Job summary
Band 6 Senior Occupational Therapist - IHTT Airedale
Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust
Location: Airedale Centre for Mental Health

The closing date is 16 August 2026.

To provide a high standard of care for service users within the Acute Community Services in Bradford and Airedale.

Occupational Therapists working within the Acute Community Service provide clinical risk and mental health assessment, formulation and short-term contingency planning for people presenting in mental health crisis.

Working within the community, Occupational Therapists provide a range of face-to-face brief, solution focused interventions empowering service users, carers and their families in decision making and signpost to a range of health and social care resources for support.

To be involved ongoing development of innovative and tailored Occupational Therapy services to support adults, including older age adults, within an acute mental health setting.

To be involved in the completion of generic assessments, interventions, risk and safety management plans with patients under the Intensive Home Treatment Team.

Main duties of the job

• To work as within the team with responsibility for assessment, implementation and evaluation of care for client group.
• Ensures good communication between the multidisciplinary team, patients, families and carers.
• The post holder is expected to carry out all relevant forms of care without direct supervision within their Professional Code of Practice.
• Act as a mentor to students, support newly qualified staff through preceptorship and be responsible for implementing the appraisal process.
• Ensure that contemporaneous records are kept which reflect the status and interventions of patients to provide an accurate record of the patient journey and provide oral/written clinical reports as required.
• Ensure agreed standards of care are achieved and safeguarding patients is central to daily care.
• To work co-operatively, actively with users/carers of the service.
• Act as a resource person on clinical matters for colleagues within their area of expertise.
• To liaise with other agencies/members of the multidisciplinary team as required.
• Ensure care delivery is in accordance with current legislation.
• Alert senior staff of staffing issues, performance issues and to celebrate good practice.
• Report on incidents/untoward occurrences/accidents as per Trust policy.
• You are required to work across all sites within the Adult Mental Health Acute Care Service.

Closing Date: 16.08.26
Shortlisting Date: W/C 17.08.26
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 >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.

Details
Date posted: 31 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year
Per Annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 453-26-8109541
Job locations: Intensive Home Treatment Team-Airedale, Airedale Centre for Mental Health, Keighley, BD20 6TD, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please read the attached Job description and person specification for further details about this role.

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.

Regrettably, if the role is not eligible for sponsorship under the Trusts eligibility criteria, the Trust are unable to extend your employment beyond the expiration of your current visa. The Trust is not responsible or liable for ensuring that your employment continues after this period.

As a condition of continuous employment, it essential you maintain the legal right to work in the United Kingdom throughout the duration of your employment with Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust (BDCFT). Any change in your right-to-work status, including but not limited to visa expiration, revocation, or denial of renewal, may impact your eligibility for employment with the Trust. It is your responsibility to promptly inform your Line Manager of any changes in your right-to-work status immediately and to provide necessary documentation for verification purposes. Failure to obtain or renew your visa in a timely manner is a breach of employment conditions and will result in termination of your employment. We appreciate your attention to this matter and your commitment to fulfilling this requirement promptly.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Degree or equivalent pre-registration award in Occupational Therapy.
• Evidence of up-to-date continuous professional development.

Desirable

• Practice Placement Educator training

Experience
Essential

• Relevant experience in mental health care
• Multi-agency working/working across service interfaces
• Working within a multicultural framework

Desirable

• Experience/knowledge of mental health needs and associated difficulties in older age adults.
• Experience of working with adults (16+) and presenting in mental health crisis.

Knowledge
Essential

• Knowledge of relevant evidence based occupationally focused assessments and interventions.
• Assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of individualised care plans.
• Models of care and treatment relevant to working with people in mental health crisis.
• To have excellent knowledge and awareness of safeguarding adults and children.

Desirable

• Service development and change management

Skills
Essential

• Able to maintain high standards of practice as an occupational therapist.
• Assessing, formulating and working with people & families presenting in heightened state of distress.
• Ability to work without direct supervision.
• Competent clinical skills i.e. assessment, therapeutic interventions and risk management.
• Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint, throughout Bradford and Airedale, in line with service needs.
• Communicating (oral and written) complex/highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.

Desirable

• Experience in Group work and Counselling.

Additional information
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.

Employer details
Employer name: Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Intensive Home Treatment Team-Airedale, Airedale Centre for Mental Health, Keighley, BD20 6TD, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Team Leader
Laura Turner
laura.turner@bdct.nhs.uk
07525885303