Occupational Therapist

Job summary

Up to 37.5 hours per week.

A number of fixed-term opportunities are now available for experienced Occupational Therapists, full time and part time, to join our Community Therapy Teams across the city.

Bring your diverse clinical skills to a service that delivers holistic, person centred, multidisciplinary care, supporting people to stay independent and live well at home.

You'll play a key role in:

• Supporting safe, timely discharge from hospital
• Maximising independence and preventing avoidable admissions
• Working collaboratively within a strong multidisciplinary team
• Contributing to the Livewell Referral and Support Service, which triages and prioritises Community Therapy referrals for Plymouth

You'll be joining a forward thinking service, that is undergoing transformation where your ideas are welcomed, your development is supported and your work has a direct impact on peoples lives. If you're enthusiastic, compassionate, and ready for a role that's both rewarding and varied, we'd be delighted to hear from you.

Closing date for applications is 29th June 2026, with interviews being held in person on 13th July 2026 at Plympton Clinic.

Main duties of the job

Please see the attached Band 6 Occupational Therapist job description for a full list of duties and other responsibilities.

This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route; please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.

Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline if a high number of applications are submitted. Therefore, we recommend you submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values,kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve.

We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.

We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.

Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibility for People Management.

To take responsibility for all aspects of service delivery, including providing leadership to Occupational Therapy/support staff, providing cover for staff who are absent and deputising in the team leads absence.

Deputising in the absence of the Registered manager/Team Lead can include operational/leadership duties such as supporting triage, waiting list management, attending meetings and delegation of work to Occupational Therapist/support staff.

To take a flexible approach to supporting colleagues in times of caseload pressure, including working with colleagues to maintain clinical cover across the team within the resources available.

To co-ordinate the day-to-day activities of Occupational Therapist/support staff and admin staff where applicable.

To regularly supervise and line manage both workload and caseload of Occupational Therapist/support staff, undertaking and recording line management meetings and appraisals, supporting the attainment of competencies, knowledge and achieving objectives set out in their personal development plan.

To take responsibility and assist the team lead with the recruitment process of Occupational Therapy/support staff e.g. taking part in interview panels, induction process and engaging with preceptorship programmes.

To support Occupational Therapist/support staff and other Livewell SW health and social care professionals, to develop their knowledge, experience, providing advice, guidance, and signposting where appropriate.

To regularly provide learning opportunities to Occupational Therapy staff and colleagues. This includes facilitating and providing instruction, training to supporting their development, attainment of skills, and ability to reflect on professional and ethical issues.

To attend student educator training and regularly supervise OT students on practice placement, in line with Livewell SWs Placement Guidance for Non-Medical Undergraduate Learners and Students policy.

To support colleagues as a practice supervisor or supporting those completing the Preceptorship Programme, including acting as a Preceptor in line with Livewell SWs Preceptorship Guidance document.

To participate in providing instruction, learning opportunities, experience and training to health and social care staff and students, including those from other Livewell services, professional disciplines and colleagues as agreed with Team Lead.

To plan, organise and lead when delegated, both formal and informal interventions and health education groups for both service users and formal/informal carers.

To educate service users and both formal/informal carers regarding the impact of cognitive, perceptual, and physical deficits that affect service user safety and independence in the hospital and home, leisure, and workplace.

To support team lead with complaint management and responses, assisting with addressing and resolving complaints.

Responsibility for financial and/or physical resources.

On the rare occasion you may handle service users valuables as part of a home visitor community assessment, that you follow Livewell SWs policy Cash & Cheque Handling Procedures, section 6 Patient Money, section 7 Patient Travel

To assess, prescribe and authorise both general and specialist aids and adaptive equipment in line with the organisations and the Community Equipment Services policy and procedures.

To make recommendations for minor adaptations to increase / enable or compensate for independent function, teaching compensatory techniques as required.

To assess seating and positioning needs and treat as appropriate including assessment for and prescription of standard wheelchairs and accessories when accredited referring on to the wheelchair services as required for assessment of complex and specialist mobility and seating needs.

To assess for splinting and positioning to prevent, treat and manage deformity and improve function for the upper limb, fabricating splints which may be complex in nature.

To ensure all equipment and relevant clinical stock is accounted for, maintained, used effectively and efficiently with risk assessments and appropriate training completed.

To ensure new or replacement equipment is not used by self or staff until it has been commissioned in accordance with Livewell SW policy. Defective equipment is reported and made safe without delay in accordance with Livewell SW procedures.

To utilise Livewell SW resources responsibly, following policy and guidance around the security, useability, decontamination, and maintenance of assessment equipment utilised in the clinical setting.

Authorise spend on services within operational and financial limits as designated by role and banding.

To take responsibility for ensuring solutions are at all times cost effective and to work within financial delegated limits.

To have a working knowledge of statutory and non-statutory funding and the legislation/guidance that underpins these funding streams, ensuring service users meet the eligibility criteria when advocating for/ utilising services on the service users behalf (e.g. Care Act eligibility, Housing legislation etc)

To assess the need for short/long term care placements or care packages for service users where required; factoring in the use of equipment, optimised care techniques or compensatory methods that safely meet the service users care needs whilst aiming to preserve health and social care budgets wherever possible.

Responsibility for administration.

To maintain high professional standards and conduct at all times, complying with the Standards of Practice stipulated in the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy practice, conduct and ethics and all of HCPC standards and regulations.

To follow Livewell uniform policy at all times and to present in a professional manner.

To exercise good personal time management, punctuality and consistent reliable attendance.

To comply with the Lone Working Policy and procedures, utilising safety devices and/or apps, and always informing the department of your whereabouts during work hours. To manage often competing clinical and non-clinical demands, prioritising the day-to-day management of own caseload and that of the team, delegating activities as appropriate.

To work as an autonomous practitioner, independently organising, planning, and diarising a designated caseload to meet service priorities, readjusting plans as situations change and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.

To manage a caseload of service users with complex needs, applying logical professional rationale that is based upon evidence based / person-centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions.

To ensure use of risk assessment in all areas of your work are undertaken and comply with Livewell SW Health and Safety policies and Lone Working Policy.

To maintain up to date, accurate and complete records of all activity and clinical input (all formats of service user contacts, MDT care plans, assessments, reports), ensuring confidentiality at all times, complying with Livewell SW Health & Corporate Records policy and HCPC requirements for thorough and sufficient records.

To provide written communication to outside agencies and charitable bodies to support the need for services and equipment on discharge from the service.

To be responsible for the timely discharge of people from your caseload.

To utilise and complete applicable outcome measures in your service and offer service user feedback mechanisms when facilitating the discharge of service users from Livewell SW services.

To actively engage in caseload supervision with line manager, taking responsibility for ensuring own personal and professional development and statutory training demonstrating the ability to apply increasingly complex skills / knowledge as defined by identified competencies.

To submit completed travel expenses in line with Livewell SWs Travel and Subsistence Expense Claims policy.

To ensure all leave is requested in line with Livewell SW policy.

To report accidents, incidents, complaints, or faulty equipment in line with Livewell SW policy and procedures.

Please see the attached Band 6 Occupational Therapist job description for a full list of duties and other responsibilities.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• • Working as a member of an MDT with the ability to work flexibly.
• • Extensive clinical experience in health and/or social care OT treatment planning.
• • Documented evidence of CPD.
• • Advanced post registration experience in a health and social care setting.
• • Multi pathology assessment Home and community assessments.
• • Effective caseload management and discharge planning.
• • Management, leadership and supervisory skills.

Desirable

• • Experience of working with staff from other agencies.
• • Experience of supervision of junior staff and/or assistants.
• • Orthotics and splinting including fabrication of thermoplastic splints.
• • Risk assessment in a variety of settings.
• • Assessment for standard prescription wheelchairs, static seating and pressure care.
• • Assessment of posture and positioning.
• • Managing service development projects.
• • Working in and facilitation of groups.
• • Innovative.
• • Leadership qualities.

Additional Requirements

Essential

• • Willingness to work flexibly and to work across range of community and inpatient settings.
• • Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.

Knowledge

Essential

• • Application of OT process within a variety of clinical settings.
• • Knowledge of OT models of practice.
• • Understanding of OT outcome measures.
• • Working knowledge of health and social care legislation and its use in current practice.
• • Working knowledge of the principles of clinical governance and its application to practice.
• • Presentation and training skills.
• • Application of health and safety and risk management policies including dynamic risk assessment.
• • Detailed knowledge of a range of standardised/non-standardised assessment.
• • Detailed knowledge of varied intervention media.
• • Knowledge of clinical conditions relevant to area of practice.

Desirable

• • Applying research to practice.
• • Knowledge of NSFs Professional and Government agenda.
• • Knowledge of Environmental Control Systems.

Specific Skills

Essential

• • Ability to work autonomously and set own priorities.
• • Ability to analyse professional and ethical issues.
• • Supervisory and appraisal skills.
• • Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance.
• • Ability to organise and respond efficiently to complex information.
• • Skills in clinical assessment, intervention and evaluation.
• • Excellent communication skills.
• • Ability to work flexibly.
• • Ability to work under pressure.
• • Ability to be creative and transpose established treatment methods into a home rehab setting.
• • Ability to work in teams.
• • Knowledge and use of complex manual handling techniques and strategies including manual handling plans and risk assessments.
• • Knowledge of major adaptations and management through the DFG process.
• • Leading in-service training and education workshops.

Qualifications

Essential

• • Diploma / degree in Occupational Therapy.
• • HCPC Registration.
• • Evidence of on-going education and professional development.
• • Computer literate.
• • Recognised qualification in written and spoken English if this is not first language Clinical Educator.
• • Evidence of post graduate training / ongoing professional development through formal/informal short courses.
• • Wheelchair Accreditation.

Desirable

• • Recognised first-line management/leadership qualification.
• • Membership of relevant special interest groups.
• • ECDL or equivalent.
• • Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.
• • Basic Food Hygiene training.

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

Livewell Southwest

Address

200 Mount Gould Road

Mount Gould

Plymouth

Devon

PL4 7PY

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.livewellsouthwest.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

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