Community Occupational Therapist

Community Occupational Therapist

Closing date: 24 September 2025

We are looking for an enthusiastic Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join our Intermediate Care Rehabilitation Therapy Team based within the East Dorset Locality.

The role is to provide Occupational Therapy treatment to patients with acute illness to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital, facilitate complex discharges from hospitals and support patients with Long Term Goals, predominately working within the community but may need to work on the ward within the local Community Hospital. Previous Rotational experience and a min of 2yrs post registration would be essential for this job role. The successful candidate will need to hold a valid UK Driving License and have access to a car.

As a Band 6 OT you will have the opportunity to:

Develop your discipline specific skill.

Develop skills in holistic assessing beyond the scope of your traditional Occupational Therapy practice.

Develop your supervisory, leadership and service development skills.

There will be opportunity to support junior and assistant staff and to help with their development

So, if you're looking for an employer that is working to push beyond and remove traditional boundaries and barriers bringing rehabilitation/care to patients when and where they need it, and you want to work alongside motivated, passionate and visionary colleagues, then come and join us.

Applications from candidates that require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are unfortunately ineligible to apply for this position.

Main duties of the job

To assess, plan, implement and evaluate specialist treatment and care and/or rehabilitation programs to people on an allocated caseload; promoting independence and autonomy; working within a multi-disciplinary team.

Advance own clinical knowledge, skill and competence based on current evidence through advanced educational programmes.

To demonstrate clinical effectiveness by use of evidence based practice and outcome measures.

Plan, implement and review health improvement programmes in a range of settings.

Recognise, assess and manage risk across the immediate and wider working environment and make appropriate decision autonomously ensuring statutory requirements are met.

To communicate effectively in verbal and written form in the exchange of highly complex, sensitive or contentious information in difficult situations using de-escalation, mediation, resolution and professional Duty of Candour

Support the management of change through strategic thinking, use of negotiating skills, self-awareness and communication.

About us

At Dorset HealthCare we're on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We're a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here - it's one of the reasons the CQC rated us 'outstanding' in 2019. It's also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you're looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We're an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you'll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don't know. And you'll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.

Job responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact dhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net

Person SpecificationKnowledge, skills and training

• Registered practitioner to degree/diploma level supplemented by post registration diploma level specialist training and/or short courses or demonstrable extensive experience in the relevant specialty
• Membership of the relevant Professional Body
• Evidence of recent professional development in an up-to-date portfolio
• Holds a current valid UK Driving Licence
• Experience of using electronic patient / service user record systems
• Learning and Assessing in Practice Qualification or equivalent practice assessors training
• Knowledge and understanding of Trust Strategy relevant to role

Job Specific Experience

• Experience at Practitioner Band 5 level
• Experience of developing specialist programs of care for an individual or groups of patients/clients and of providing highly specialist advice
• Able to demonstrate specialist clinical reasoning skills to assimilate information in order to make a clinical judgement regarding diagnosis and intervention
• Ability to prioritise and organise workload effectively
• Recent previous experience within a comparable role
• Experience of managing change

Managerial/Supervisory Experience

• Experience of providing clinical supervision and mentoring to junior staff
• Experience of devising and delivering training

Personal Qualities / Attributes

• Experience of planning and organising complex activities, e.g. organise own time and that of junior staff and learners, and undertaking discharge planning involving co-ordination with other agencies
• Knowledge and understanding of legislation relevant to practice
• Demonstrable ability of using tact and diplomacy
• Demonstrable leadership qualities and the ability to perform as a role model

Additional requirements

• Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English to a standard which enables the post holder to carry out the full range of duties and responsibilities of the role effectively.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust

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