Senior Occupational Therapist - Forston Clinic | Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£39,959 - £48,117 p.a.
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Charlton Down, DT2 9TB
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	8 Oct 2026
Closing date:	7 Nov 2026

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Summary

An exciting opportunity for an Occupational Therapist to work within the West Dorset Therapies Team at Forston Clinic. You will have the opportunity to practice a diverse range of functional assessments, devising creative and meaningful goal orientated interventions both on the ward and in the community, using outcome measures to monitor progress. You will work closely with community resources, offering social prescribing and linking patients into third sector organisations to support with the transition of discharge. Your work will aim to encourage engagement in meaningful and purposeful occupation with people whose lives have been affected by occupational disruption as a result of mental illness.

You will receive regular supervision from the Therapies Team Lead and be connected to a peer support network. Ongoing learning and development and regular CPD opportunities will be made available to you.

Your work will aim to encourage engagement in meaningful and purposeful occupation, with people whose lives have been affected by occupational disruption as a result of mental illness.

You will be required to provide a high-quality person-centred approach to care delivery that always considers people’s safety, privacy and dignity and to deliver person-centred interventions that support patients with their transition back into the community.

Working closely with the wider MDT will be essential to delivering a holistic, meaningful and purposeful level of Occupational Therapy which supports patients on the ward as well as with their transition into the community. Other duties will include liaising with external services, communicating with family members and providing discharge reports for recommendations of ongoing care and support.

You will be involved in the leadership within the Therapies Team, providing a supportive and professional model for junior staff, and sharing your knowledge for teaching proposes.

This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in service and quality improvement projects, as well as supporting the development of junior staff.

As a condition of your employment, you will be required to undertake and pass all aspects of a Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression course.

At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here – it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you’re looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to create healthier lives, empowered citizens and thriving communities.

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate’s individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.

All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contactdhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net.

This advert closes on Thursday 22 Oct 2026

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