Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Specialist Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 16 August 2026

Job summary
Are you an experienced Occupational Therapist looking to develop your clinical skills within a supportive mental health rehabilitation environment? Are you passionate about using your assessment, problem-solving and communication skills to deliver person-centred interventions that support recovery and promote independence for individuals with complex mental health needs?

On Rathbone Rehabilitation Unit, we have a Specialist Occupational Therapy post that would make best use of your skills, within a comprehensive team (including physiotherapy, psychology, speech a and language, dietetics, medical, nursing and support staff), where you will be contributing to the high quality assessment of people living with enduring mental illness , facilitating interventions and supporting their discharge from our specialist ward.

In addition to utilising your Occupational Therapy clinical and leadership skills at ward level, you will be encouraged and supported to be part of innovation, research and audit, in order to maintain and develop your own knowledge and expertise, and that of others across the mental health division.

Informal visits and/or phone contact to gain further information from the ward manager and/or OT are very much welcomed. Please see details below.

Main duties of the job
To utilise and develop specialist knowledge providing professional, up to date interventions within the dementia service and to assist in the organisational development, co-ordination, and evaluation of the Occupational Therapy Service in conjunction with the Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist, Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy and relevant Team/Service Manager.The post holder will contribute to an environment that works with local services to provide evidence-based assessment and delivery of care, and within the context of the effective patient journey. They will continue with their own professional development and assist with that of other Occupational Therapy staff. They will be required to have a flexible approach to working hours to ensure that the needs of their clients are met.

About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Details
Date posted: 03 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 350-MHC8081326
Job locations: Rathbone Rehabilitation Centre, Mill Lane, Liverpool, L13 4AW, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please see job description for further information. In summary:

• Provide assessment and intervention for service users on Rathbone Rehabilitation Centre, which is part of the Trusts Mental Health Division.
• Demonstrating effective partnership working
• Experience of Service development and innovation
• Experience in providing supervision and mentorship to others

Person Specification
Skills
Essential

• Ability to utilise assessment skills and tools effectively
• Ability to communicate in a variety of settings
• Ability to formulate relevant reports
• Delegation and coordination
• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Mentorship skills
• Accurate Record keeping
• Flexible approach/ creative thinking
• Able to move and handle clients
• IT skills

Desirable

• Effective leadership qualities
• Presentation skills
• Ability to network and influence decision making
• Team Building skills

Knowledge / Experience
Essential

• Previous experience in relevant health settings
• Supervision of staff
• Experience of service development
• Effective team working within a multi-agency framework
• Experience using both group and individual treatment skills
• Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
• Audit and research practices relevant to clinical area
• Assisting with effective budgetary management
• Evidence based and experience of reflective practice
• Recovery Model of Care
• Model of Human Occupation
• Safeguarding Children
• Mental Health Act 1983
• Mental Capacity Act
• Effective Care Coordination
• Relevant national policies and guidance
• Up to date clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment
• Audit and research methods
• Vulnerable adult's guidelines
• Able to discuss/explain specialist OT role
• Awareness of own strengths and limitations

Desirable

• Wider range of statutory and non-statutory services
• Risk management training

Qualifications
Essential

• Relevant professional OT qualification
• Current HPC registration

Desirable

• Fieldwork Educators certificate
• Post graduate accredited study e.g. PSI, CBT, MSc in relevant health studies

Values
Essential

• Continuous Improvement
• Accountability
• Respectfulness
• Enthusiasm
• Support

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 (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Rathbone Rehabilitation Centre, Mill Lane, Liverpool, L13 4AW, United Kingdom

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Ward Manager, Mary Haimes, mary.haimes@merseycare.nhs.uk, 01514717813