Contact information
Kayleigh Rutter
Children's Occupational Therapy Team Lead
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Children's Therapy Service
Pontefract Hospital
Friarwood Lane
Pontefract
WF8 1PL
Pontefract office: 01977 787180
Pinderfields office: 01924 541411
(Please note my days of work are Tuesday to Friday therefore there may be a delay in my reply to emails)
About the role
Join Our Supportive & Dynamic Paediatric Team!
Are you an experienced and compassionate Occupational Therapist ready to take the next step in your career? We’re looking for a motivated Band 6 Children’s Occupational Therapist to join our friendly and dedicated paediatric team at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.
Are you interested in developing your career as a Children’s Occupational Therapist? This might be the opportunity you are looking for?
We have an exciting opportunity to recruit 2 full-time permanent Band 6 Children's Occupational Therapist to join our friendly and supportive team. We will consider a band 5 to 6 development post for the right candidate.
This is an amazing career opportunity to work with children and young people with a wide range of developmental, neurological, and physical needs. You will play a vital role in enabling children to achieve their potential and participate fully in everyday activities at home, in school, and out in the community.
The Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust Children’s Therapy Team offers evidence-based interventions for children and young people from birth to 19 with additional needs impacting on their development or ability to engage in childhood occupations. We provide input into a range of health, community and educational settings. Our team provides services into contracts supported by Wakefield district council and there will be opportunities to work within these contracts. The children’s therapy team prides itself as being part of the wider MDT which comprises of Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Therapy. We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment with regular supervision and CPD opportunities.
Our ideal candidate is highly motivated and enthusiastic about children's occupational therapy with a strong focus on both personal and team development.
Please note that the interview for this post will hold on 24th June 2025.
Main duties
- To support the delivery of a specialised Occupational Therapy service within the Children’s Therapy Service utilising in-depth theoretical and technical skills
- To independently manage a caseload of patients age 0-19 years with complex needs within the Children’s Therapy Service using evidence based, client centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions to minimise disability and maximise independence for independent living.
- To provide leadership, supervision, and appraisal for junior and non-qualified staff and students
- To participate in the planning, development, and evaluation of Occupational Therapy Services within the Children’s Therapy Service, holding responsibility for defined projects
- To fulfil contractual requirements of Service Level Agreements with external agencies to ensure integrated working of health, education and social care systems to meet the needs of children and young people.
- To understand and apply the Occupational Therapy process in the effective self-management of a caseload within the Children’s Therapy Service, assessing and mitigating risk, addressing occupational performance and skill deficits to enable service users in components of self-care, productivity and leisure.
- To know the professional and personal scope of own practice and make referrals to other agencies.
- To demonstrate specialist knowledge and understanding of the key concepts of biological, physical, social, psychological, and clinical sciences in relation to occupational performance relevant to Children’s Therapy Service.
- To utilise and advise others on the range of standard and non-standardised Occupational Therapy assessments and techniques in areas of occupational performance (education, leisure, personal, domestic, environment) and skill deficits relevant to Children’s Occupational Therapy.
- To be responsible for the assessment, prescription and evaluation of specialist equipment and adaptations for children with multiple and complex needs.
- To demonstrate a detailed working knowledge of conditions affecting children and childhood occupations and current Occupational Therapy approaches to their treatment and apply a high level of knowledge of the effect of disability and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the individuals social and physical environment.
- To be able to use research, clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills including activity analysis to identify the therapeutic benefit of client centred interventions and make professional judgements with individuals with diverse or complex needs, or multiple problems according to outcome, changes in patient needs and environmental influences.
- To use specialist knowledge, training, and experience to plan and implement client centred individual and/or group treatment programmes for children with complex needs.
- To be able to formulate specific and appropriate management plans including the setting of time scales to accurately prioritise needs with individuals and the multi-disciplinary team, in relation to available resources and professional demands.
- To monitor, analyse, evaluate, and modify the Occupational Therapy process and treatment in order to measure progress and ensure the effectiveness of interventions.
- Using highly specialised knowledge, carry out and supervise a variety of physical interventions that require a high level of physical and manual dexterity.
- To apply a high level of knowledge of the effect of disability and provide training and advice on lifestyle changes and adaptations to the individuals social and physical environment.
- To work alone in a variety of environments, including home and school, this may include confined and unhygienic spaces that could present a risk to personal health and safety.
- To deliver Occupational Therapy interventions to the children’s ward to facilitate safer discharges.
Key requirements
Dip COT or relevant OT Degree
Registration with HCPC
Experience of working as a Children’s Occupational Therapist with a range of ages, who present with physical and or sensory processing difficulties which impact on daily occupational performance skills.
Be part of MY team
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Application guidance:
We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.
Our benefits
- Access to the NHS pension plan
- Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
- Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
- Extensive benefits and support, including:
- Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Home electronics scheme
- Car lease salary sacrifice scheme
- Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
- Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
- Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
- Career progression, training and support
Skilled worker sponsorship
You can find out more about skilled worker and health and care visas on our careers site.
