Experts at Hand Clinical & Operational Lead – Occupational Therapy
Band 8a
Main area occupational therapy Grade Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours
- Part time
- Job share
- Flexible working
18.75 hours per week Job ref 434-CR8232394-A
Site Haleacre Unit, Amersham Hospital Town Amersham Salary £57,528 – £64,750 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 04/11/2026 23:59
Be part of our BHT family
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT) is an integrated provider of acute hospital and community services for people living in Buckinghamshire and the surrounding area.
We care for over half a million patients every year:
- Provide specialist spinal services at our world renowned National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the birthplace of the Paralympics
- Nationally recognised for urology and skin cancer services
- Regional specialist centre for burns, plastic surgery, dermatology, stroke and cardiac services
- Deliver community services in health centres, schools, patients’ own homes, community hospitals and community hubs.
More than 6,500 people from different nations, cultures and backgrounds work for us.
We would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options. We strive to be a family friendly, inclusive employer.
If you require any assistance in making this application, please contact bht.recruitment@nhs.net or phone 01494 734868.
We pride ourselves in being a great place to work and invite you to join our BHT family.
Job overview
Shape the future of SEND support across Buckinghamshire
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and innovative Occupational Therapist to lead the Occupational Therapy contribution to Buckinghamshire’s new Experts at Hand programme, a key element of the national SEND reform agenda.
As the Experts at Hand Clinical & Operational Lead, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing and delivering a transformational service that strengthens inclusive practice across mainstream education settings. Working collaboratively with the Local Authority, Integrated Care Board, schools and wider system partners, you will provide strategic leadership to ensure children and young people receive timely, needs-led support through a graduated approach.
This is a unique opportunity to influence service development at a system level while maintaining your professional expertise and shaping the future OT workforce within SEND services.
Main duties of the job
Reporting to the Head of Service for CYP Integrated Therapy Services, you will:
- Lead the strategic, operational and clinical delivery of the Occupational Therapy element of the Experts at Hand programme.
- Drive service innovation and continuous improvement in line with national SEND reforms.
- Work collaboratively with senior leaders across health, education and social care.
- Lead and develop a team of Highly Specialist Occupational Therapists and Therapy Assistants.
- Provide expert advice, consultation and clinical leadership for complex situations.
- Monitor service performance, outcomes and quality standards.
- Manage resources effectively and contribute to budget management.
- Lead workforce development, supervision, training and succession planning.
- Represent the service at local, regional and national forums.
What does Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust offer you?
- As part of our BHT family, you’ll benefit from learning and development opportunities to support your career progression.
- We offer flexible and agile workingopportunities,alongside your NHS benefits ofgenerous annual leave entitlement, pension andaccess toNHS discount schemes.
- We provide a range of health and wellbeing services to promote a healthy, happy workforce.
Why work for us?
- We’re committed to promoting inclusion and making sure all colleagues feel they belong. We encourage new colleagues from a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.
- As an employer, we aim to create a workplace where differences are valued and colleagues treat one another with dignity and respect.
- Greater diversity withinourBHT familyimprovespositive outcomes for the people and communities we serve.
- A keen supporter of the Armed Forces Community who know the value of employing a service leaver/veteran and their families.
What do we stand for?
- Our vision is to provide outstanding care, support healthy communities and be a great place to work.
- Our mission is to provide personal and compassionate care every time.
- Our care values are collaborate, aspire, respect and enable.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For a comprehensive list of responsibilities and duties, please kindly refer to the Job Description and Person Specification by downloading the JD and PS attachment in the advert.
If you are an internal applicant there is the option for secondment, all applicants must have the endorsement/support of their line manager prior to application.
If you have a disability that makes submitting this online application difficult and would like assistance, please contact us on bht.recruitment@nhs.net quoting the vacancy reference number.
Person specification
Education, qualifictaions and training
- Degree or Diploma (Occupational therapy)
- Professional registration with HCPC.
- Post graduate clinical/ management qualification or equivalent level of experience and proven ability to perform at this level
- Significant demonstrable experience of and demonstrable achievement in managing education/ health/social care services
- Member of relevant professional body e.g. RCOT
Experience
- Significant post-registration experience providing highly specialist occupational therapy interventions to children and young people with complex needs
- Experience of operational and/or clinical leadership of a therapy service or team
- Experience of line management, including appraisal, performance and professional development of staff
- Experience of developing and maintaining effective partnerships with education, local authority, health and other stakeholders in the redesign of services
- Experience of effectively leading and implementing change and service transformation
- Experience of budget management / management of resources
- Experience of managing complaints, disputes, resolutions and/or Serious Incidents
- Experience of working and coproducing within, or in close partnership with, education and early years settings and of SEND / EHCP processes
Skills, knowledge and abilities
- Highly expert knowledge and skills in occupational therapy needs in children and young people
- Advanced knowledge of current legislation, the SEND Code of Practice, the graduated approach and the national SEND reform / Experts at Hand programme, spanning education and health
- Ability to provide strategic and operational leadership and to translate national policy into local delivery
- Highly developed communication, negotiation and influencing skills, including the ability to manage complex and contentious information
- Ability to analyse and interpret Key Performance Indicators, activity and outcome data to drive improvement
- Ability to plan, organise and adjust a broad, complex range of activities across multiple partners and settings
- Knowledge of clinical governance, risk management and safeguarding, and their application in practice
- Compassionate, inclusive leadership skills and the ability to motivate, develop and support staff
Special circumstances
- Able to travel across sites in Buckinghamshire.
- Ability to work flexibly across sites and to attend system and partnership meetings as required
PPE requirements: Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust requires all colleagues to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with our infection prevention and control procedures.
Flu vaccinations remain the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the viruses when working in our healthcare settings. We encourage our staff to be vaccinated when recommended.
Application deadline: This post will close on the closing date stated at midnight, however if we receive a large number of applications or there is a change in circumstance, we may be required to close a job before the advertised date.
Contacting you: We will contact candidates through the email address supplied on their application form. Please make sure you check this regularly.
Application information: If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records (ESR) system.
Shortlisting: The monitoring and safeguarding sections are not made visible to the shortlisting panel. The safeguarding section may be made visible to the interview panel, dependent on the role being recruited into.
Travel expenses: It is Trust policy that travel expenses for interviews will not be reimbursed.
Smoking: All Trust sites are NO SMOKING. Smoking in all areas of the buildings and premises is prohibited.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Name Fiona Barry Job title Head of Service CYP Integrated Therapies Email address f.barry@nhs.net Telephone number 07866 157024 Additional information
We are offering an opportunity for you to develop your skills and encourage you to apply even if you feel you need support in some areas. If you would like further information or to arrange informal discussions/visits, please contact:
Fiona Barry – Head of Service for Children and Young People’s Integrated Therapies via f.barry@nhs.net or 07866157024
We want to ensure you perform at your best during the interview process. Therefore, all shortlisted candidates will receive details of what to expect in the interview process in advance.
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