Occupational Therapist - Milton Keynes (Band 5) - Mental Health Inpatients and Forensic service[...]

Main area Mental Health Inpatients and Forensic services Grade Band 5 Contract Fixed term: 9 months (maternity cover until April 2026; can be offered as a secondment opportunity) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 267-FS7079894-2A

Site Marlborough House Town Milton Keynes Salary £29,970 - £36,483 plus an RSU allowance of £1,446 per annum | pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 27/04/2025 23:59

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.

We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.

We actively support anti-racism, equality, diversity, and inclusion so, if you’re excited about this job opportunity and you meet our Trust values, but feel unsure about applying, then please get in touch and we will be happy to have a conversation with you.

We are also committed to increasing diversity in the workforce, that is why we actively encourage applications from those groups of people who are currently under-represented, which include amongst others: people with disabilities; men from all socio-economic backgrounds; people from diverse ethnic backgrounds; and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.

Good luck and we hope to hear from you.

Job overview

This role includes an RSU allowance of £1,446 per annum on top of your salary.

We're recruiting for anOccupational Therapist at Marlborough House in Milton Keynes, a 28-bedded male medium secure forensic unit. The unit comprises of 2 wards, an acute assessment ward and a rehabilitation-focused ward. We are an innovative service, developing and strengthening our provision to include a wide spectrum of interventions including sensory assessments, vocational opportunities, and links with the Recovery College.

You'll provide evidence-based, client-centred interventions, manage a varied caseload, and lead junior staff. You'll also play a key role in a multidisciplinary team, shaping service development while supporting recovery-focused care.

We are committed to developing a strong Occupational Therapy workforce and supporting your career progression at Oxford Health. If you're ready to take the next step in your career and make a lasting impact, apply today!

Please note, this is a fixed term contract until April 2026 to cover maternity leave. In order to apply for this role you must have completed your degree and obtained HCPC registration. If you are a student due to complete later this year, we would encourage you visit our careers page for more suitable opportunities.

Main duties of the job

• Manage a caseload, assessing patients needs and delivering a range of evidenced based Occupational Therapy interventions.
• Work as a member of the multidisciplinary team establishing effective relationships with colleagues to benefit the treatment of clients in each setting. This will include contributing to decision making about client care programmes.
• Provide and receive information (some of which may be complex or sensitive) and may require tact or negotiation and to be able to manage barriers to understanding.
• Communicate clearly the results of assessment, intervention and evaluation to referrers and others involved with clients.
• If this is your first qualified post, you will be supported to complete your preceptorship and development programme as part of our 'Flyer Programme'. There are exciting emerging opportunities for staff to participate in our new career framework going forward.

Please refer to the job description attached for a comprehensive list of duties

Working for our organisation

Oxford Health is a great place to work and to be able to showcase the best of yourself when making an application please read the “candidate guide to making an application” and ensure your supporting statement is tailored to the role you are applying for and addresses any essential criteria.

As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Northeast Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible. Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”

Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:

• Excellent opportunities for career progression
• Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
• 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
• NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
• Competitive pension scheme
• Lease car scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists apply)
• Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In all the band 5 posts you will be fully supported by a band 6 OT and the band 7 Clinical Lead OT, as well as the wider MDT.

We use the Model of Human Occupation as our professional framework and currently developing and strengthening our provision to include a wide spectrum of interventions including sensory assessments, MOHO assessments, vocational opportunities, links with the Recovery College, and more.

The Occupational Therapy service offers all band 5 Occupational Therapists a monthly CPD educational and peer support programme. These sessions cover a wide range of topics to ensure you access broader learning opportunities from current Occupational Therapy colleagues working within Oxford Health.

There are two wards within Marlborough House:

Watling Ward is an acute admissions ward that has 20 beds, with an Intensive Care Unit including a de-escalation lounge. Chaffron Ward accommodates up to 8 men who are progressing well in their recovery but still require medium secure services. Referrals are accepted from other adult or forensic services, prison or high secure hospitals.

We are proud of our Allied Health Professions community at Oxford Health. For more information on our work, please view our AHP Strategy here

Person specification

EDUCATION, QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING

• Professional registration with the Health Professions Council
• Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy

EXPERIENCE

• Experience of working in mental health as an Occupational Therapy student or other
• Relevant clinical experience from student placements including individual & group work
• Documented evidence of continuing professional development

SKILLS, ABILITIES & KNOWLEDGE

• Familiarity with practice standards and Code of Conduct of the College of Occupational Therapists & HPC standards
• Awareness and ability to promote diversity and equality of opportunity.
• Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and its application
• Ability to employ coping strategies and deal with emotional stress of working in mental health
• Ability to promote the role of occupational therapy
• Supervisory skills and/or appraisal skills

Other skills or experience

• Applicants must have a full valid driving license and have access to a vehicle for work. Adjustments can be considered in line with the Equality Act 2010 where required.
• All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
• Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
• We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.
• Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
• We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.
• We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• Oxford is a world-renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing.

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 Joanna Brooker Job title Lead Occupational Therapist Email address joanna.brooker@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk Telephone number 07780 485774 Additional information

At Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust we want to employ people not just with experience, but with the aptitude and motivation to succeed and whose values resonate with our own.

Therefore, if you don’t meet all the requirements of the role and are unsure about applying but are excited about the opportunity, please do get in touch. We will be happy to discuss the requirements in more detail ahead of making a written application.

If you are considering a career change and don’t know which role would be suitable for you, please visit the NHS careers website to discover which of our 350 roles might be right for you.

If you have any general queries about applying for roles, need any support completing your application, or an alternative method to apply or have a query regarding an upcoming event then please do contact us at careers@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk