Job summary
Band 6 Occupational Therapist - Forensic Inpatient Service - North London

We are seeking a dynamic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join our multidisciplinary inpatient team, supporting individuals with complex mental health needs on their recovery journey. This is an exciting opportunity to use your clinical skills, creativity, and professional expertise to deliver meaningful, recovery-focused interventions that promote independence, wellbeing, and social inclusion.

Working within a supportive and experienced team, you will assess, plan, and deliver evidence-based occupational therapy interventions, lead therapeutic groups and 1:1 sessions, contribute to service development, and play a key role in helping patients achieve their personal goals and potential.

We are looking for someone who is enthusiastic, compassionate, and committed to delivering high-quality, person-centred care. In return, we offer excellent supervision, professional development opportunities, and the chance to make a real difference in a rewarding and specialist clinical setting.

Join us and help individuals rebuild their lives through occupation, recovery, and hope.

Main duties of the job
We are seeking an enthusiastic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join the Occupational Therapy team at the North London Forensic Service (NLFS). Working within a secure forensic mental health setting, you will provide assessment, intervention and evaluation for a designated caseload of service users with complex mental health needs.

You will deliver person-centred, recovery-focused interventions that promote functional independence, wellbeing and positive risk management through individual and group work, functional assessments, and multidisciplinary care planning. Working closely with the wider MDT, you will support service users with complex presentations, including psychosis, personality disorder, challenging behaviour and limited insight.

The role also includes supporting the development of junior staff through supervision and acting as a practice educator for occupational therapy students.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop specialist skills within a supportive and experienced forensic mental health team.

About us
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

• We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
• With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
• We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

Why NLFT?

• We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
• We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
• NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
• Excellent internal staff network

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Details
Date posted: 04 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £45,953 to £54,254 a year per annum inclusive of outer London HCAS
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 455-NLFT-8224631-B
Closing date: 18 November 2026

Job description
For more information and detail, please see attached Job Description and Person Specification attached.

Person Specification
Skills and Experience
Essential

• Minimum of 1 years post graduate experience.
• Experience of working in mental health.
• Experience of planning and running a range of therapeutic groups and 1:1 interventions.
• Experience in managing and supervising junior staff, e.g. Band 5 OT, Band 4 TI.
• Ability to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate occupational therapy interventions, demonstrating sound clinical reasoning and judgement.

Desirable

• Further relevant courses or areas of study
• Experience of working in Forensic environments
• Experience justifying and challenging treatment priorities within available resources.
• Experience in contributing towards OT service development
• Ability to promote and model high standards of professional communication.

Qualifications
Essential

• Dip. COT, BSc O.T.

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Ability to build and maintain positive therapeutic relationships.
• Committed to collaborative and multidisciplinary working.

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.

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: North London NHS Foundation Trust
Address: North London Forensic Service, Chase Farm Hospital, 127 The Ridgeway, Enfield, EN2 8JL, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Principal Occupational Therapist, Laura Voyce, laura.voyce1@nhs.net, 02087025995

Applications are welcome from all, and the Trust is committed to equal opportunities.