Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner
The closing date is 29 March 2026
Band 4 Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner West Kent Learning Disability Service Ready to make a real difference?
We're looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Band 4 Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join our friendly, community based Learning Disability team in West Kent. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a rewarding specialist service, supporting adults with Learning Disabilities and complex needs to live meaningful, independent lives. You'll be part of a supportive multidisciplinary team (MDT) and play a vital role in delivering personalised, life enhancing interventions.
What you'll be doing
* Managing your own caseload with Occupational Therapist's supervision
* Contributing to assessments, including falls assessments
* Conducting fall prevention work and therapeutic programmes set by the Occupational Therapist
* Providing person centred interventions to maximise quality of life
* Working closely with families, carers, Local Authority teams and Mental Health colleagues
* Contributing to service development, best practice and quality improvement
What we're looking for
* Passion for supporting people with Learning Disabilities
* Strong communication and teamwork skills
* Commitment to holistic, person centred care
Main duties of the job
You will be expected to:
* Develop and increase knowledge about people with a Learning Disability who fall or at risk of falling and how this can impact their lives. Completing falls assessments and carrying out interventions including falls prevention work.
* Develop and increase knowledge on standard stock equipment, which may be required for people with a Learning Disability and coexisting conditions. Complete the trust training and gain competencies to become a Supplementary Assessor, to be able to assess and prescribe standard stock equipment.
* Independently managing a clinical caseload providing assessment and interventions for people with a Learning Disability under supervision from an Occupational Therapist.
* Work towards maximising a person's quality of life by providing clinical expertise, behavioural and/or engagement support.
* Measure progress and ensure effective outcomes for the individual with a Learning Disability.
* Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to work well as part of a team. You will be required to work closely with all stakeholders and promote effective collaborative working with all those involved in the person's life.
* Contribute to the development of multi-disciplinary best practice, service development and quality improvement.
* Engage with regular supervision, annual appraisal and identified CPD opportunities as required/available.
About us
Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we've got a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. To do this we need outstanding people who share our values compassionate Aspirational Responsive Excellent.
We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.
We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn't visible to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability.
The data we collect helps us to ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won't involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We'll support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit us both.
See where you can go with KCHFT career pathways.
Job responsibilities
As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net, quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further.
The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.
Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.
We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.
At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.
Find out more about the community difference here.
Good luck! We cant wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.
Qualifications
* Evidence of Foundation Degree Level study (Level 5) or be able to demonstrate the equivalent level of experience
* Functional Skills at Level 2 (Literacy and numeracy/ GCSE grade A-C or equivalent in English and Maths)
* Mentorship / Coaching qualification Trusted Assessor/ Supplementary Assessor Care Certificate
Experience
* Experience as a Senior Healthcare worker
* Experience of working as part of a team
* Experience with the use of Microsoft Office and a variety of IT packages (E-Pay / E-roster / Rio)
* Experience of assessing and prescribing standard stock equipment
* Experience of working with people with a learning disability
* Experience of working in a community setting
* Experience of working with people who fall or at risk of falls
Knowledge
* Awareness of professional issues and recent developments in the NHS and Primary Care including Clinical Governance, NICE, Essence of Care Knowledge of up to date clinical practice in relation to Learning Disabilities and Occupational Therapy
* A full understanding of the role and remit of an Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner
* Knowledge of the Occupational Therapist role within a community Learning Disabilities team
Skills and abilities
* Sound communication and interpersonal skills (verbal and written)
* Ability to use own initiative
* Ability to cope with change
* Ability to organise own work
Personal attributes
* Ability to motivate and organise others to ensure best practice
* Ability to work under pressure
Ability to manage
* Able to support the implementation of local and national agenda's for health under the guidance of the Occupational Therapist
* Have a full, valid UK driving licence and have the ability to travel within the West Kent locality and also where required, across locations within the wider service, in a timely manner to ensure completion of role
* Ability to manage own time effectively
* Ability to prioritise care delivery in a professional manner, taking into account Trust policies and procedures
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.
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
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