Senior Occupational Therapist @ Peterborough City Council

Job summary

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Senior Occupational Therapist - Peterborough City Council Careers

Are you passionate about delivering person-centred care and collaborating as part of a team to support children and young people to thrive in their home environments?

Are youcommitted to continuous learning and making a positive difference?

Then this senior Children's Occupational Therapy position within social care could be the perfect opportunity for you!

This role offers the opportunity for you to manage your own diary, with no weekends or banks holidays. Working hours could be 8-4, 9-5 or 9.30-5.30

This is a part time post of 22.5 hours, the salary quoted is based on 37 hours and will be pro rata accordingly.

This role is a rolling advert and may close prior to the advert closing date should we find a suitable applicant.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Occupational Therapist in the Children's Occupational Therapy team, you'll play a vital role in supporting children and young people with complex health, social, and housing needs in the community. You'll use your specialist clinical expertise to carry out assessments, recommend tailored interventions, and provide both simple and complex equipment and adaptation solutions to maximise independence and safety.

You'll manage a varied caseload of complex cases as an autonomous practitioner, drawing on advanced problem solving and reasoning skills. Working closely with families, carers, and multi-disciplinary colleagues across health, housing, and social care, you'll deliver a seamless, child centred service that supports meaningful outcomes.

In this role, you'll also contribute to service development, provide guidance and supervision to junior staff, and act as a specialist resource within the team. Your expertise will help shape high quality practice across therapy services while ensuring safe, effective, and innovative ways of working.

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 across areas such as moving and handling, adaptations, Technology Enabled Care, Learning Disability, and OT Duty triage. This post sits within our dedicated Children's 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 children and young people with highly complex difficulties in the community; resulting in the need for specialist functional assessment and intervention, specialist housing adaptation, simple and complex equipment needs taking into account the needs of the child and their parents/responsible adults and carers. The post holder will be expected to provide a positive contribution to the health of children and young people and make an active contribution to the delivery and development of the service. 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 Occupational Therapy role for children and young people up to the age of 18 years old, who have complex health, social and housing needs

To assess and provide support for the functional needs of children and young people, including those with multiple pathologies including physical, neurological and mental health conditions, chronic and terminal/palliative illnesses in the community.

To provide a specialist response in complex and highly complex cases, assessing, formulating and implementing intervention plans aimed at reducing the impact of disability and ill health.

To manage a defined caseload of complex and highly complex cases as an autonomous practitioner, evidencing high level problem solving and reasoning skills, and independence of judgement. Main Duties and Responsibilities:

To have an in-depth specialist knowledge on working with children and young people with complex health needs, a detailed knowledge of current guidance, specialist assessments and interventions available for a wide variety of independent needs.

To have a working knowledge and awareness of service provision, inclusive of policy and procedures relevant to occupational therapy, social care and health organisations

To have a good level of knowledge of relevant legislation and housing legislation with a detailed knowledge of eligibility criteria and relevant procedures and policies relating to social care, health and housing organisations.

A good understanding of the principles of housing construction and design, technical plans and housing adaptations with a high-level understanding of the complex interaction between health, housing and social issues and their impact on functional ability with the aim of increasing independence or support parents/responsible adults/carers.

To have a working knowledge of communication strategies in order to establish a therapeutic relationship and adapt where necessary to ensure comprehension. To identify, 09/01/2026 adapt and use communication, reasoning, and negotiation skills to support informed decision making in complex and highly complex cases, managing all barriers to communication.

To work jointly with OT colleagues and the MDT (health and social care professionals) to provide a seamless service and close working relationships.

A comprehensive knowledge of complex multiple pathologies including, physical, neurological and mental health conditions, learning disabilities, chronic, palliative/terminal illnesses and their impact on functional ability to carry out and record comprehensive assessments of people with complex, highly complex and specialist needs within the home, educational and social environments.

To perform occupational analysis and risk evaluation leading to the formulation of intervention options which reduce the consequences of disability and deteriorating conditions.

To independently maintain current and up to date national and local guidance within the specialism of childrens Occupational Therapy. To ensure that changes are implemented and updated into the service as required. To identify and select, with the person and/or their parents/responsible adults/carers, the most appropriate intervention options which balance the complex interaction of risk, safety, choice, independence, areas of conflict, eligibility for services and cost effectiveness.

To provide help and advice to children and young people, their family/parents/responsible adults and other carers - teaching and demonstrating relevant support strategies, use of equipment or other techniques to optimise the persons functional ability and independence. To arrange for the provision of standard specialist disability equipment and obtain authorisation from the Therapy Services Manager for non-standard equipment using professional judgement to ensure cost effectiveness, need and suitability.

To independently manage a caseload of complex and highly complex cases (in consultation with the Therapy Services Manager as necessary) and to take into account the views and wishes of children and young people, their carers and families/responsible adults, respecting their diversity.

To seek opinion from other relevant professionals to inform analysis and reasoning where appropriate.

To make recommendations for Disabled Facilities Grants and housing adaptations and act as a resource as required.

To identify and respond to urgent needs, supporting OT colleagues where necessary.

To work alongside OT colleagues as a co-worker or on a consultation basis for supporting people children and young people with complex needs.

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.

Person Specification

Skills Essential

Excellent skills relating to assessment and care management, monitoring and reviewing of services to individuals and carers/families Well-established skills in functional assessment with children with complex needs. Ability to determine the best fit between an individuals and/or carers assessed needs, their wishes and the resources available Demonstrates excellent analytical and reflection skills Thorough understanding and knowledge of clinical conditions and the impact this Take opportunity to develop and share specialist knowledge through supervision/practice/ theoretical knowledge/CPD Promotes occupational therapy positively to colleagues and the wider general public has on an individuals functional independence. In-depth knowledge and practical experience of working with children and young people with complex needs. To work dynamically, being able to adapt intervention to reflect the individuals needs and abilities. Knowledge and practical experience of complex major housing adaptations Knowledge and practical experience of moving and handling skills Ability to identify and manage risks to oneself, service users and carers and the organisation Extensive knowledge and practical experience of specialist equipment Ability to organise and prioritise complex caseload efficiently to meet competing demands Take responsibility for undertaking and maintaining own continuing professional development (CPD) Attend relevant training and CPD activities Ability to maintain effective and accurate records in accordance with departmental policies and procedures Excellent oral and written communication including electronic systems and programmes Ability to communicate complex information both verbally and in writing to other professionals, clients and their parents/responsible adult/family/carer, providing accessible information where necessary. Able to liaise effectively with other statutory and voluntary organisations Excellent presentation and teaching skills To act as an autonomous worker in management, planning and implementation of client interventions Previous experience and positive approach of close multi-disciplinary team working Ability to ensure cost effectiveness and efficiency of service provisions Ability to effectively supervise clinical skills of junior staff and their caseload Demonstrates ability to be a good team member and assume designated leadership responsibilities To be innovative, flexible and adaptable to meet service needs Highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills Ability to work with stressful situations which may be distressing or pressurised Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy skills

Desirable

Take opportunity to develop and share specialist knowledge through supervision/practice/ theoretical knowledge/CPD Promotes occupational therapy positively to colleagues and the wider general public

Experience Essential

Minimum 5 years post-qualifying experience, 2 years at senior level Recent experience of direct work with children and young people with complex needs Experience of supervising Occupational Therapists / students

Desirable

Accredited fieldwork educator Experience of working in the community setting including rehabilitation, minor and major adaptations and equipment provision Experience of a variety of occupational therapy interventions Experience of writing for journals Experience of participating in research and audit projects Experience of working on highly complex cases in a multi disciplinary setting

Qualifications Essential

Diploma or Degree in Occupational Therapy Hold state registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) (A & I)

Desirable

Adaptation training course Relevant courses pertaining to child and young people, learning disabilities, Sensory Integration or

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)