Job Summary
Highly Specialist Neonatal Occupational Therapist

Department: Therapies
Band 7, £49,387 - £56,515 Per annum pro rata

Hours: Part time, 7.5 per week, all MKUH roles will be considered for flexible working

We are excited to be developing our neonatal therapy team. This post will be re-establishing Occupational Therapy within neonates at Milton Keynes Hospital and will give you the opportunity to build and contribute to the AHP service to provide high quality, family centred care for our high-risk babies and families.

'We care We communicate We collaborate We contribute'

Interview date: 03 August 2026

Main duties of the job
Early intervention and individualised infant care, using a Family Integrated Care approach on the Neonatal Unit (NNU) aims to reduce the developmental risks for infants born prematurely or with perinatal problems. The Specialist Neonatal Occupational Therapist will use highly specialist skills to manage their own complex caseload, working collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team. They will be responsible for supporting the infants and their families in participating in developmentally appropriate and meaningful co-occupations, using an individualised approach to assessment and intervention. They will support timely discharge and provide anticipatory guidance to ease transition to home. Teaching and training alongside the AHP team to the wider unit forms part of this post.

There is funding available to support CPD and training needs for the successful applicant.

There is also a possible opportunity to increase the hours to include a day across site at Oxford University Hospital.

We offer comprehensive induction, ongoing clinical and managerial support from experienced specialist staff, CPD opportunities, as well as opportunities for involvement in service development. We also have good support for our Thames Valley and Wessex Neonatal Network AHP's.

About us
Milton Keynes University Hospital, in proud partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital committed to advancing patient care through cutting-edge research and education. With a "Good" rating from the CQC and significant investment underway, this is an exciting time to join our team and grow your career.

As a medium sized general hospital, we provide a full range of general medical and surgical services, including a busy Emergency Department, Maternity, and Paediatrics. As the population of our city and surrounding areas continues to grow rapidly, we are expanding and enhancing our facilities to meet rising demand and improve access to care for all our communities.

We are also proud to offer a growing portfolio of specialist services. In January 2025 we opened our state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Centre, bringing advanced cancer treatment closer to home. Our services also include neonatology, specialist surgical care, and a wide range of diagnostics, supported by the new Community Diagnostic Centre at Whitehouse Health Centre. We have just opened the Oak Wards - a new ward block featuring two 24-bed wards.

Further investment is underway, including the recently approved Women and Children's Centre, set to open by 2030.

Job responsibilities

• To carry a designated clinical caseload including highly complex and diverse patient groups and prioritise that work efficiently, taking into account clinical and service priorities using specialist knowledge to underpin decisions.
• Apply an enhanced level of understanding of the effect of preterm birth, perinatal problems and congenital disabilities on the development and occupations of infants and their families and make appropriate recommendations for intervention and support

Person Specification

Qualifications and Knowledge
Essential

• Degree in Occupational Therapy.
• Relevant postgraduate Occupational Therapy qualification or equivalent NHS clinical experience, preferably inclusive of neonatal care
• State Registration HCPC.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development including attendance at recent post graduate courses relevant to the clinical field.

Desirable

• Recognised post-graduate qualifications.
• Evidence of recent study at a higher level.
• NBO/NBAS, NIDCAP, FINE I/II, SI

Experience
Essential

• Knowledge and experience of a range of assessment and interventions/approaches in neonatal and paediatric care.
• Knowledge of child development, common neonatal and paediatric conditions and in-depth knowledge of developmental disabilities and factors influencing early infant development
• Experience in developing the OT's role.
• Proven experience in a wide range of clinical areas, and working with children of a variety of ages from 0 19
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Managerial experience.
• Experience in monitoring work performance
• Membership of speciality groups
• Previous Band 7 experience

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of using a wide range of different infant assessments eg. Bayley Scales of Infant Development, NBO, NBAS, Prechtl General Movement Assessment

Skills
Essential

• Management of a varied paediatric caseload with evidence of skills in both acute and community settings.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of disabilities on patient, families and carers.
• Ability to manage caseloads, prioritise workloads and work independently.
• Ability to prioritise designated caseload and departmental duties.
• Willingness to develop own knowledge and practice in neonatal and contributes to the development of others.
• Advanced clinical reasoning skills.
• Demonstrates ability to seek, analyse and draw valid conclusions from available information
• Application of Occupational Therapy models of practice and evidence based practice.
• Demonstrate problem solving approach and sound clinical decision making to facilitate a timely discharge.
• Demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of assessment techniques and tools.
• Ability to analyse tasks and activities, synthesise findings and develop goal orientated treatment plans.
• Ability to proactively resource information to address patient's needs in a timely manner.
• Able to use coaching strategies to support parent participation in caring for infant
• Developing and providing education and teaching programmes to other professionals and students.
• Ability to take an overview of the service, and to initiate and contribute to its development. Demonstrate an understanding of health and safety, importance of confidentiality and equal opportunities in relation to patient care and departmental operation.

Desirable

• Ability to support the supervision and education of junior staff and students.
• To demonstrate an understanding of internal and external factors affecting Occupational Therapy provision
• Experience in collecting and evaluating audit and quality assurance programmes and participating research
• Previous experience in applying Clinical Governance to practice.
• Involvement in the training and education of others (i.e., carers, staff and educators)
• Contributes to research and/or innovation within the profession and specialty and across professional teams.

Personal and people development
Essential

• Willingness to work flexibly
• Excellent communication and interactive skills
• Good personal organisational and time management skills.
• Ability to manage and recognise differences of opinion in both patient related and inter-professional settings coping positively with interpersonal tensions/barriers.
• Proactive approach.
• Ability to positively manage exposure to patients and environments which may be highly distressing, antagonistic, open to aggression and unpleasant.
• Commitment to lifelong learning.

Communication
Essential

• Analyses, synthesises and presents knowledge and information about complex subjects and concepts to contribute to key decisions
• Ability to delegate appropriate tasks
• Understand and apply principles of risk management to clinical practice.
• Understand scope/role of integrated working and team dynamics.
• Understanding principles and application of supervision in promotion of clinical effectiveness as a supervisor.
• Ability to collect and record accurate statistical information.
• Effective written and verbal/nonverbal communication skills.
• Ability to appreciate the sensitivity, complexity of context and culture and diversity within clinical practice.
• Computer Literacy.

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.

Employer: Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Paediatric Therapies (Dept), Milton Keynes, MK6 5LD, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website