As an Allied Health Professional (AHP), you're in an ideal position to help service users and carers, our staff and the communities we serve to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

More than 150 registered AHPs are working within the organisation. They work in various profession-specific roles, enhanced skill shared roles, and leadership and management positions. They are a vital part of the workforce, bringing a wide variety of evidence-based skills and improving the lives of service users and carers. They are supported by a wide variety of support staff and associate workers.

• Training and development opportunities
• Return to practice
• Occupational Therapy Rotation
• Multi-professional Preceptorship Programme

The AHP career path

At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, we support our AHPs in progressing professionally, responding to the incredible talent in our workforce. Here’s the full range of the roles we offer and an idea of where your career journey with us could take you.

• Apprentice
• Support Worker
• Associate Practitioner
• AHP Student
• Preceptee / AHP
• Senior AHP
• AHP Manager / Clinical Team Manager / Lead AHP / Advanced AHP
• Inpatient or Community Manager / Professional AHP Lead / AHP Workforce Lead
• AHP Consultant / Lead Clinician / Manager
• Strategic AHP Lead
• Director of Nursing and Professions

LATEST JOBS

Training and development opportunities

We actively encourage you to think about what training and development would help your career and link this to your appraisal. At LYPFT, we offer:

• Preceptorship for all new AHPs, those new to mental health and learning disabilities and those returning to practice.
• Apprenticeship pathways for our clinical support workforce to train and become a registered AHP.
• Enhanced Practitioner apprenticeships
• One of the largest and most established mental health Occupational Therapy (OT) rotations in the country.
• A Dietitians rotation.
• Opportunity to develop research skills.
• Leadership qualifications.
• Coaching.
• A full range of AHP specific CPD is offered in conjunction with our numerous local universities.

Return to practice

If you have the skills, experience and drive to make a difference in someone’s life and want to do this again in the NHS, we can help you return to the job you love. Depending on how long you have been out of practice, you will have to spend some time updating your knowledge, but there are several avenues available that we will support you on.

• Have you previously been a registered professional with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) or the Health Care Professions Council (HCP)?
• Would you like to return to the NMC/HPC register and your role?
• The NHS England Return to Practice programme is here to support you with advice on how to update your skills/knowledge, access to fully funded programmes and help organise supervised placements if required.
• For further information, email: england.returntopractice.north@nhs.net

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 have the opportunity, as part of a 27-month contract, to experience three 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 ages and services are also catered for within the rotation. This allows you to discover where your skills and interests lie to further your career.

Applying for the Rotation

Rotation posts are extremely popular, but due to the rotation size, positions come up regularly, and there is usually more than one post available. We aim to advertise for rotational positions before key graduation dates, generally in spring and late autumn, in time for summer and January graduations, respectively. All posts are advertised through NHS Professionals, but they close once we’ve received 50 applications, so please act quickly!

Support while on Rotation

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 go through the preceptorship programme.

The preceptorship programme offers monthly 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.

Multi-professional Preceptorship Programme

At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, we want to do everything possible to help get your career off to a flying start.

We know that the period of transition from being a newly registered practitioner to becoming an experienced member of the multidisciplinary team can be exciting and challenging. This is why we have developed the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Preceptorship Programme.
The programme is a period of structured transition for newly registered practitioners. You will be supported by the Preceptorship Programme to develop your confidence as an autonomous professional, refine skills, values and behaviours and continue on your journey of life-long learning.

Why Preceptorship?

The Preceptorship Programme and Framework is informed by professional standards of practice and based on the 4 Pillars of Practice: Clinical Practice, Leadership and Management, Education, and Research.

Preceptorship does not includes competencies of practice, instead it supports clinicians to build confidence and self-belief in their practice. Preceptorship is invaluable for new starters and includes monthly study days and workplace activities.

The benefits of our Preceptorship Programme

• Develop your confidence as a practitioner.
• Professional socialisation in the working environment.
• Increased job satisfaction, leading to improved service user satisfaction.
• Feeling valued and respected by the Trust.
• Feeling invested in and having your future career aspirations enhanced.
• Feeling proud and committed to the Trust, your colleagues and your service users.
• Develop an understanding of the commitment to working within your profession and regulatory body requirements.
• Develop personal responsibility for maintaining up-to-date knowledge.

Your Preceptor

The support of a Preceptor is a vital underpinning element of Preceptorship. The Preceptor is an experienced and knowledgeable practitioner of the same discipline as you. The Preceptor’s role is to guide you and offer support both professionally and personally throughout the process. They will also support your learning and development. You and your Preceptor will work together to identify your learning objectives.

Preceptorship Lead

The Preceptorship Lead is responsible for the oversight of the Preceptorship Programme. The Preceptorship Lead reviews the policy, the framework that guides personal development and CPD evidence and coordinates the Preceptorship Programme. They will support the preceptee in transitioning from student to registered practitioner and meet with the Preceptee/ Preceptor as required.

Skills-based workshops

A full day of the Preceptorship Programme, this includes skill-based workshops in:

• physical health
• professional conduct
• difficult conversations
• risk assessment
• medications
• prioritisation and delegation
• boundaries
• suicide response
• psychoactive substances
• and much more