Occupational Therapist: Sponsorship Available

Job summary

The post holder will work as part of the Occupational therapy team which are an integral part of a large health and wellbeing team at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. The team includes psychology and occupational therapy staff, speech and language therapist and substance misuse workers. The team contribute to the overall healthcare provision within the prison, working across the healthcare department to provide comprehensive OT input across the Inpatient ward, the Wellbeing Centre, neurodiversity unit and across the wider prison

The post holder will work within the mental health hub, a day service providing an Occupational therapy service to those with complex mental health problems, personality disorder, mood disorders, PTSD, trauma, and ADHD, as well as those on the autistic spectrum. The role will also have input to other elements of the healthcare services such as the inpatient unit, the in reach team and the health and wellbeing team.

Main duties of the job

1. To carry out standardised assessments, interventions and provide detailed feedback to the therapies and multidisciplinary teams about clients’ abilities, and also information about future plans and requirements for progress within a mixture of settings including but not limited to; the Wellbeing Centre, Neurodiversity landing , inpatient ward
2. To actively contribute to the multidisciplinary team’s risk assessment process and obtain agreement from the team before engaging service users in any activity that may require therapeutic risk taking.
3. To work in collaboration with other members of the multidisciplinary team to provide a coordinated care package.
4. To regularly review each service user’s progress in order to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment interventions and modify treatment plans accordingly.
5. To ensure that the OT package of care is being followed for all service users that postholder is responsible for including those of whom they supervise.
6. To work in accordance with professional guidelines issued by the College of Occupational Therapy which are relevant to the field of Forensic Psychiatry.
7. To be a self-directed practitioner, with effective time management skills, able to manage a varied caseload and demands around regular duties.
8. To pursue own continuous professional development and to record this through a CPD portfolio.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Dip. COT or BSc OT
• Registered with HCPC
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development

EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

Essential

• OT placement or post graduate clinical experience in forensics / mental health / prison settings
• Experience of group-work
• Experience of working in an MDT
• Experience of using electronic patient records
• Experience of carrying out functional assessments
• Experience of relating to people from a range of social and ethnic backgrounds
• Knowledge of developments in O.T. adult mental health, and prison settings
• Experience or knowledge of substance misuse and social issues
• An understanding of forensic issues
• Knowledge of O.T. models of practice, e.g. MOHO

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Essential

• Working knowledge of the occupational therapy process
• Ability to apply and develop core OT Skills
• Willing to contribute towards OT service development
• A demonstrated ability to understand clinical needs of the forensic / offender client group
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Maintains professional standards of communication
• Effective time management skills
• Ability to laterally think and problem solve.
• Good IT skills

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Essential

• Commitment to work as a proactive team member
• Empathy for people with mental health problems and passionate about service user involvement
• Aware of own limitations and needs and ability to seeks advice and support appropriately
• Ability to promote self and the service
• Professional manner
• Ability to tolerate busy and loud locked environments.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Essential

• Ability to be flexible and adaptable to manage fluctuating work demands.
• Effective use of supervision.
• Proactive use of continuous professional development opportunities
• An ability to articulate the role of Occupational Therapy role to those with limited previous experience of and understanding of the profession.
• Service user-centred approach.
• Resilience for working with those who express high levels of traumatic information and distress.

Closing Date: 31 August 2026