Main area Children’s Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead
Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a
Contract Permanent: N/A
Hours
* Part time
* Flexible working
30 hours per week
Job ref 391-NMUH-7771201
Employer Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type NHS
Site St Michael’s Primary Care Centre
Town Enfield
Salary £61,631 - £68,623 inclusive Outer HCAS pro rata, per annum
Salary period Yearly
Closing 17/03/2026 23:59
Children's Occupational Therapy Clinical Lead
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technology that can perform various tasks that typically required human intelligence. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey. Further guidance can be found in the NLPSS Applicant Tool.
The post holder will provide professional and clinical leadership for the Children's Occupational Therapy service, working in partnership with the Service and Operational Managers to ensure the delivery of high-quality, safe, effective and child- and family-centred care. They will hold accountability for service delivery within professional standards, leading on clinical governance, quality improvement, and service development across Specialist Children’s Services.
The post holder will manage and support a multidisciplinary Occupational Therapy workforce, ensuring effective deployment of staff and resources to meet service demand, performance targets and waiting time standards. As an autonomous practitioner, they will maintain a highly specialist clinical caseload, offering expert assessment, intervention, second opinions and specialist advice for children and young people with complex needs.
They will lead the development and implementation of evidence-based practice, pathways and guidelines, contribute to multi‑agency working across Health, Education and Social Care, and play a key role in workforce development through supervision, appraisal, training and education. The post holder will actively promote a culture of compassionate, inclusive and enabling care in line with Trust values and strategic objectives.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide professional, clinical and operational leadership for the Paediatric Occupational Therapy service, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and high‑quality child- and family-centred care. They will act as an autonomous, highly specialist Occupational Therapist, managing a complex caseload and providing expert assessment, intervention and clinical advice. The post holder will lead on clinical governance, quality assurance, audit and service improvement, ensuring compliance with professional standards, Trust policies and national guidance, while supporting service planning and development in collaboration with Service and Operational Managers. They will line manage and support staff through recruitment, supervision, appraisal and performance management, ensuring effective deployment of staff and resources to meet service demand, waiting time targets and key performance indicators. The role requires strong collaborative working with children, families and multi‑agency partners across Health, Education and Social Care, as well as leading and contributing to training, education and professional development across the service.
Working for our organisation
North Mid is part of North Central London integrated care system – consisting of the NHS and Local authority organisations in Camden, Islington, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. As with other ICS’s, we are working increasingly closely with partners and indeed many of our financial and performance objectives are measured at this system level. Whilst all organisations remain as standalone, statutory bodies we have an ICS infrastructure for making shared decisions and agreeing shared approaches.
We are proud of our staff and want to ensure their training allows them to provide excellent clinical care. We are also a training unit for medical students from UCL and St George’s University Grenada, and for nursing and midwifery students from Middlesex and City Universities.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For full job details/description and main responsibilities please refer to attached Job description and person specification document.
Education and Qualifications
* Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
* Registration with the Health Professions Council.
* Undertaking higher degree/courses relevant to the area of practice.
* Member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapy and relevant Clinical Interest Group.
Experience
* Advanced clinical assessment and reasoning skills, using standardised assessments, goal setting and outcome measures to plan and evaluate effective, safe interventions, including specialist equipment and adaptations.
* Extensive experience in paediatric occupational therapy, assessing and treating children with physical disabilities and neurodevelopmental conditions, with specialist expertise in areas such as postural management, hand splinting and evidence-based interventions.
* Strong commitment to occupationally focused, evidence-based practice, including development of clinical pathways, audit and service improvement activity.
* Proven ability to work in partnership with children, families and multi‑agency teams across Health, Education and Social Care to deliver coordinated care.
* Experience in leadership, supervision and clinical governance, with knowledge of SEND legislation, health and safety, risk management and performance management.
Skills and aptitudes
* Provides strong clinical, professional and workforce leadership across the service, overseeing clinical standards, staff performance, supervision, appraisal and development to ensure safe, effective and high‑quality practice.
* Leads service delivery and development, translating strategic priorities into operational plans, managing resources effectively and driving performance, quality, transformation and continuous improvement.
* Demonstrates highly developed communication, influencing and partnership‑working skills, leading complex decision‑making, risk management and collaborative practice with service users, families and multi‑agency partners.
* Experience of presentation & training skills to a wide variety of audiences.
Values
* Demonstrable ability to meet Trust values.
Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.
Please note:
* Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification.
* Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.
* Interview arrangements will be communicated via email so please check your email regularly following the closing date.
Please be advised that due to exceptionally high demand, all Royal Free accommodation is at full capacity and waiting lists are being held. Average waiting times are 12 months. Please do not rely on Trust accommodation when you commence your role and ensure you investigate alternative accommodation for your arrival.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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