Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Lead Occupational Therapist across our Durham Darlington and Tees Liaison Psychiatry teams and Tees Intensive Home Treatment team. As a Lead Occupational Therapist in TEWV you will provide clinical and professional leadership and management for occupational therapy in the designated service areas. This will also include managing your own small highly complex occupational therapy caseload within Durham Darlington Liaison Psychiatry, assessing occupational performance and delivering specialist occupational intervention. You will ensure the professional standards of care are maintained in your own occupational therapy caseload and that of those you lead, always demonstrating adherence to the Trust Values, and operating as a leader in the teams, services and organisation.

Candidates must hold a minimum of 18 months post qualifying experience of occupational therapy delivery at the point of application

This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route. However, sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements, therefore, we recommend that you assess your eligibility before applying for this position. Visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

Main duties of the job
The post is 30 hours per week, permanent and the work base could be at any of our sites in the area of leadership.

The successful candidate will be responsible for the delivery of occupational therapy services across the designated service area. They will provide specialist advice to occupational therapy staff and other members of the multi-disciplinary team and wider.

The post holder will be responsible for receiving complex requests for occupational therapy, triaging and prioritising these, completing evidence-based assessments and interventions to address key occupational areas of self-care, productivity and leisure.You will use client-centred approaches to co-producing negotiated occupational goals and evaluate these with service users collaboratively.

You will participate in and provide clinical/professional and management supervision, contribute to multi-disciplinary team working, contribute to and lead on service improvement and quality initiatives, use the Trust electronic patient record system, abide by all Trust policies and procedures and be able to respond flexibly and creatively to challenges.

About us
We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.

From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care --our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.

We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.

We're committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it

Details
Date posted
11 August 2026

Pay scheme
Agenda for change

Band
Band 7

Salary
£49,387 to £56,515 a year
pro rata, per annum

Contract
Permanent

Working pattern
Part-time

Reference number
346-DDA-112-26-B

Job locations
Any AMH site across teams/services the role covers
Durham Darlington
DL3 6HX
United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

We are looking for an OT who can work flexibly to meet service need and has the vision, energy and inspiration to develop creative, imaginative solutions to delivering occupational therapy.

The post holder will provide and lead the delivery of evidence-based occupational therapy assessment and interventions as part of the OT pathway in their area of clinical responsibility.

Applicants must be committed to providing the best possible care for the people we work with and their families/carers.

The ability to engage and communicate with people with mental health issues, as well as the family/carers and system around them is essential. Applicants must be able to demonstrate significant experience in the delivery of occupational therapy, keenness to continually develop themselves and others, and a particular interest in this clinical area of occupational therapy delivery.

We are able to support the use of transferrable occupational therapy skills and experience from a range of clinical settings.

Clinical/professional supervision is provided by the Trust professional head of occupational therapy, and the postholder will be a core member of the Trust wide occupational therapy leadership group.

The post holder organises and leads an occupational therapy learning and governance networks for the staff they lead to ensure fidelity to core occupational therapy delivery, enhance CPD and contribute to wider OT service developments.

This job advert may close early if a high volume of applications have been received. If interested, please apply for this post as soon as possible.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Pre-registration qualification in occupational therapy (relevant professional field) as recognised by HCPC)
• Registration with HCPC.
• Evidence of post-registration master's level learning or equivalent experience in relevant area. E.g., relevant level 7 courses, researcher role, quality improvement activity, leading service development, project management, strategic leadership, NICE involvement, service evaluation.

Knowledge
Essential

• Significant experience of supporting people with mental health issues, learning disability or autism
• Significant understanding of the needs of service users with mental health conditions or learning disabilities or autism

Experience
Essential

• Substantial clinical experience of complex occupational therapy delivery in relevant specialist area in collaboration with service users, families, and relevant others.

Desirable

• Experience of working in Multidisciplinary Team (SW essential criteria)
• Complex clinical risk assessment and application in practice
• Substantial knowledge of evidence- based practice in occupational therapy

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. 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).

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

Employer details
Employer name
Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Address
Any AMH site across teams/services the role covers
Durham Darlington
DL3 6HX
United Kingdom

Employer's website
https://www.tewv.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Trustwide professional head occupational therapy
Sally Harrison
sallyharrison5@nhs.net
07500760851