Occupational Therapist

Occupational Therapist
Closing date: 11 August 2026

Date posted: 28 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £45,953 - £54,254 a year per annum inclusive of Outer HCAS
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 334-CLI-8155325

Job summary
Are you looking for your first Band 6 post, or have transferable skills but no community experience? Do you want to use OT core skills regularly in your work? Then do consider coming to work with us in Croydon Community Mental Health services.

The Croydon Neighbourhood Teams cover working age adults aged 18-65 and a mixture of mental health conditions needing secondary care level community support.

The Occupational Therapist role is a core skills-based role. It carries a caseload of clients to which they provide OT assessment and bespoke OT therapeutic individual and group interventions. The OT works alongside Care Co-ordinators and other MDT practitioners to support needs led care planning (using Dialogue), and providing a comprehensive range of interventions to support recovery.

Each team has one OT but there is plenty of peer support and supervision to allow for career progression, skills development and professional support across the OT service.

The OTs also link with inpatient and HTT OT colleagues and liaise with external providers in the voluntary and social care sector to ensure smooth transition of service users into and out of the Community Service.

There is an established SLaM Croydon Community OT network and regular monthly Peer Group. OT supervision will also be provided to support the development of these roles. There is also the opportunity to link in with the wider OT network within SLaM and all it has to offer including regular training and CPD.

Main duties of the job
To provide Occupational Therapy specialist assessments and interventions to a caseload of service users through group and individual interventions. These need to be appropriate to the Service Users identified needs and risks. Service users may have a wide range of intervention needs including mental health, physical health, sensory and environmental and occupational needs.

Applicants need to have sound clinical skills and good organisational skills. To be able to prioritise and work with service users in both short and longer term timescales. They need to demonstrate excellent communication skills and be able to work effectively in a Multidisciplinary team and also engage with family and carers who are supporting the Service user.

The teams are busy so applicants need to demonstrate good clinical rational and decision making to ensure throughput and safe discharges from the OT caseload.

About us
Join Us During an Exciting Period of Change Croydon's Community Mental Health Services are entering an exciting new phase of development with the introduction of 5 Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams from September 2026. These services will deliver integrated, multidisciplinary and community-focused care, bringing together a range of professionals and partner organisations to improve access, experience and outcomes for local people. The successful candidate will play an important role in delivering this new model of care whilst benefiting from opportunities for service development and collaborative working across the wider system.

The Five Neighbourhood teams now include support workers, Individual Placement Support workers and Psychology Associate roles in addition to Medical, and Nursing roles. Peer support workers are being introduced into the teams.

All Neighbourhood teams are based at Jeanette Wallace House in Croydon which is easily accessed by public transport.

Job responsibilities
To manage a caseload of community clients with complex needs, using evidence based and client-centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate OT interventions in both community and home settings. Routinely provide recovery-based group interventions appropriate to the clients on the team caseload in collaboration with other professionals in the team.

Liaise with Croydon Social Services departments and other external agencies to facilitate clients access to activities and resources to support their physical disabilities, social support, occupational needs and discharge planning.

Work as part of the Multidisciplinary Team. Support Care Co-ordinators with appropriate work to contribute towards Care Act Assessment and CPA activities. Carry out some generic and risk assessments and undertake Team duty responsibilities.

Provide leadership, supervision and appraisal for OT students and junior OT staff and participate in the planning, development and evaluation of OT / MDT services, holding responsibility for defined projects and activities.

Qualifications
Essential

• Qualified Occupational Therapist
• HCPC Registered OT

Desirable

• Post registration qualification in related area
• OT Practice Placement Educators Course

Experience
Essential

• Post registration experience working as an OT at Band 5
• Work with Mental Health Service users
• Experience of implementing group and individual interventions
• Experience of supervising staff or students

Desirable

• Experience of working with challenging behaviours
• Experience of working in inner city multicultural environments
• Experience working as part of an MDT

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• High Level understanding of Mental health disorders and treatment models
• Specialist knowledge of OT interventions and assessments
• Knowledge of risk assessment and management (mental Health and activity)
• Comprehensive written and verbal communication skills (demonstrating the ability to disseminate assessment findings clearly and professionally.)
• Ability to organise and respond efficiently to complex information
• Commitment to collaborative working and service user involvement
• IT and Computer Literate
• Ability to manage own workload and determine / set own priorities
• Commitment to lifelong learning and continuing professional development
• Supervisory / appraisal skills

Desirable

• Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance.
• Commitment to OT student education
• Skills in applying evidence-based practice and use of outcome measures.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Jeanette Wallace House., Edridge Road, Croydon, CR0 1FE
Employer's website: Apply through our website

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Croydon Community Specialist Band 7 OT
Ruth Looby
ruth.looby@slam.nhs.uk
07596892234