Specialist Occupational Therapist

Specialist Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 27 January 2026

We have a fantastic opportunity for an existing Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist or a competent Band 5 Occupational Therapist to join the North ALD integrated team on a fixed term basis for 12 months.

The ALD North Durham integrated team offers a specialist assessment, support and intervention to people with a learning disability and/or autism diagnosis.

The post holder will have the exciting opportunity to embed and shape the Occupational Therapist role and TEWV OT Pathway into the service, with support from their Lead Occupational Therapist. We are looking for an Occupational Therapist that can support this journey to deliver high‑quality and innovative occupational therapy assessment and intervention.

We encourage all applicants to reach out to the team to speak more about this fantastic role opportunity!

To be responsible for receiving requests for occupational therapy, triaging and prioritising them, completing evidence‑based occupational assessment and intervention to address key occupational areas of self‑care, productivity and leisure.

To use client‑centred approaches to co‑producing negotiated occupational goals and evaluate these collaboratively.

To participate in clinical/professional and management supervision.

To contribute to multi‑disciplinary team working.

To contribute to and lead on service improvement and quality initiatives.

To use the Trust electronic patient record system.

To abide by all Trust policies and procedures.

To be able to respond flexibly and creatively to challenges.

We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Foundation Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.

From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care –our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.

We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.

We're committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.

The post holder will provide evidence‑based occupational therapy assessment and interventions as part of the OT Pathway delivered within Adult learning disabilities integrated service, offering input to individuals in community settings.

The ability to engage and communicate with people with learning disabilities and/or autism, as well as the parents/family/carers and system around them is essential.

Clinical/Professional supervision is provided by the Lead OT. The postholder will attend OT Learning and Governance Networks to ensure fidelity to core occupational therapy delivery, enhance CPD and contribute to wider OT service developments.

You must be able to demonstrate experience of delivery of occupational therapy, keenness to continually develop yourself and others, and a particular interest in this field of OT. We will support use of transferrable skills from a range of clinical settings.

There are varied opportunities for training and development, with CPD needs being identified and monitored through appraisal.

You will access wider support from the occupational therapy network in the Adult learning disabilities teams in TEWV, to develop a way of delivering a high quality, needs‑led OT service, utilising core occupational therapy skills, ensuring all of the people we work with have a robust occupational therapy assessment and intervention plan in place.

Fiona Plummer
Lead Occupational Therapist

• Appropriate professional qualification for occupational therapy role
• Current relevant registration with specific regulatory body
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) level 7 (SLT =8) for International recruits
• P…