Specialist Occupational Therapist

Specialist Occupational Therapist

Closing date: 06 August 2026

An exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, well-motivated Occupational Therapist to join the Recovery at Home Team, South Tyneside.

This is a unique and rewarding role which will allow you to work with, lead and support colleagues during a time of innovation and development as the team focuses on the implementation of Urgent Community Response and of Virtual Wards.

You will work within Directorate One of Community Services, supported by senior colleagues who are passionate about the services delivered to the community of South Tyneside and Sunderland. The Trust is committed to supporting and developing staff and providing an inclusive and equitable workplace.

• Assess people in their own homes who are acutely unwell or recently discharged from hospital and require enhanced intervention and short-term support for their physical and functional health needs to remain at home.
• Work in a fast-paced service and see a wide range of patients with varied conditions.
• Enable patients to remain at home safely, while developing own clinical skills.

Please note a Full UK Driving Licence is essential for this role.

The service is committed to providing a supportive environment for education and training to support the successful candidate. Informal visits are encouraged by contacting the Recruiting Manager.

Contact the Recruiting Manager to learn more about the service.

• Registered with the HCPC
• Portfolio of evidence of competence and continuing professional development
• Ability to undertake comprehensive holistic assessments, prioritise clinical need and implement a plan of care reflecting evidence-based guidance

Please add your telephone number to your application form so we can contact you quickly if required.

One Team One Trust – there are many reasons to work at our Trust, including commitment to putting people first, accessible services, research and innovation, and a compassionate, fair, and inclusive culture. Flexible working is supported via our Flexible Working Policy. We welcome applications irrespective of race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular from under-represented groups.

The Trust employs around 8,746 people and provides hospital services to a local community of around 430,000 residents. We offer benefits such as a Fitness Centre, libraries at hospital sites, chaplaincy support and access to a Care Co-ordinator to help with childcare arrangements.

If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity of your recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.

• Work across services providing Virtual Wards, Urgent Community Response, Discharge to Assess and short-term rehabilitation.
• Provide care to people in their own homes to prevent admission/readmission to hospital by enabling rapid assessment in the community, seven days a week.
• Undertake comprehensive holistic assessments in planned and unplanned situations, prioritise clinical need, initiate investigations, determine a differential diagnosis and implement a plan of care reflecting evidence-based guidance.
• Maintain agreed standards of care to preserve patient dignity in environments conducive to care in their usual or temporary place of residence, including bed-based rehabilitation.
• Triaging within the service to determine clinical priority of calls and coordinate team dispatches.
• Collaborate with multi-professional teams to ensure practice is efficient, effective and evidence-based.
• Develop professional scope of practice to meet service requirements in accordance with guidelines.
• Provide expert knowledge to all users of the service.
Physical skills
• Car driver with access to a vehicle for work purposes
Qualifications
• HCPC registration
• Degree
• Willingness to undertake a teaching qualification as a practice educator
Experience
• Post-qualification experience relevant to this role
• Experience of working with people with acute or chronic long-term conditions
• Experience of multidisciplinary working
• Experience of supervising junior staff and students
Skills and knowledge
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Evidence of managing change and implementing best practice
• Evidence of leadership qualities
• Ability to understand and critically evaluate outcome measures
• Evidence of presentation and training skills
• Ability to work autonomously and set own priorities
• Ability to organise and respond effectively to complex information and situations
• Evidence of building sound working relationships across health and social care partners
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and current practice within intermediate care/rehabilitation and community services
• Knowledge of current government and local agendas affecting service delivery
• IT knowledge and skills
• Knowledge of clinical governance and its applications
• Experience in…