Occupational Therapy Assistant

Job description
We are recruiting an Occupational Therapy Assistant that will work as part of the community occupational therapy team within an Integrated Community Team (ICT). Their work will be underpinned by the principles and philosophy of occupational therapy. They will hold their own autonomous caseload triaged and delegated by an occupational therapist. They will be responsible for the assessment, implementation and evaluation of patient treatment programmes within assessed competencies.

The occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in the ICTs work with adults with physical disabilities, cognitive impairment, mental health issues and complex social and community needs, experiencing occupational performance difficulties within and around their home environment.

Interventions will be varied because they are ‘person centred’, tailored to the specific needs of the individual, their families and or carers. The main aim is for the occupational therapy assistant to enable a person to engage within their home environment, and wider social and cultural environments to support their meaningful occupations so increasing their well-being and independence whilst self-manging risk. This includes providing advice, practicing different ways of doing things, signposting to relevant services, the provision of equipment and referring on for minor or major adaptations.
• To assess, devise, implement and evaluate therapeutic treatment programmes collaboratively with the person, their families and or carers, within the framework established by the occupational therapist
• To be able to understand and apply knowledge of a range of conditions, appreciating the impacts these have on a person’s occupational functional ability
• To utilise a health coaching approach to work with individuals in developing collaborative goals and action (care) plans
• To exchange information with patients, their families and or carers that may require tact, reassurance or persuasion. To provide receive sensitive or complex information and relay appropriately
• To be able to work with people to facilitate learning of skills or gaining of independence.
• To plan and provide therapy interventions, acting within competencies and modifying treatment programmes as appropriate
• To understand and use relevant outcome measures

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust.

About

The annual NHS Staff Survey gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust. For the 2026 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%). It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:
• 8+.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users;
• 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work;
• 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;
• 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative

Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Lydia David Job title: Occupational Therapy Professional Team Lead Email address: Lydia.david@ghc.nhs.uk Telephone number: 07580 714632

Georgia Watts

Email: georgia.watts@ghc.nhs.uk

Phone: 078150250+4