Community Mental Health Occupational Therapist
Band 5
Main area: Working Age Adult Mental Health
Grade: Band 5
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 327-25-304
Site: Avon House
Town: Tewkesbury
Salary: £29,970 - £36,483 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 11/05/2025 23:59
We love what we do and we think you will, too!
At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.
We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you?’
We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and we are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality teams in all areas of the Trust.
Job overview
Are you looking for a new challenge or ready to move your career to the community setting? Are you passionate about providing excellent care to individuals experiencing ill mental health? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for a forward-thinking B5 Occupational Therapist at Avon House. This Community Mental Health Team covers a diverse area of Tewkesbury and surrounding areas and therefore the ability to travel independently is essential.
We are looking for an enthusiastic team player with good communication skills and the willingness to learn and develop in this exciting field of mental health.
This is an exciting opportunity to work within a highly skilled and experienced multi-disciplinary team to provide specialist evidence-based Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention to a defined caseload underpinned by the Model of Human Occupation.
Your role will enable you to provide specialist Occupational Therapy to service users with severe and complex mental health needs either on an individual basis or within group work. You will also act as a Care Co-ordinator to a number of service users who have a high level of occupational need and will be supported to develop your clinical skills and knowledge to cover Duty and triage referrals into the Occupational Therapy team with support from the B7 OT Clinical Lead.
Main duties of the job
You will be provided with a comprehensive induction and supported and supervised by the Band 7 clinical specialist Occupational Therapist.
You may already have the necessary skills and experience to work autonomously in the community, or this may be your first community post.
The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.
Working for our organisation
We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.
Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:
* 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
* 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
* 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.
This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We provide a Multi-professional preceptorship programme that is aligned to the National Preceptorship Framework for Nursing and have been awarded the Interim quality mark from NHS England. Our programme is provided to all Newly Qualified Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners. In addition to the programme, we also offer all preceptees the opportunity of enrolling and completing the level 7 (Masters) 15 credit validated module “Preceptorship for Healthcare” (AP7026).
Newly qualified Social Workers are offered the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment programme (ASYE) which is similar to a preceptorship programme.
Person specification
QUALIFICATIONS
* Degree / Diploma in Occupational Therapy
* Accredited training in Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), Sensory Integration and other evidenced approaches used relevant to the field
* Full Driving license
EXPERIENCE
* Minimum on commencing role, undergraduate placement experience working with service users with severe / complex mental health needs
* Knowledge and awareness of the needs of people with Mental Health, and a commitment to client-centred working practices
* Able to work independently
* Experience of working in Multi-Disciplinary teams
* Experience in a range of Mental Health settings
* Experience as a Fieldwork educator
* Knowledge and awareness of the needs of older people with Mental Health and or physical health conditions
When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:
* Free car parking at many of our sites
* 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
* A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
* A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
* Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
* Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
* Recognition and long service awards
* Fast Track physiotherapy
* Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application.
For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
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