Occupational Therapists

Is caring for someone second nature to you? Do you find empathy comes easily and treat everyone respectfully without thinking? As an Occupational Therapist at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, you will use your ability to engage in meaningful occupation to promote good mental health, assist recovery and help service users live more fulfilling lives. At Leeds and York, together we create careers for people who naturally care.

In 2022, the Occupational Therapy (OT) rotation programme at LYPFT grew from 18 positions to over 25, with services increasing the number of OTs they employ. It is a fantastic development and offers occupational therapists more opportunities within mental health care.

New services added to the OT Rotation include CAMHS at Red Kite View, PICU at Newsam Centre, Locked Rehabilitation at Newsam Centre, Inpatient Learning Disabilities at Woodlands Square 2 and 3 and The Willows providing additional support for individuals with Dementia.

• A glimpse into Occupational Therapy
• Responsibilities and Expectations
• Occupational Therapy Rotation

LATEST JOBS

Our mental health rotation offers a great start to a career in mental health Occupational Therapy, with opportunities to work with various groups of service users at different stages in their care pathway.

Each rotation is usually for nine months, and we offer a 27-month contract for rotational posts.

A glimpse into Occupational Therapy

Responsibilities and Expectations

Although each rotation setting differs, there are common expectations and responsibilities for you as a graduate OT:

• You will utilise your core occupational therapy skills to provide occupational therapy treatment appropriate to the team.
• Be responsible and accountable for the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of treatment for defined Service Users, individually and within a group setting.

Occupational Therapy Rotation

The mental health Occupational Therapy rotation at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is an established, highly respected programme and one of the largest in the country. It provides graduates with an excellent grounding in mental health and offers a wealth of opportunities to progress in the field. Our rotation staff are sought after by services across the Trust.

You will have the opportunity to experience different rotations, each lasting nine months. Your rotation will depend on your needs, the needs of the service, and your preferences. We aim to provide a mix of experiences for rotational OTs, usually including at least one hospital-based and one community-based setting. A variety of services and service user groups are also catered for within the rotation. This allows you to discover where your skills and interests lie to further your career and we encourage that you have career conversations to think about your longer term career aspirations.

Applying for the Rotation

Rotation posts are extremely popular, but due to the rotation size, positions do come up at different points. We don’t have set dates or times for recruitment as this tends to be when posts become vacant. All posts are advertised through NHS jobs, but they close once we’ve received 75 applications, so please act quickly!

Support while on Rotation

As well as the day to day line management from the service you are based in, you will also have support from the OT rotation Lead.

An integral part of the rotation is the preceptorship programme, which is underpinned by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ (RCOT) preceptorship guidance and Health Education England. All graduates in their first year and anyone new to mental health are encouraged to utilise the preceptorship programme.

The preceptorship programme offers sessions providing opportunities for learning, group reflection, and support. Our preceptorship programme regularly receives positive feedback from preceptees, who particularly value the opportunity to meet with colleagues in other areas and share experiences. Visit the preceptorship page on our website for more information.

Research

We actively encourage our AHPs to participate in research and evidence-based practice.  There are opportunities to engage in this at whatever stage of your career. Please watch our video outlining some of these opportunities and the great work our AHPs do at LYFT.