Job summary
- Main area
- Occupational Therapy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Contract
- Permanent: part-time 2 days a week 15 hours a week.
- Hours
- Part time - 15 hours per week (Tuesday and Friday can be discussed)
- Job ref
- 354-AE-21347
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Amberstone Hosptial
- Town
- Hailsham
- Salary
- £32,073 - £39,043 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 18/08/2026 17:00
Employer heading
Occupational Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 5
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.
Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
Are you an enthusiastic and motivated Occupational Therapist looking to make a difference in mental health services? We have an exciting and rewarding post for an Occupational Therapist Band 5 at our Amberstone Hospital, part of the East Sussex Rehabilitation Pathway. This role is suitable for both preceptorship and post-preceptorship candidates.
We are seeking a friendly, positive, Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join our team at mental health rehabilitation unit, to support the wellbeing and recovery of people who come to stay to manage their mental health, predominately Psychosis. As an Occupational Therapist, you will work closely with a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care to our patients.
You will be working under the guidance of a Senior Occupational Therapist to offer individual and group interventions that help people engage in activities that support people reach their rehabilitation goals and increase their quality of life. We run a group programme, offer one to one sessions with our aim being to encourage integration into the community and promote independence.
Main duties of the job
You will be guided by OTs in your work and will be expected to work autonomously.
To use a recovery approach in assisting service users to follow treatment plans and work towards their chosen goals.
Complete OT assessments, monitor, review and evaluate service users progress. Interventions include 1:1 sessions or group, in the hospital, community home visits.
Good communication skills for liaison with service users, families, colleagues and other agencies.
Good computer and administration skills are required.
To network with community services in assisting service users' integration to community such as accessing vocational resources, supporting with administration, applying for essential services.
You will be responsible for running groups. It is important that you work dynamically and be able to think of creative and new ideas. Groups will include coffee mornings, learning groups, domestic and personal ADLs, cooking, gardening and out and about groups off the unit.
Working with people with mental health issues including psychosis is preferred for this post. However, most importantly the successful candidate to be self motivated, keen to learn and have a clear understanding of how to support people's recovery.
Regular supervision by a senior OT is offered and support to complete preceptorship if required.
The ability to travel is essential for this role due to the location and the nature of the tasks required for this post.
Part time post, shifts will be mainly weekdays 9am - 5pm
Working for our organisation
East Sussex Care Delivery Service (CDS) provides specialist community and inpatient mental health services for adults over the age of 18, living within East Sussex. We believe in providing outstanding quality, safe and effective care and treatment that everyone can be proud of. Amberstone is a 28 bed Recovery and Rehabilitation unit, situated in rural East Sussex (approximately 2 miles from Hailsham and 8 miles north of Eastbourne) and provides rehabilitation for adults who are recovering from serious mental illness. The focus is to enable people to reach their full potential and achieve a smooth transition into the community. The ward works closely with Community Rehabilitation colleagues as an integral part of the award-winning East Sussex Rehabilitation Pathway.
Wide range of training opportunities within the Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key responsibilities:
- To work under the guidance of senior Occupational Therapists (OT) in the delivery of clinical interventions using a range of technical and creative skills to engage clients in occupational activities and recovery programmes.
- To monitor the client progress and feedback to MDT and OT reports.
- Facilitate and participate in planned group work, individual activities, one to one rehabilitation practise and ongoing continuous assessment with supervision
- Complete occupational therapy assessments and reports e.g. Activity of Daily Living Assessments (ADL) and treatment plans .
- Provide a range of activities, instructing and guiding clients with more complex needs to support them in achieving identified occupational therapy goals.
- To contribute to the generic tasks of the team as directed by senior team members.
- To actively promote client centred OT interventions using a recovery focused, enabling approach
- Provide supervision and guidance to therapy assistants in the team.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree/Diploma in occupational therapy
- Registration with the HPC as an occupational therapist
- Evidence of successful completion of a COT standard preceptorship programme
Desirable criteria
- Experience of using MOHO assessment tools and creating rehabilitation care plans
- Experience of running occupational therapy groups
- experience of supervising others
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Lucy Howell
- Job title
- Clinical Specialist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07738 757569
- Additional information
call 07738 757569 or 01323444104 or email [email protected] for any further information regarding Amberstone and this post.
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