Occupational Therapist - Surrey Prisons


Company:	NHS Jobs
Salary:	£45,953 to £54,254 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Surrey, SM2 5PJ
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	23 Oct 2026
Closing date:	31 Oct 2026

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Summary

Clinical To providespecialist OT clinical knowledge in theassessment,treatment & evaluation of people within prison. Applying anunderstanding of the effects of multiple,enduring & complex mental health needs onoccupational performance. To carry out mental health & risk assessment, for a caseload of service users & offer regular monitoring of mental state. To work autonomously providing clinical professional judgement in clinical cases & referring to team members when necessary. To contribute in the development of specialist individual & group programmes, supporting service users in achieving valued goals & satisfactory occupational performance outcome. Providing advice & support on lifestyle changes &d adaptations where necessary. To select & use validated, evidence based standardised assessment tools (Occupational Therapy assessment, screening tools, sensory profiles etc) routinely &, exhibit, advanced clinical reasoning skills. To monitor & evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions & the agreed mental health interventions against clear aims. To facilitate smooth transitions for service users between prisons & different service settings (i.e. prison to community). Establishing links & working in collaboration with partner agencies in order to contribute & manage aspects of an individuals care plan. To support service users & colleagues in ensuring care plans are developed in partnership with service users & that they reflect personal recovery goals. These should be strengths-based & oriented towards reinforcing a positive identity and developing valued social roles. To provide carewhich is culturallyappropriate & sensitive,demonstrates trauma awareness & recognises the needs of the individual with regards to accessibility To proactively undertake & ensure rigorous risk assessment & risk management strategies are applied. To ensure maximum risk tolerance facilitates the individuals recovery, in line with risk policies & local guidelines. To be aware of & sensitive to safeguarding needs at all times, & knowledgeable both about potential indicators of abuse or neglect & about what to do if they had concerns about apersons welfare. To facilitate the development of, & to work within, clinical pathways & protocols with particular reference to the CNWL Occupational Therapy care pathways & the Health and Justice OT pathway. To be aware of medication issues in line with the CNWL OT Medication Management guidelines To provide specialist OT input into the Neurodiverse pathway, working alongside CNWL colleagues & HMPPS Neurodiverse Service Manager for each site. Communication Todemonstrate excellent communication skills with service users, forming positive therapeutic relationships, using warmth & empathy, enabling service user empowerment. To develop & maintaineffective professional communication structures withother professionals & agencies in order to ensure a comprehensive & consistent approach to client care. To provide & receive highly complex, sensitive, condition related or distressing/unwelcome information to service users and carersdemonstratingempathy and reassurance. To ensure careful & efficient forms of communication skills when assessing & managing risk procedures within & beyond the prison service, inlinewith confidentiality agreements. To demonstrateskills and resourcefulness in communication when barriers to understanding are present. To promote the role of OT within services;representingan OT clinical perspective in all clinical meetings To participatein OT, multi-disciplinary, clinical and business meetings To ensure timely response to emails & requests for information. To work in close co-operation with OT colleagues within the Trust contributing to relevant OT business/training meetings, both locally & trust-wide. To provide feedback, to OT & MDT colleagues, from specialist interest groups & committees. Documentation To ensure that up to date,accurate,concise & informative records are written & maintained in the service users notes, on Prison & health care systems (CNOMIS and System One). To attend & actively participatein relevant meetings,conferences & events, relating topatients health & care programmes. To maintainaccurate supervision records (junior staff & students) as defined in the Trust OT Guidelines, including the maintenance of a supervision record log. ManagementAndLeadership To provide input into the recruitment of staff whereappropriate. To contribute to the writing of local protocols with regard tospecialist OT knowledge. To participate in OT & department specific training packages to promote awareness & understanding of health wellbeing within a prison population. Personal and Professional Development To keep abreast of changing clinical practice, new developments,evidence based practice & research To contribute to activities, which continue to build on a culture of shared learning & evidence basedpractice To undertake activities of Continuous Professional Development including identifying own learning needs & recording learning outcomes in a portfolio. To assume personal responsibility for maintaininga working knowledge of new statutory guidelines that influence clinical practice. To maintain a professional knowledge base & act as a resource to others regardingspecialist areas of expertise i.e. occupational therapy, perinatal mental health conditions, parent infant interaction, child development, parenting skills assessment, health promotion,recovery & social inclusion. Supervision and Appraisal To review & reflect on own practice & performance; & that of others, through effective use of supervision, reflective practice, operational management supervision, CPD & appraisal To participatein the Trusts supervision and appraisal systems in conjunction with service managers/Head Occupational Therapist, ensuring that relevant training needs areidentifiedand met throughtimelyaccess/delivery. To ensure a robust framework for the provision of regular and qualitative supervision and appraisal for students, junior staff, volunteers & sessional workers as required. To offer learning and development opportunities to other professionals with regard tooccupation within perinatal mental health, and other OT specialist skills To be an educator for OT students on practice placement, in line with local guidelines, ensuring that practice placement educators facilitateplacements for the required number of weeks as per the AHP fair share agreement. To contribute to effective peer supervision if relevant To ensure timelybooking and attendance of mandatory and statutory training. Failure to do this mayprecludefurther learning and development opportunities. To contribute to multi-disciplinary training initiatives Clinical Governance To be knowledgeable about best practise for safeguarding, with support of supervision and the directorate Safegaurdinglead and support forums To apply national and Trust wide guidelines/standards of practice in line with Trust and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists standards and guidelines To work as an autonomous practitioner, assuming accountability for own clinical practice To maintainand observe confidentiality of all information relating to service users as laid down in the confidentiality and Caldecott principles. To ensure compliance with relevant guidelines and policies e.g. safety and risk, DOLS, care act, Mental Health Act etc. Service Development and Delivery To contribute, as part of the MDT to new initiatives and service development To ensure comprehensive knowledge of the services KPIs, quality and performance initiatives; ensuringtimelyresponse and contribution of the OT Service provision. To ensure comprehensive knowledge of the Trust Recovery agenda e.g. Recovery and Wellbeing College To contribute to defined projects as directed by the Health and Justice Lead Occupational Therapist To contribute to and participate, as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, to the operational design and delivery of quality improvement initiatives within the service To autonomously maintaina working knowledge of new statutory guidelines, particularly those relating to perinatal mental health To take an active role in seeking user, carerandstakeholdersfeedback to help shape and influence the further development of the services. Research AndDevelopment To participate in local & Trust-wide OT service activities that promote & contribute to the building of knowledge & evidence base for the benefit of the professional body of occupational therapy. To include making use of the support networks available throughout the Trust e.g. Special Interest Groups, forums andsub groups; & MDT team training sessions To undertake, participate in &disseminate research & audit activities in line with local service priorities. To participate in & implement service activities related to clinical effectiveness via evaluation, audit, research & evidence basedpractice; ensuring active participation of the OT Team in such activities. To take a lead, within the MDT, in promoting a culture that focuses on all service users occupational needs, recovery principles & social inclusion Professional Ethics To adhere to the HCPC & RCOT Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct, demonstratingprofessional competence and fitness to practice To maintainknowledge of legislation that affects clinical practice within prison health care such as MHA Act, Emotional Effort To provide care for service users whomaybe comedistressed or present with challenging behaviour. To use available resources & protected spaces to support own wellbeing. Work Conditions To have the ability to work within an environment that may expose individuals to verbal & physical abuse.

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