Job summary
- Main area
- Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- 9 months (Fixed term funding must end 30th June 2027)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Applicants interested in part time work would be considered)
- Job ref
- 196-LIS10827E
- Employer
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Evelina London
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £66,274 - £73,496 p.a inc HCA (pro rata)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 27/09/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Clinical Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
We are excited to announce that we have an opportunity for a dynamic and enthusiastic band 8a occupational therapist to join the Evelina REACH service as clinical lead on a temporary contract.
This OT led service provides evidence-based rehabilitation for children and young people aged between 3 months and 16 years with, or at risk of, hemiplegia. The service is protocolised to deliver activity based Upper Limb rehabilitation.
The post holder will also co-lead the Stroke ABI recovery service, alongside neuropsychology. This service provides holistic consultation and advice to children and young people who have had a stroke.
We are open to applicants who would prefer part-time working patterns.
There is the potential for the post to be extended but only at 0.5wte.
Main duties of the job
This role involves providing specialist out-patient assessment and intervention for children and young people, working in partnership with families and community colleagues.
The post holder will have operational oversight and responsibility for delivery of OT assessments and interventions in this tertiary level service. They will provide clinical leadership to the team and will support the development of the band 7 and band 6 Occupational therapists as well as the Advanced Occupational Therapy assistant in this service.
The post holder is responsible for clinical governance and assurance including, but not limited to, the management of clinical risk and patient safety, compliance with mandatory training, clinical and professional standards. Reporting to the Head for Paediatric Occupational Therapy and ultimately the Head Occupational Therapist for the Trust, this position leads workforce planning, training and development, with oversight of job plans and has responsibility for delivering governance and operational performance.
Working for our organisation
This post requires applicants to have excellent verbal and written communication skills, as collaborative working with families and community colleagues is essential.
The post holder will need to have substantial experience of working with these populations of children, as you will need to be adaptable to meet the child’s individual rehabilitation needs as well as lead the service. You will need to be flexible and adaptable in order to support the team within a busy tertiary service.
You will be energetic, keen to critically appraise literature in the field of occupational therapy and deliver evidence-based practice as part of a service that encourages reflective practice.
This post sits within the Paediatric occupational therapy service at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
You will be supervised and operationally managed by the clinical lead in paediatric occupational therapy and professionally managed by the Trust Head OT.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be experienced in setting client-centred rehabilitation goals and will offer a family-centred service. This role requires close liaison and working in partnership with community therapy services and/or other appropriate agencies.
You will support children to work towards meaningful goals focusing on functional skills and independence in areas of self-care, school/work and leisure/play, alongside their families and local teams.
You will need to have experience of delivering evidence based Upper Limb rehabilitation approaches.
You will be responsible for supporting the development of knowledge and skills in this area and will contribute to service development alongside the team.
There is the potential to participate in departmental audits or research projects. There is also the opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills through participation in team and hospital wide continuing professional development programmes, supervision of junior staff members and students, appraisal, in-service training and joint working.
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria
- Occupational Therapy Degree or equivalent qualification
- Evidence of post graduate education in relevant clinical area.
- Has achieved or is working towards Masters degree or showing capacity to work at Masters degree level
Desirable criteria
- Leadership training/qualification
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of delivering goal-directed upper limb assessment and activity-based intervention approaches
- Highly developed specialist knowledge of patient group with knowledge of cerebral palsy (all classifications of GMFCS & MACS), acquired brain injuries, orthopaedic conditions, trauma and developmental disabilities.
Desirable criteria
- Experience in management and development of operational policies
- Previous experience as head/lead of department/service.
Additional Skills
Essential criteria
- Adherence to College of Occupational Therapy and HCPC guidelines and codes of ethics and professional conduct.
Knowledge and skills
Essential criteria
- Specialist knowledge of the evidence-base for rehabilitation of children with asymmetric motor presentation e.g. hemiplegia/unilateral cerebral palsy
- Advanced clinical practice skills with outstanding clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills
- Ability to work autonomously, acting decisively on behalf of self and others and setting own priorities when dealing with complex and sensitive situations.
- Exceptional team building skills to manage and develop individual and team performance.
Desirable criteria
- Ability to design or manufacture paediatric neuro-splints or mechanical devices for the upper limb and the implementation of advanced treatment techniques for development of functional skills.
- Membership of specialist organisations
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Katy Strudwick
- Job title
- Head of Paediatric Occupational Therapy
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 02071889427
- Additional information
Jill Massey - Clinical Lead for Evelina REACH service.
02071889427
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