Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Occupational Therapist
The closing date is 18 August 2026

Job summary
Are you an enthusiastic and motivated Occupational Therapist looking to make a difference in mental health services? We have an exciting and rewarding post for an Occupational Therapist Band 5 at our Amberstone Hospital, part of the East Sussex Rehabilitation Pathway. This role is suitable for both preceptorship and post-preceptorship candidates.

We are seeking a friendly, positive, Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join our team at mental health rehabilitation unit, to support the wellbeing and recovery of people who come to stay to manage their mental health, predominately Psychosis. As an Occupational Therapist, you will work closely with a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care to our patients.

You will be working under the guidance of a Senior Occupational Therapist to offer individual and group interventions that help people engage in activities that support people reach their rehabilitation goals and increase their quality of life. We run a group programme, offer one to one sessions with our aim being to encourage integration into the community and promote independence.

Main duties of the job

• You will be guided by OTs in your work and will be expected to work autonomously.
• To use a recovery approach in assisting service users to follow treatment plans and work towards their chosen goals.
• Complete OT assessments, monitor, review and evaluate service users progress.
• Interventions include 1:1 sessions or group, in the hospital, community home visits.
• Good communication skills for liaison with service users, families, colleagues and other agencies.
• Good computer and administration skills are required.
• To network with community services in assisting service users' integration to community such as accessing vocational resources, supporting with administration, applying for essential services.
• You will be responsible for running groups. It is important that you work dynamically and be able to think of creative and new ideas. Groups will include coffee mornings, learning groups, domestic and personal ADLs, cooking, gardening and out and about groups off the unit.
• Working with people with mental health issues including psychosis is preferred for this post. However, most importantly the successful candidate to be self motivated, keen to learn and have a clear understanding of how to support people's recovery.
• Regular supervision by a senior OT is offered and support to complete preceptorship if required.
• The ability to travel is essential for this role due to the location and the nature of the tasks required for this post.
• Part time post, shifts will be mainly weekdays 9am - 5pm

About us
East Sussex Care Delivery Service (CDS) provides specialist community and inpatient mental health services for adults over the age of 18, living within East Sussex. We believe in providing outstanding quality, safe and effective care and treatment that everyone can be proud of. Amberstone is a 28 bed Recovery and Rehabilitation unit, situated in rural East Sussex (approximately 2 miles from Hailsham and 8 miles north of Eastbourne) and provides rehabilitation for adults who are recovering from serious mental illness. The focus is to enable people to reach their full potential and achieve a smooth transition into the community. The ward works closely with Community Rehabilitation colleagues as an integral part of the award-winning East Sussex Rehabilitation Pathway.

Wide range of training opportunities within the Trust

Details
Date posted: 04 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 354-AE-21347
Job locations: Amberstone Hospital, Carters Corner, Hailsham, BN27 4HU, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• To work under the guidance of senior Occupational Therapists (OT) in the delivery of clinical interventions using a range of technical and creative skills to engage clients in occupational activities and recovery programmes.
• To monitor the client progress and feedback to MDT and OT reports.
• Facilitate and participate in planned group work, individual activities, one to one rehabilitation practise and ongoing continuous assessment with supervision
• Complete occupational therapy assessments and reports e.g. Activity of Daily Living Assessments (ADL) and treatment plans .
• Provide a range of activities, instructing and guiding clients with more complex needs to support them in achieving identified occupational therapy goals.
• To contribute to the generic tasks of the team as directed by senior team members.
• To actively promote client centred OT interventions using a recovery focused, enabling approach
• Provide supervision and guidance to therapy assistants in the team.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Degree/Diploma in occupational therapy
• Registration with the HPC as an occupational therapist
• Evidence of successful completion of a COT standard preceptorship programme

Desirable

• Experience of using MOHO assessment tools and creating rehabilitation care plans
• Experience of running occupational therapy groups
• experience of supervising others

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: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Amberstone Hospital, Carters Corner, Hailsham, BN27 4HU, United Kingdom

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Clinical Specialist Lucy Howell
Email: lucy.howell17@nhs.net
Phone: 07738757569