Barnet Community Occupational Therapist Team LeadNHS

Job summary

The Community Occupational Therapists provide assessment and treatment programmes to clients living in the borough of Barnet. They provide both Specialist Therapy assessments to clients and offer needs lead individual occupational therapy, they are also responsible for delivering groups in partnership with community teams.

Clients can present with acute or enduring mental health symptoms, and often have other coexisting diagnoses which may include a range of physical diagnoses. Some clients have required hospital admission and may need skilled support in integrating back in the community, a key role of the community OTs.

The therapy role within the team often involves functional assessments and providing professional advice which actively informs the teams risk assessments and future planning with the service users. The team works collaboratively with the wards' Multi-Disciplinary Teams.

The Occupational Therapy Team Lead provides a professional leadership overseeing the Occupational Therapy pathway in the community core hubs in order to ensure that OT's work in partnership with other disciplines and voluntary sector organisations to provide an integrated Occupational Therapy service to service users living in the community.

Main duties of the job

• To lead the Occupational Therapy services across the Barnet Mental Health Teams
• To hold a clinical occupational therapy case load within a designated team and complex case support from all core teams.
• To be a team lead, offering advise and consultation regarding occupational therapy and clinical needs of service users
• To supervise and support professional developemnt of staff and students
• To be an active member of the AHP community across the Community Care Group and wider Trust
• To work with the borough and care group leadership for service development

Job description

• Manage a specialist and complex caseload of service users with severe and enduring mental illness, including those with physical health comorbidities and complex psychosocial needs.
• Conduct comprehensive occupational therapy assessments, identifying functional needs, risks, and goals.
• Plan, implement, and evaluate evidence-based, person-centred interventions aimed at promoting recovery, independence, and wellbeing.
• Deliver both individual and group interventions, using graded activity and therapeutic approaches to achieve meaningful outcomes.
• Monitor, review, and adapt care plans to ensure interventions remain effective, safe, and responsive to changing needs.
• Support service users to navigate and access appropriate services, including primary care, community mental health teams, and specialist services.
• Apply advanced clinical reasoning to support managed risk-taking, enabling individuals to engage in meaningful occupations safely.
• Promote a recovery-oriented and trauma-informed approach, recognising the impact of trauma, inequality, and social determinants on mental health.

This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.

About us

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

• We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
• With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
• We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
• We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.

Why NLFT?

• We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
• We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
• NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
• Excellent internal staff network

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.