Clinical Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist

The closing date is 27 September 2026

We are excited to announce that we have an opportunity for a dynamic and enthusiastic band 8a occupational therapist to join the Evelina REACH service as clinical lead on a temporary contract.

This OT led service provides evidence-based rehabilitation for children and young people aged between 3 months and 16 years with, or at risk of, hemiplegia. The service is protocolised to deliver activity based Upper Limb rehabilitation.

The post holder will also co-lead the Stroke ABI recovery service, alongside neuropsychology. This service provides holistic consultation and advice to children and young people who have had a stroke.

We are open to applicants who would prefer part-time working patterns.

There is the potential for the post to be extended but only at 0.5wte.

Main duties of the job

This role involves providing specialist out-patient assessment and intervention for children and young people, working inpartnership with families and community colleagues.

The post holder will have operational oversight and responsibility for delivery of OT assessments and interventions in this tertiary level service. They will provide clinical leadership to the team and will support the development of the band 7 and band 6 Occupational therapists as well as the Advanced Occupational Therapy assistant in this service.

The post holder is responsible for clinical governance and assurance including, but not limited to, the management of clinical risk and patient safety, compliance with mandatory training, clinical and professional standards. Reporting to the Head for Paediatric Occupational Therapy and ultimately the Head Occupational Therapist for the Trust, this position leads workforce planning, training and development, with oversight of job plans and has responsibility for delivering governance and operational performance.

About us

This post requires applicants to have excellent verbal and written communication skills, as collaborative working with families and community colleagues is essential.

The post holder will need to have substantial experience of working with these populations of children, as you will need to be adaptable to meet the child's individual rehabilitation needs as well as lead the service.You will need to be flexible and adaptable in order to support the team within a busy tertiary service.

You will be energetic, keen to critically appraise literature in the field of occupational therapy and deliver evidence-based practice as part of a service that encourages reflective practice.

This post sits within the Paediatric occupational therapy service at Evelina London Children's Hospital.

You will be supervised and operationally managed by the clinical lead in paediatric occupational therapy and professionally managed by the Trust Head OT.

Job responsibilities

You will be experienced in setting client-centred rehabilitation goals and will offer a family-centred service. This role requires close liaison andworking in partnership with community therapy services and/or other appropriate agencies.

You will support children to work towards meaningful goals focusing on functional skills and independence in areas of self-care, school/work andleisure/play, alongside their families and local teams.

You will need to have experience of delivering evidence based Upper Limb rehabilitation approaches.

You will be responsible for supporting the development of knowledge and skills in this area and will contribute to service development alongside the team.

There is the potential to participate in departmental audits or research projects. There is also the opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills through participation in team and hospital wide continuing professional development programmes, supervision of junior staff members and students, appraisal, in-service training and joint working.

Person Specification

Education

• Occupational Therapy Degree or equivalent qualification
• Evidence of post graduate education in relevant clinical area.
• Has achieved or is working towards Masters degree or showing capacity to work at Masters degree level
• Leadership training/qualification

Previous Experience

• Experience of delivering goal-directed upper limb assessment and activity-based intervention approaches
• Highly developed specialist knowledge of patient group with knowledge of cerebral palsy (all classifications of GMFCS & MACS), acquired brain injuries, orthopaedic conditions, trauma and developmental disabilities.
• Experience in management and development of operational policies
• Previous experience as head/lead of department/service.

Additional Skills

• Adherence to College of Occupational Therapy and HCPC guidelines and codes of ethics and professional conduct.

Knowledge and skills

• Specialist knowledge of the evidence-base for rehabilitation of children with asymmetric motor presentation e.g. hemiplegia/unilateral cerebral palsy
• Advanced clinical practice skills with outstanding clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work autonomously, acting decisively on behalf of self and others and setting own priorities when dealing with complex and sensitive situations.
• Exceptional team building skills to manage and develop individual and team performance.
• Ability to design or manufacture paediatric neuro-splints or mechanical devices for the upper limb and the implementation of advanced treatment techniques for development of functional skills.
• Membership of specialist organisations

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.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

£66,274 to £73,496 a yearp.a inc HCA (pro rata)

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