Occupational Therapist

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North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) are working towards merging as one organisation from July 2026. This will create an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people. Should you join NBT as an employee prior to our organisations merging, your employment will be automatically transferred across to UHBW. Should your employment begin after our two Trusts merge, you will be employed directly by UHBW and therefore UHBW terms and conditions of service will apply.

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Job Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for enthusiastic Occupational Therapists to join our specialist inpatient team providing a service to medicine. The roles are based at Southmead Hospital and may encompass both complex care and acute specialties. This post is to cover a secondment for 6 months thus offering a Fixed Term or Secondment opportunity. This advert may close early, if we have received a sufficient amount of applications. Therefore you are highly advised to apply as soon as possible if you are interested in this position.

Main duties of the job

The caseloads are interesting and challenging with provision of early assessment and intervention to address occupational needs, prevention of complications and progression from hospital to home. This requires a range of therapeutic skills within the medical specialties of frailty, respiratory, gastroenterology, infectious diseases and cardiology. There is close team working and links with community partners in the wider health and care system to address needs at all stages of the clinical pathway, with occupational therapy playing a crucial role. To understand more about Occupational Therapy at NBT, click here to watch our video.

Working for our organisation

North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

To provide a high standard occupational therapy service to inpatients referred to the specialty team.

Use specialised skills to provide a comprehensive Occupational Therapy service to patients, some of whom will have complex needs.

To ensure service provision is prioritised and service delivery is effective within resources available.

To provide leadership for Band 5 and support staff through supervision.

To participate in the planning, development and evaluation of Occupational Therapy services within a designated team, holding responsibility for defined department projects.

To contribute to the maintenance and development of the Occupational Therapy service.

To train and supervise occupational therapy students on practice placement.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Degree in Occupational Therapy (or equivalent)
• Student Educator - experience/qualification (or within one year)

Work Experience

Essential criteria

• Post registration experience as an OT
• Post registration experience in related clinical specialties
• Documented CPD

Desirable criteria

• Experience of research or audit
• Experience of supervising staff

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

Essential criteria

• Effective written skills
• Digital skills

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• HCPC registration

Desirable criteria

• Membership of RCOT

Please note that if you apply for a position with North Bristol NHS Trust, you may be contacted via TRAC or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your TRAC Account and email accounts including junk and spam folders. If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us on tel 0117 414 1151.

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.