About this role
Job summary
The @home Service are at the forefront of community healthcare transformation, aligning with NHS England's Long-Term Plan enabling London's ageing population and those with complex or urgent health needs to remain safely at home. This is achieved through the delivery of responsive, high-quality multi-disciplinary treatment in community settings.
We are seeking a Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist (Band 7) to join the team on a fixed term 9-month contract, at 0.80 WTE. The current post holder is taking maternity leave.
The successful post holder will demonstrate a passionate for delivering rapid, holistic, and patient-centred care within the community. Previous experience in admission avoidance / A & E / acute medicine or similar is highly desirable. You will possess advanced assessment and clinical reasoning skills, enabling you to make timely decisions and deliver effective interventions that promote independence and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.
This is a collaborative role, building strong working relationships across health and social care services to ensure coordinated, seamless care for patients. You will be adaptable, proactive, and enthusiastic about contributing to safe, effective, and efficient service delivery, while contributing to shared learning, professional development, and continuous service improvement.
Main duties of the job
Provide expert Occupational Therapy and extended scope assessment, intervention, and care planning for patients within the community.
Work autonomously, and collaboratively with colleagues and partner services across a various settings to support patient care.
Demonstrate strong clinical judgement in the triage of new referrals, prioritising and assigning resources to ensure the timely allocation of care for patients with urgent needs.
Provide clinical oversight of the therapy caseload within the Therapist in Charge role, ensuring the safe, efficient, and coordinated delivery of care across the therapy team.
Supervise and line manage junior Occupational Therapists and support workers, providing professional support, mentorship, and clinical guidance; and contribute to mentoring AHP students on placement.
Act as a senior clinical resource within the @home team, supporting complex case management, facilitating shared learning, and contributing to the development of staff knowledge and clinical practice.
Initiate, supervise, and participate in evidence-based practice, service improvement projects, audit, and research activities, implementing recommendations to enhance service quality and patient outcomes.
Engage in ongoing professional development across the four pillars of practice through regular supervision, peer support, and collaborative working within a large multidisciplinary team.
About us
GSTT @home is a hospital at home service and a joint venture between health and social care. @home provides high quality, safe, intensive multidisciplinary treatment and monitoring in the patient's usual place of residence that would otherwise be carried out in hospital.
The service operates seven days a week and requires therapists to work flexibility across a four-week rota inclusive of weekends. Full-time staff (1.0 WTE) work between 08:00 and 20:00. This post is a 0.8 WTE fixed-term position, with anticipated shift hours of 08:00-18:30. We recognise the importance of work-life balance and welcome discussions around flexible working relating to hours and working days.
What we offer:
Collaborative Environment: Work alongside passionate health and social care professionals, committed to patient-centred care Continuous Growth: Contribute to expanding and improving urgent community response services within Lambeth and Southwark Career development: Access opportunities for professional and personal development within a supportive team Meaningful impact: Make a real difference to people with urgent and complex needs Supportive Leadership: Benefit from the guidance and mentorship of experienced therapy leads
Job description Job responsibilities
Please refer to the full job description for a comprehensive summary of the essential and desirable criteria for this role. Main headings include:
Professional and clinical responsibilities Communication Service Development - Research / Audit / Quality Staff management and Leadership Education and Training Personal and professional development key relationships include Deputy Head of Nursing, Deputy Chief AHP, Therapy Lead Practitioners, Service Lead and Deputy Service Leads and Matrons, Clinical Nurse Specialists and Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals, @home GPs, Consultants and Junior Medical Staff, Social Workers and Social Services, Nursing and Rehabilitation Support Workes, Practice Development Nurses, and various community and acute therapy and nursing teams.
General points to note: This job may involve frequent exposure to unpleasant working conditions, e.g. bodily fluids, unpleasant smells, exposure to variant weather conditions, and within a fast-paced environment.
Being community-based, you will visit patients in their own homes across Lambeth and Southwark. Travel within the boroughs can be achieved by public transport and/or trust-provided or your personal vehicle for those holding a valid UK driving licence.
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Experience of working with adults and older people with chronic conditions and complex co-morbidities Post-graduate/rehabilitation experience at minimum Band 6 in all core areas: neurology, orthopedics, respiratory, and care of the elderly Experience in devising, delivering and evaluating training both within the service and to other agencies Extensive experience in the application of manual handling techniques in line with Manual Handling Guidelines. Demonstrated experience in line management, supervision, mentoring and education of junior therapists and AHP students
Skills Essential
Demonstrated ability to manage a complex and constantly changing workload of clinical and non-clinical duties demonstrating excellent time management, prioritisation and organisational skills Ability to manage risk appropriately, applying clinical reasoning and critical analysis to support decision making Able to develop effective therapeutic and working relationships, demonstrating empathy, active listening and motivational skills Ability to use an evidence-based approach including clinical outcome measures to evaluate outcomes Ability to adopt innovative and flexible working practices and lead and implement successful change management Knowledge and application of a wide range of approaches to manage patient complexity, demonstrated by advanced clinical reasoning Understanding of Clinical Governance and the implications for services including experience in quality improvement and audit
Desirable
Knowledge of current national policies and directives relevant to intermediate care and UCR
Qualifications/Knowledge Essential
Recognised Occupational Therapy degree qualification or equivalent Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration
Desirable
Member of relevant Clinical Interest Group e.g.COT-SS Older People, AGILE Recognised post-graduate qualification in specialist clinical area
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).
Employer details Employer name Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Address Elmcourt Health Centre/Walworth Road Sexual Health Clinic
214 Norwood Road, London/159-167, Walworth Rd, London
London
SE27 9AW
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/careers/careers.aspx (Opens in a new tab)