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Job summary

Main area
Therapies
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
409-7781231
Employer
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Whiston Hospital
Town
Prescot
Salary
£39,959 - £48,117 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
19/04/2026 23:59
Interview date
29/04/2026

Employer heading

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust logo

Specialist Occupational Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 6

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Job overview

Are you a motivated and skilled Occupational Therapist with a passion for improving outcomes for older people? We are seeking a Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist to join our Frailty Therapy Intervention Team and play a key role in delivering high-quality, patient-centred care to frail adults across a range of acute and community-facing settings.

Why This Role Is an Excellent Opportunity

Frailty care continues to evolve rapidly, with a strong emphasis on early intervention, admission avoidance, and supporting safe, timely discharge. This role offers an excellent opportunity to develop specialist skills in frailty, working at the interface of acute, sub-acute, and community services while contributing meaningfully to service delivery and improvement.

You will manage a varied and rewarding caseload, gaining experience across settings such as the GP Assessment Unit, Medical Assessment Unit, Bevan Court’s specialist frailty beds, and the Frailty Reablement Unit. There will also be opportunities to work alongside Admission Avoidance services, including Emergency Department support, Frailty Ambulatory Clinics, Urgent Crisis Response, Community Frailty, and Virtual Ward pathways.

Your Contribution

As a core member of the multidisciplinary team, you will use your occupational therapy expertise to assess functional ability, cognition, environmental needs, and risk, supporting frail patients to maintain independence and quality of life.

 

Main duties of the job

Your role will include:

·   Undertaking specialist OT assessments and interventions for frail and complex patients, with support from senior clinicians.

·  Contributing to safe discharge planning through timely assessment, equipment provision, and liaison with community services.

·   Working closely with physiotherapists, nurses, consultants, ACPs, and other MDT members to deliver coordinated care.

·      Supporting service evaluation, audits, and quality improvement projects within the frailty pathway.

·     Participating in supervision of junior staff and students and contributing to in-service training and education.

What We’re Looking For

·         HCPC registration as an Occupational Therapist.

·  Experience working with older adults and/or patients with complex physical, cognitive, or social needs.

·        Sound clinical reasoning skills and the ability to work effectively within a fast-paced clinical environment.

·         A genuine interest in frailty and holistic, person-centred care.

  Strong communication skills and confidence working within a multidisciplinary team.

·  Commitment to professional development and progression within specialist practice.

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

  • Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
  • Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
  • National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

What We Offer

·    A supportive and experienced frailty therapy team with strong clinical leadership.

·       Regular supervision, mentorship, and opportunities to develop specialist frailty skills.

·         Access to training, CPD, and service development opportunities.

·  Exposure to innovative models of care across acute and community interfaces.

·    A positive team culture that values collaboration, learning, and patient experience.

If you are looking to develop your career as a specialist Occupational Therapist and want to make a real difference to the lives of frail patients, we would love to hear from you.

Apply now and join a team committed to delivering compassionate, effective, and forward-thinking frailty care.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Degree in Occupational Therapist
  • HCPC registration
Desirable criteria
  • Clinical Educators Certificate
  • Post Grad accredited study e.g. MSc in relevant health studies

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
  • Awareness of own strengths and limitations
  • Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
  • Experience of line managing a team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and co-ordination
  • Evidence of effective working within an MDT
  • Experience of Service development
  • Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
  • Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
Desirable criteria
  • Audit and research in a clinical area

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
  • Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
  • Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
  • Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
  • Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
Desirable criteria
  • Mentorship skills

Other

Essential criteria
  • Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Nursing TimesApprenticeships logoDisability confident leaderArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardNavajo - Merseyside and CheshireCare quality commission - OutstandingDying to Work CharterStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingNHS Rainbow Badge - BronzeDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldPeople Promise

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Gbolade Ogunsanya
Job title
Team Lead – Frailty Therapy Intervention Team
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0151 290 7726
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