We are seeking to recruit two 1.0 WTE Band 6 Occupational Therapists for a 2‑year fixed‑term contract to join an expanding small and enthusiastic multidisciplinary team providing intensive support for autistic people accessing NSFT mental health services across Norfolk and Waveney.
As a Band 6 OT, you will provide specialist functional, sensory, and environmental assessments, and deliver tailored interventions. Within this service you will be working clinically with a small caseload of autistic service users (18 and above) who are open to NSFT mental health teams and presenting frequently within our urgent and emergency care pathways.
The overarching aims of the Autism Intensive Support (AIS) team are to reduce the number of and length of stay for autistic people in acute inpatient settings. The AIS team provide an intensive recovery‑oriented approach, which is trauma‑informed and autism‑friendly to autistic service users directly and undertake consultation, supervision, and training of NSFT colleagues to improve the confidence and skill of mainstream mental health community and ward staff to deliver autism informed care.
The AIS team are based at the Weaver’s Centre at Hellesdon Hospital, alongside the central locality crisis and home treatment team.
This is a new team working with a small cohort of service users and we will be evaluating its impact. This will include feeding back to our commissioners in terms of clinical and social recovery outcomes for the service users. We will also be measuring the impact of the interventions in terms of service utilisation data.
This post will suit someone who has a passion for working with autistic people, is excited about the prospect of doing something new and different and has confidence in handling data and producing reports.
You would be well supported and supervised by an experienced Principal AHP (Occupational Therapist by background). You will also benefit from AHP leadership support.
Key Responsibilities
* Undertake Occupational Therapy prioritisation and deliver short term interventions, identifying clear recommendations for community teams.
* Complete specialist functional, sensory, and environmental assessments.
* Develop occupation‑focused intervention plans and crisis support strategies.
* Provide sensory modulation, daily living skill development, and structured routine support.
* Promote meaningful participation and enable recovery in the least restrictive setting.
* Contribute to MDT formulation, risk management, and community alternatives to admission.
* Support families and carers using autism‑informed practice and environmental adaptations.
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
Why work for us?
We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk?
The people here are warm and welcoming, you’ll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We’re an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Dr Jo Smith Job title: Consultant Clinical Psychologist Email address: joanna.smith2@nsft.nhs.uk
Additional Contact Information
To understand more about the AIS team please contact Ben Bertone (Neurodevelopmental Clinical Nurse Specialist) via Ben.Bertone@nsft.nhs.uk
For Occupational Therapy specific information, please contact Kerri Norfolk, Principal AHP, Central Locality via Kerri.Norfolk@nsft.nhs.uk
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