Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist

Merseywestlancs; Chorley; On-site; GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000; Full time

Job description

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations.

Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

Job overview

Are you an experienced Occupational Therapist ready to make a meaningful impact on the lives of older adults? Join our dynamic Frailty Therapy Intervention Team as a Band 7 Advanced Occupational Therapist and become a key player in delivering innovative, patient‑centred care across a broad and diverse clinical landscape.

Why This Role Is Exceptional

The care of frail patients is evolving rapidly, with national and local initiatives focusing on preventing hospital admissions, promoting early intervention, and supporting timely discharge. This is a great opportunity to be at the forefront of these transformative changes, applying your advanced clinical reasoning skills and up‑to‑date evidence to improve outcomes for one of the most vulnerable patient groups.

You will enjoy a varied and stimulating caseload, working across multiple settings including a fast‑paced GP Assessment Unit, Medical Assessment Unit, Bevan Court’s specialist frailty service with acute bedded care, and the Frailty Reablement Unit. Collaboration with our Admission Avoidance team will further broaden your experience, including work in the Emergency Department, Frailty Ambulatory Clinic, Urgent Crisis Response, Community Frailty, and Virtual Ward services based on service demands.

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

Main duties of the job

Your Impact

As an integral part of a multidisciplinary team, you will utilize your advanced clinical reasoning skills to holistically assess and treat frail patients and thorough follow‑ups. Your proactive interventions will help prevent crises, reduce hospital stays, and maximise patient independence, supporting people to live safely in their own homes wherever possible.

You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Lead specialist assessments and treatments with autonomy and confidence.
• Collaborate closely with consultants, nursing staff, ACPs, and other therapists to deliver high‑quality, coordinated care.
• Engage actively in service evaluation and quality improvement projects, with the chance to present findings at local, national, and international forums.
• Contribute to research and service development initiatives, shaping the future of frailty care.
• Support and mentor junior therapists and contribute to staff training programmes.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

What We’re Looking For

• HCPC registration and a proven track record as an autonomous, advanced clinician.
• Expertise in managing complex frailty cases with clear, confident clinical reasoning and decision‑making skills.
• Resilience and adaptability to thrive in a fast‑paced, often high‑pressure environment.
• A genuine passion for improving patient experience and outcomes.
• A collaborative spirit and excellent communication skills to champion multidisciplinary working.
• Commitment to ongoing professional development and a willingness to engage in teaching and service innovation

What We Offer

• A supportive, friendly team culture committed to your growth and wellbeing.
• Regular supervision, training opportunities, and access to professional development.
• The chance to influence and lead within a rapidly expanding specialty.
• Work environments that value innovation, research, and a patient‑first approach.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to elevate your career and help transform frailty care, we want to hear from you. Join us and be part of a team that truly makes a difference every day.

Qualifications

• Degree in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC registration
• Clinical Educators Certificate or equivalent/experience
• MSc in relevant health studies or equivalent qualification/experience

Experience

• Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence based practise in relevant health setting
• Awareness of own strengths and limitations
• Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
• Experience of leadership of a team including change management
• Evidence of effective working within an MDT
• Experience of Service development
• Demonstrate experience of problem solving approaches
• Audit and research in a clinical area
• Demonstrates continuous Professional Development

Skills

• Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
• Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
• Have a flexible approach to working with good time management

Other

• Ability to travel various hospital locations by own car/ assisted driver

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward‑thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under‑represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [e-mail]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision‑making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

eVisa Update

For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.

Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.

Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

• Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non‑smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here .

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Senthil Kuppuswamy Job title Operational Manager and OT Professional Lead Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07423747961