Occupational Therapist

Job summary

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Medway Community Healthcare. Nursing vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses.

The NHS is changing. More emphasis on community-based care means there's never been a better time to join us.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and adaptable Occupational Therapist to join our caring and progressive team.

We're a close team but we're never exclusive, if you can bring a professional approach and fresh ideas we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

Could you use your skills and experience to support the NHS to deliver great patient care? Great patient care needs great people to support clinical teams. That's where you come in.

We're always looking for enthusiastic, responsive, and adaptable people to join our outstanding trust. This role is an important one as you'll be using your knowledge, experience and expertise to provide support to our hard-working frontline NHS teams.

We put patients first and we expect all of our colleagues to do the same, so although NHS experience isn't a requirement for this role you'll need to share our passion for delivering excellent patient care and keep that passion at the forefront of your professional activity at all times.

The challenges come thick and fast in this role but you'll know that your input is contributing to the excellent experience our patients and service users have every day.

About us

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is due to integrate with Medway Community Healthcare on 1 October 2026. Following integration and to align our community services to the new Neighbourhood Model of care delivery, there will be a period of consultation which may result in changes affecting some services, teams or roles. Depending on the area you are applying to work in, this could include potential changes to your role, work base, reporting arrangements, or terms and conditions of employment. Any changes would be subject to consultation and managed sensitively and in line with relevant employment processes. Please do contact the recruiting manager if you have any concerns about this so they can answer any questions you might have.

Rated 'Outstanding' by CQC, we deliver high-quality care that improves the health of our communities. We are looking for people who share our values:Compassionate, Aspirational, Responsive and Excellent.

We are proud to be an inclusive, welcoming organisation and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We use protected characteristic information for monitoring only and it is not seen by recruiting managers, except where applicants choose to be considered under our disability guaranteed interview scheme.

We know life outside work matters. As a flexible working-friendly organisation, we welcome conversations about arrangements that help you thrive while supporting excellent care for our patients.

Explore KCHFTcareer pathways

Job responsibilities

As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team [email protected], quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further.

The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.

Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.

We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.

At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.

Find out more about the community differencehere.

Good luck! We cant wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered health care professional (current HCPC registration)

Desirable

• Management or supervisory qualification or experience of study

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Ability to manage time effectively, priorities and to meet deadlines
• Ability to work effectively with a variety of people at all organisational levels across different sectors including areas of social deprivation
• Ability to communicate complex, sensitive information to individuals and groups
• Strong influencing and negotiating skills
• Clear, concise written and verbal reporting

Desirable

• Formulate treatment goals and carry out treatment within an OT framework as well as within a multi-disciplinary framework
• Use of appropriate 'listening/counselling' skills when working with patient/family/carers to ensure the effective communication of complex and sensitive information about conditions and treatment plans
• Actively participate in audit projects as required
• Be able to provide leadership when team under pressure

Experience

Essential

• Clinical experience working with patients with complex clinical condition's
• Practical experience in managing health related projects/complex caseloads
• Supporting others (mentor / educator / supervisor) experience

Desirable

• Experience of leading and managing teams
• Experience with the use of Microsoft Office and a variety of IT packages
• Experience working in the community
• Experience working within the NHS Varied NHS post-graduate experience in a range of settings, including medical, surgical, older person's rehabilitation or a closely related field

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding of National Service Frameworks and NICE guidance to relevant to care setting and its application across health care services
• Evidence of continued relevant professional development and implementation in practice within the last 12 months
• Awareness of and skills to deliver evidence-based practice to assess/treat patients with neurological impairments