* MOHOST
* VQ
* ACIS
* Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
* Psycho-Social Intervention
* Experience of working with older adults with mental health problems
* Line-management of staff
* Familiar with Electronic Patient Records (EPR) system
* Understanding and use of the Model of Human Occupation and its associated assessment tools and outcome measures
Values – Essential:
* Continuous Improvement
* Accountability
* Respectfulness
* Enthusiasm
* Support
* High professional standards
* Responsive to service users
* Engaging leadership style
* Strong customer service belief
* Transparency and honesty
* Discreet
* Change oriented
Skills – Essential:
* Leadership Qualities
* Managerial Skills
* Ability to provide training, advice and guidance to staff/service users
* Ability to complete assessments and clinical reports in line with the CPA process and Royal College of Occupational Therapy guidance
* Demonstrates depth of clinical skills and implementation Occupational Therapy clinical practice and ability to hold a complex caseload
* Ability to identify and implement clinical and service developments
* Ability to be an effective role model
* Ability to work autonomously as well as effectively with team members and other agencies
* Clear effective written & verbal communication
* Basic IT skills
Skills – Desirable:
* Designing and implementing research projects
* Ability to reflect and critically appraise own and others performance
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer Details
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre
Whiston
L35 5DR
Employer's Website
https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
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