Job summary

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Medway Community Healthcare. Nursing vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses.

Are you looking for an opportunity to kick-start your occupational therapy career in Paediatrics? Although based in East Sussex, we are employed by KCHFT which is an outstanding trust.

We are currently seeking a B5 Occupational Therapist with experience in paediatrics either prior to training or post-qualification or with an interest in working with children and young people with special educational needs and/or neurodiverseneeds, physical disability. We are a community-based service; we work in clinics, nurseries, schools and in the home with an emphasis on workinggeographically smart and hybrid-working.

You will need to be initiative-taking, resilient and solution-focused to embrace new ways of working; with an emphasis on multi-agency working and driving improved outcomes for children and young people. Car-driver is essential. The post-holderwill work closely within the Neighbourhood team including Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Adaptations andIntegrated Therapy Assistants.

The service has a strong commitment to training and development with robust supervision and shadowing opportunities across the service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is an autonomous practitioner, working with children aged 0-19 years with a range of disabilities. The post holder will be basedin Chaucer clinic but work across East Sussex.

• To manage a defined caseload and provide occupational therapy assessments and treatments to children
• To assess, plan and deliver therapy and be able to evaluate and develop services for children
• To work as an integral member of the Children's Integrated Therapy and Equipment Service (CITES)
• To maintain and uphold professional standards and adhere to professional codes of conduct
• To communicate effectively and develop negotiation skills with children, carers and colleagues to ensure the best outcomes for the child.
• Develop skills to motivate clients/carers to engage in the therapeutic process.
• To produce with support, comprehensive patient related reports for other disciplines or agencies relating to assessment findings and/ortreatment management outcomes.
• To apply clinical reasoning in order to monitor and prioritise your own and the team caseload.
• To develop the ability to conduct, score and interpret specialist paediatric standardised assessments when appropriate with support.
• To develop the ability to evaluate therapy outcomes to ensure a high standard of clinical practice and patient care is maintained
• To achieve effective management of a caseload, prioritising clinical needs and balancing other patient related and professional activities.

About us

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is due to integrate with Medway Community Healthcare on 1 October 2026. Following integration and to align our community services to the new Neighbourhood Model of care delivery, there will be a period of consultation which may result in changes affecting some services, teams or roles. Depending on the area you are applying to work in, this could include potential changes to your role, work base, reporting arrangements, or terms and conditions of employment. Any changes would be subject to consultation and managed sensitively and in line with relevant employment processes. Please do contact the recruiting manager if you have any concerns about this so they can answer any questions you might have.

Rated 'Outstanding' by CQC, we deliver high-quality care that improves the health of our communities. We are looking for people who share our values: Compassionate, Aspirational, Responsive and Excellent.

We are proud to be an inclusive, welcoming organisation and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We use protected characteristic information for monitoring only and it is not seen by recruiting managers, except where applicants choose to be considered under our disability guaranteed interview scheme.

We know life outside work matters. As a flexible working-friendly organisation, we welcome conversations about arrangements that help you thrive while supporting excellent care for our patients.

Explore KCHFTcareer pathways

Details

Date posted
10 August 2026

Pay scheme
Agenda for change

Band
Band 5

Salary
£32,073 to £39,043 a year

per annum pro rata

Contract
Permanent

Working pattern
Full-time

Reference number
846-8172316-UJ

Job locations
Chaucer Clinic, Polegate

Polegate, East Sussex

BN26 6QH

United Kingdom

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 viakentchft.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 differencehere.

Good luck! We cant wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy
• State Registered with HCPC

Experience

Essential

• Experience across a broad range of placements
• Experience in assessment and planning occupational therapy treatment for a variety of conditions
• Experience of working with children in any setting

Desirable

• Documented evidence of CPD

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of assessment, treatment planning and evaluation
• Understanding of professional ethics and their application to practice

Desirable

• Knowledge of common treatment tools and outcome measures
• Knowledge of complex neurological problems

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Ability to work with both groups and individuals
• Knowledge of typical conditions and child development
• Good personal organisational skills

Desirable

• Training and presentation skills

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

Employer details

Employer name
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Address
Chaucer Clinic, Polegate

Polegate, East Sussex

BN26 6QH

United Kingdom

Employer's website
https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:
Children's Lead Occupational Therapist

Fiona Middlemass

fiona.middlemass@nhs.net