Senior Occupational Therapist - Band 6

Are you an experienced Occupational Therapist looking to develop your leadership skills within an acute inpatient mental health setting? An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated and enthusiastic Band 6 Senior Occupational Therapist to join our established Occupational Therapy team at Lynfield Mount Hospital.

Based on Oakburn Ward, an acute mental health ward for males aged 18-65 experiencing acute mental illness, you will play a key role in delivering high-quality, recovery-focused care. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will undertake specialist occupational assessments, develop and deliver therapeutic interventions, manage a caseload, and provide leadership and support to junior colleagues and students.

We are looking for a HCPC-registered Occupational Therapist with experience of mental health assessment, treatment planning, groupwork and multidisciplinary working. You will be passionate about promoting independence, recovery and social inclusion, while supporting service users to achieve meaningful outcomes.

In return, you will join a supportive team committed to professional development, innovation and delivering excellent care across the Adult Mental Health Acute Care Service.

If you are ready to take the next step in your Occupational Therapy career and make a real difference to people experiencing acute mental health difficulties, we would love to hear from you.

Main Duties of the Job

• Deliver high-quality occupational therapy assessments, interventions and care plans for patients within an acute mental health inpatient setting.
• Manage and prioritise a caseload, providing person-centred, recovery-focused support.
• Lead and support the ward-based Occupational Therapy team, providing clinical leadership and guidance to colleagues.
• Develop and facilitate individual and group therapeutic activities to promote recovery, independence and social inclusion.
• Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team to assess needs, plan treatment and support discharge planning.
• Complete specialist occupational assessments and provide recommendations to meet patients' functional and environmental needs.
• Support service users in developing skills for daily living, self-care, leisure and community participation.
• Supervise, mentor and support junior staff, assistant practitioners and students.
• Contribute to service development, quality improvement initiatives and the delivery of innovative practice.
• Maintain accurate clinical records and ensure practice complies with professional standards, legislation and Trust policies.
• Support the Team Manager with service delivery, staff coordination and operational duties as required.
• Work across the Adult Mental Health Acute Care Service sites when required.

Closing Date: 2nd November 2026
Shortlisting Date: 3rd and 4th November 2026
Interview Date: TBC

About us
Everything we do is underpinned by our core values:

• We Care - We act with respect and empathy, and always value difference
• We Listen - We understand people's views and respond to their individual needs
• We Deliver - We develop and provide excellent services and support our partners

We will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements to enable staff to balance their work and home lives and support staff by offering a fantastic range of benefits including:

• Increase mileage rates for over 4500
• A wide range of health and wellbeing support packages
• A range of internal and external development and learning opportunities

Plus many more.

We are also proud to pledge our support to the Armed Forces and hold a Bronze Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.

BDCFT is dedicated to environmental and social sustainability by delivering on the commitments within our Green Plan. All staff are actively encouraged and supported to participate in training and to identify and implement sustainable quality improvement across all service areas and activities.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received. It is in the candidate's best interest to apply as soon as possible.

Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Band: Band 6
Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Person Specification
Essential Qualifications

• Registration with HCPC
• Degree in Occupational Therapy

Desirable Qualifications

• Qualification in specific OT assessments such as AMPS

Essential Experience

• Clinical experience including experience of risk assessment, assessing patients and creating/implementing high quality treatment and care plans.
• Worked as named professional to client group.
• Experience of developing and facilitating groupwork.
• Experience of supervising staff and students.

Desirable Experience

• Involvement in innovative service development.
• Experience of managing staff.

Right to Work in the UK
Applicants should be aware that for any individual who requires a visa to work in the UK, the Trust provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles only. This is an essential requirement of the role, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you are unable to meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Prior to your appointment you will be asked to provide confirmation of your right to work and reside in the UK. During your continued employment with the Trust, you have a personal responsibility to notify your manager as soon as possible should there be any changes to your right to work status.

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 to check for any previous criminal convictions. Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

Contact: Cathy Schofield, Allied Professional Lead, Catherine.Schofield@bdct.nhs.uk