Occupational Therapist

Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 05 March 2026

A new rotational development has arisen within South Cumbria for a Band 5 Occupational Therapist (OT), which aims to support your preceptorship journey and also your continuous professional development opportunities across both the inpatient and community settings. We are seeking an individual who is passionate about working with people who have a varied range of mental health needs.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust is an exciting place to work as an OT, and be highly valued amongst an established Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT), to ensure that we can provide the best outcomes for our patients. We are committed to delivering excellent services, putting occupation at the centre of our work and championing peoples' rights for occupational needs to be recognised and addressed.

At Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, we are developing our Allied Health Professional (AHP) community within the Bay Network, to ensure that we are offering positions that facilitate longevity within your chosen career pathway.

If you are an OT, who would like to expand your experience within different adult mental health settings, we currently have a vacancy for two full time positions. This rotation will offer a plethora of opportunities for professional development, with a robust training platform offering mandatory training opportunities, a trust-wide preceptorship and peer support from a developing AHP community through evidence-based practice forums, we have this new opportunity available.

The rotational post currently offers the opportunity to work across 2 clinical areas across a 12 month period:

Dova, Mental Health inpatient ward, Dane Garth Furness, Community Mental Health Team

To provide routine occupational therapy interventions in order to maintain, restore or create a match beneficial to the individual between the abilities of the person, the demands of her/his occupations in the areas of self care, productivity and leisure and the demands of the environment. (Adapted from Creek 2003). The postholder works alongside more senior experienced therapist/s to consolidate and develop their skills, and while able to work alone as an autonomous professional, they are supported through regular contact and supervision from the senior therapist/s.

They may contribute to the occupational therapy plans for people with complex needs, but are not the responsible therapist in assessing and providing occupational therapy plans for people with very complex occupational needs.

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

After a period of preceptorship, and following approved training, the band 5 occupational therapist provides fieldwork placements for occupational therapy undergraduates. As confidence and experience grows, the therapist becomes increasingly responsible for the supervision of support staff, and for the delegation of occupational therapy tasks.

The total length of a rotation in each service is 12 months and the services are as follows:
Dova, Mental Health Inpatient Ward, Dane Garth and Furness Community Mental Health Team (CMHT).

• Under the supervision of a senior therapist, accept clinical responsibility for the management of a specific caseload, assessed by the supervisor as appropriate and of priority.
• Select, undertake and interpret the outcomes of occupational therapy assessments for people whose mental health problems impact on their occupational performance to explore strengths and deficits and establish appropriateness of intervention.
• Work collaboratively with service users to identify their occupational therapy goals as part of an overall care plan.
• In collaboration with the service user, plan, implement and modify where necessary individual and/or group interventions to promote their occupational performance, enhance ability to fulfill meaningful life roles, develop daily living skills, address occupational risk factors (e.g. occupational deprivation, imbalance, alienation) and…