Specialist Occupational Therapist (ICRAS) - Urgent Care

Transformationunitgm; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Liverpool is seeking a Specialist Occupational Therapist to join its ICRAS team. The role focuses on providing therapy in urgent care and requires strong patient management skills and the ability to work within a multidisciplinary team. Applicants must be registered Occupational Therapists with a degree in Occupational Therapy and have a passion for community-based rehabilitation. Flexible working is offered, and the position aims to enhance patient care and support early discharge from hospitals.

Qualifications

• Experience working with diverse patient groups.
• Ability to develop individualized treatment plans.
• Strong leadership and mentorship abilities.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of patients effectively.
• Participate in planning and development of OT services.
• Undertake assessments and devise treatment plans.

Skills

Knowledge of current best practice in Occupational Therapy

Effective communication skills

Ability to conduct assessments

Education

Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy

Registered with Health Professions Council

Job description

Specialist Occupational Therapist (ICRAS) - Urgent Care

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under‑represented in our workforce, reservists and ex‑armed forces personnel. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Job overview

ICRAS (Integrated Reablement and Assessment Service) is a supportive multidisciplinary service providing a rapid responsive approach to support admission avoidance and early hospital discharges and reablement.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and proactive Occupational Therapist to join our multidisciplinary teams across Liverpool and South Sefton. If you are motivated, with a passion to work within urgent care therapy to develop your clinical knowledge and experience within community care division we are looking for you and would love you to join our supportive team.

ICRAS Therapy teams work to support patients in their own homes, we provide an urgent care response service to prevent hospital admissions and facilitate early discharge and provide short‑term rehabilitation, and reablement services through delivery in our hub beds and within patients' own homes.

Access to a vehicle is required for this role – the post holder must be able to travel between multiple sites in the Liverpool/South Sefton catchment area. Reasonable adjustments will be made for applicants who are unable to meet the criteria due to a disability. The access to work scheme may be able to support applicants.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will be expected to effectively manage a caseload of patients' comorbidities as an autonomous practitioner, using evidence‑based, patient‑centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions of the patient group.
• The post holder will provide leadership for junior staff, when appropriate, through supervision and appraisal.
• The post holder will participate in planning, development and evaluation of OT services within a designated area/team, holding responsibility for defined projects.
• The post holder takes a holistic approach in the assessment and treatment of service users/patients, being responsible for the provision of appropriate, high‑quality care to a defined caseload which may be of a complex nature.
• Work in partnership with other professionals to enable patients/clients to be maintained in an appropriate environment, thus avoiding hospital admission.
• Contribute to the maintenance and development of the Occupational Therapy profession within ICRAS and facilitate effective learning within the area of practice for all students and practitioners.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Undertake comprehensive holistic assessments and devise treatment plans individualized to patient needs, reviewing and adapting during patient journey from initial assessment through to discharge.
• Gain consent through engaging patients/clients through their therapy journey, enabling them to experience choice and as part of their recovery.
• Prioritise designated OT referrals according to need, risk and service capacity.
• Plan and implement patient‑centred individual and/or group interventions, using graded activity to achieve therapeutic goals including sensory integration difficulties within ward/rehab hub setting.
• Monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to measure progress and ensure effectiveness of intervention.
• Apply a high level of understanding of the effect of disability and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the patient’s social and physical environment.
• Provide clinical advice, expertise and leadership within your team.
• Monitor and offer professional advice and leadership to all team members with regards to their caseloads and working practices.
• Ensure that the service users care plan is developed to meet the assessed need of the individual. Monitor, via performance management, the care plans developed for service users by all sector members to ensure that they are appropriate and of a high standard.
• Liaise with family members, carers, GP’s and other professionals as necessary when completing the assessment and developing a care plan.
• Be a point of contact for service users and carers that have concerns regarding their care, making every effort to resolve their concerns sensitively and promptly, referring to and informing the Team Manager as necessary.
• Develop a risk management plan for service users under your care, taking note of the contributions from other members of the team. Ensure that all significant people are aware of the risk management plan and are actioning it appropriately. Understanding risk assessment, being able to assess risk and complete management plans.
• Lead the systematic monitoring and evaluation of service users under the care of the sector you have responsibility for.
• Monitor and ensure high standards relating to planning and delivery of Occupational Therapy activities and comply with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, contributing to good health and the importance of promoting these in line with organisational public health policy.
• Monitor the provision of a range of therapeutic activities for service users by supervision of sector members’ caseloads and via audit.
• Use skills gained through training and experience to de‑escalate situations where service users become physically or verbally aggressive. Use your judgement, gained from experience, to establish if a service user requires assessment by a medic or possibly hospital admission.
• Use skills gained through experience to deal with service users who become anxious, hostile or distressed.
• Ensure all sector members get appropriate support following violent incidents and liaise with the Team Manager to ensure any identified actions arising from such incidents are implemented.
• Participate in and/or lead service user reviews ensuring that service user needs are met and that the team has all the relevant information on which to base their clinical decisions.
• Develop care plans that enable service users to reach and maintain their optimum level of health and independence to help them to remain in the community in their chosen setting or return to this on discharge.
• Demonstrate an understanding of Capacity and Mental Capacity Act.
• Please see attached Job Description for full list of responsibilities and duties.

Person specification

Skills

• Up‑to‑date knowledge and application of current best practice in OT relevant area of practice
• Application of OT outcome measures and models of practice
• Application of the process of standard setting, audit, evaluation and review
• Sound knowledge of core OT skills and their application in this field
• Effective communication with service users within the specific client group
• Good listening skills
• Knowledge of Health Profession Council standards of proficiency and OT responsibility to identify gaps in knowledge base
• Knowledge of mentorship and supervision concepts
• Evidence of active participation in supervision and the appraisal process
• Experience of group/individual interventions with the specific client group
• Collaboration with MDT and service users/carers
• Apply and promote OT skills, including carrying out occupational assessments, setting clear goals and facilitating meaningful activities
• Apply person‑centred approaches
• Reflect on own and others’ practice
• Excellent communication skills, able to motivate and support other staff
• Ability to facilitate presentations
• Self‑management and motivation skills
• IT literate
• Ability to travel across boundaries
• Awareness of factors contributing to good health and promoting this in line with organisational public health policy
• Understanding of partnership working
• Awareness of local agenda in health and social care
• Leadership skills to initiate, monitor and implement change and participate in OT service development
• Apply professional skills to enable MDT working partnerships and liaise with external agencies

Values

• Accountability
• Support
• Responsive to service users
• Engaging leadership style
• Transparency and honesty
• Discreet
• Change‑oriented

Knowledge / Experience

• Experience of OT functional assessment including activity analysis
• Successful team working experience
• Liaison with facilitating internal and external services and agencies
• Knowledge of OT process including activity and task analysis and intervention planning grounded in clinical reasoning
• General knowledge of clinical governance principles
• Understanding of clinical and environmental risk assessment
• Evidence of CDP/short courses
• Experience of service development audit and research practice relevant to clinical area
• Experience of planning and facilitating therapeutic groups for patients/clients
• Experience of service development
• Experience of clinical audit and/or research
• Familiarity with electronic patient records
• Management and clinical leadership
• Basic understanding of relevant legislation including the Mental Capacity Act

Qualifications

• Registered Occupational Therapist with the Health Professions Council
• Diploma / Degree in Occupational Therapy
• Teaching / Mentorship post‑qualification or equivalent work‑based experience
• Enhanced DBS Disclosure
• Membership of professional body
• Evidence of post‑registration study in a field relevant to the role

Further information

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles. The role will close on 09/02/2026 23:59. Applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria will be shortlisted for interview. Please ensure you check the email address used for the application as all correspondence will be communicated from that account.