About this role
Job summary
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Occupational Therapist - Peterborough City Council Careers
Are you looking for a flexible job with opportunities for development?
Would you thrive in an agile, supportive team environment?
In this role, you will assess, plan and deliver occupational therapy interventions for adults with learning disabilities living in the community. You will support people to promote safety and independence within the home, this includes using alternative techniques, utilising equipment and Technology Enabled Care, providing moving and handling assessments, and recommendations for minor and major adaptations. Working closely with colleagues across health, housing and social care, you will manage a varied caseload and contribute to high-quality, strengths-based practice.
Please note this is a rolling advert and will close as soon as we appoint a successful candidate
Main duties of the job
In this role you will :
You will:
Carry out holistic assessments and identify practical solutions to promote safety and independence.
Recommend and review equipment, moving and handling solutions, and housing adaptations.
Manage a defined caseload, prioritising risk and need while maintaining accurate records.
Work collaboratively with people, their carers and partner professionals to deliver coordinated support.
Support junior staff and contribute to service development, learning and continuous improvement.
About us
Our therapy team is a dedicated and supportive group of professionals committed to providing exceptional service and support to our community.We offer a collaborative work environment with opportunities for professional growth and development. Our team values continuous learning and provides access to ongoing training and education. We are embracing new ways of working and innovation to ensure that we deliver the highest quality of support tothe people of Peterborough. We are a small team doingbig thingsand making a big impact.You would be joining a well-established team where respect, team working and a supportive environment are key to a successful future.Weoperatea flexible way of working over the week, you will manage your own diaryand there is no weekend working. We are mostly agile and work from home, whilst using the office as an official work base.Our wider Occupational Therapy service supports adults and children across areas such as moving and handling,adaptations, Technology Enabled Care, and OT Duty triage. This post sits within our Adults Learning Disabilities Occupational Therapy team, delivering assessment and intervention within the home environment.
Job description Job responsibilities
The post holder will provide assessment and provision of Occupational Therapy interventions to adults and older people with challenging physical and functional difficulties in the community resulting in the need for specialist housing adaptation, simple and challenging equipment needs taking into account the needs of the person and their relatives and carers. Emphasis will be placed upon rehabilitation, health promotion, equipment and adaptations, etc where appropriate, while maintaining links with other members of the team and health care professionals.
The post holder will work under the guidance of lead practitioners within the team to gain best practice and consolidation of knowledge.
To perform a specialist community Occupational Therapy role with disabled people of all ages who have difficult health, social, psychological / psychosocial and housing needs and who have been referred.
To assess the functional needs of disabled people (18 years and older), including those with multi-pathology and variable conditions, physical and mental health conditions, chronic and terminal illness and learning disabilities residing currently in the community.
To provide a specialist response for difficult cases, formulating and implementing intervention plans aimed at reducing the impact of disability and ill health. To manage a defined caseload of challenging needs as an autonomous practitioner, evidencing high-level problem solving and reasoning skills, and independence of judgement
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
To have a working knowledge of relevant legislation including Care Act & housing legislation, with a detailed knowledge of the eligibility criteria, relevant procedures and policies relating to social care, health and housing organisations.
To develop a working knowledge of the principles of housing construction and design, technical plans and housing adaptations with a good understanding of the complex interaction between health, housing and social issues and their impact on functional ability.
To use communication, reasoning, and negotiation skills to establish a therapeutic relationship in all cases with a diversity of difficult needs, managing barriers to communication.
To carry out an initial contact assessment with either the person, their carer or other healthcare professional to establish eligibility for occupational therapy intervention using Care Act legislation and other relevant procedures and policies relating to social care, health and housing organisations. To advise and support with supervision of Caseworkers and Occupational Therapy Assistants.
To use a detailed knowledge of a wide range of medical conditions and their functional effects to the person in terms of socio-economic, psychosocial and personal implications 08/06/2026 and carry out and record comprehensive assessments of people with challenging and specialist needs within the home environment.
To perform occupational analysis and risk evaluation leading to the formulation of intervention options which reduce the consequences of disability and deteriorating conditions.
To identify and select, with the person and their carers, the most appropriate intervention options which balance the difficult interaction of risk, safety, person choice, independence, areas of conflict, eligibility for services and cost effectiveness.
To provide help and advice to service users, their family and other carers - teaching and demonstrating use of equipment or other techniques to optimise the service users' functional ability and independence. To arrange for the provision of standard specialist disability equipment and obtain authorisation from Therapy Services Manager for non standard equipment using professional judgements against budget lines to ensure cost effectiveness, need and suitability.
To independently manage a caseload of people with a diversity of difficult needs in accordance with the needs led assessment (in consultation with Grade 11 Occupational Therapist as necessary) and to take into account the views and wishes of service users, carers and families, respecting their diversity and cultural needs.
To seek opinion from other relevant professionals to inform analysis and reasoning where appropriate.
To make recommendations for Disabled Facilities Grants and housing adaptations.
To actively participate in critical response rota by carrying out urgent difficult functional assessments and implementing treatment plans in crisis situations.
To liaise with health and social care professionals and other related statutory, private and voluntary organisations, providing written reports, recommendations and referrals when appropriate.
To progress the intervention to a satisfactory closure, evaluating outcomes and completing reviews as appropriate.
To identify unmet needs and gaps in service provision and highlight these to the appropriate manager.
To maintain accurate and up to date documentation consistent with legal and organisational requirements.
To comply with all relevant social care legislation, housing legislation, departmental policies and procedures, health promotion strategies and to adhere to and apply the RCOT Professional standards for occupational therapy practice, conduct and ethics.
A working understanding of moving and handling legislation, and a detailed knowledge of current moving and handling best practice and associated equipment.
To provide risk assessment in difficult moving and handling situations for other agencies when appropriate and make necessary recommendations and review. 08/06/2026
To develop and maintain an agreed area of professional interest and expertise and act as a resource to other team members for this subject area, accessing relevant external training.
To provide support, guidance, teaching and clinical supervision to junior qualified staff, Caseworkers, and to Occupational Therapy Students. To ensure that individual and junior grade practice is in accordance with the Peterborough City Council standards, procedures and objectives of quality assurance, and that they are consistent with best professional practice.
To actively participate in supervision and appraisal, using reflection and analysis to inform practice and identify training needs.
To maintain and develop professional knowledge and be conversant with professional developments, evidencing critical appraisal skills and Continuing Professional Development.
To participate in staff and service development through attendance at service meetings and in-service training sessions, including taking a lead in facilitating such events and presenting information as appropriate.
To actively support service improvements.
To assist the Therapy Services Manager by carrying out agreed delegated tasks as required and to undertake any other appropriate additional duties, as required by the Therapy Services Manager
To contribute to the evaluation of the service through use of audit, outcome measure and in-service research projects and where appropriate take a lead in implementing these.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
BSc/MSc in occupational therapy or Diploma of occupational therapy Registered occupational therapist with HCPC
Desirable
Member of RCOT Specialist section
Experience Essential
Experience of working in a health or social care setting. Experience of working with complex cases. Experience of working in an MDT
Desirable
Experience of a variety of occupational therapy interventions Experience of working on minor and major adaptations and equipment provision
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. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Peterborough City Council
Address Sand Martin House
Bittern Way
Fletton Quays
Peterborough
PE2 8TY
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.peterborough.gov.uk (Opens in a new tab)