Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner
Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS TrustNorwich, NR2 3TD, East of England
Overview
This is a NHS role (fixed-term) with Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust based in Norwich, NR2 3TD. The advertised salary is £28,392 to £31,157. Applications close on 31 August 2026. GovJobs has indexed this vacancy from its official source — use the apply button to view the full advert and apply directly.
Job description
Are you motivated and have the skills to build people's independence and support individuals to achieve their recovery goals?
The Allied Health Professionals Older Persons Team (AHP OP) in Central Norfolk OP Inpatient services are looking for an Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner (OTAP) to provide support for service users admitted onto one of our Functional wards to support them during their admission and preparation for discharge.
This role will be based on Sandringham ward at the Julian hospital and due to the nature of the role and the large county of Norfolk that we cover, having the ability to travel across the county independently will be considered a highly desirable skill.
Within this role you will be working under the supervision of a registered Occupational Therapist, and will be part of a wider AHP team consisting of other AP's, Technical Instructors, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, and supported by a band 7 Clinical Team Lead. You will work with service users at all stages of the Occupational Therapy process and would be expected to work closely with the wider MDT as part of the assessment and treatment process
You will provide 1:1 and group therapy interventions which support service users to work towards goals as part of their Recovery Journey. You will be expected to have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written. Within this role you will be instructing and guiding service users during therapeutic interventions. To enable you to provide high quality care you will build professional therapeutic relationships with service users and communicate in a way that respects their views, autonomy and culture.
If Occupational Therapy is new to you, and you have been working elsewhere as an AP under another profession, we encourage you to apply if you are interested! We are passionate about championing the role of OT and will support staff with less experience to feel confident within this role.
NSFT Older People's Inpatient Services have been rated "Good" by the CQC and we need you to join us on our journey to Outstanding. As a part of the wider NSFT AHP team, the post-holder will receive regular clinical and management supervision, and professional guidance from our knowledgeable, friendly and supportive team.
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk?The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
Within the service, we follow a Recovery-based and trauma-informed approach, working alongside Service Users who have a mental health diagnosis. Your role would be to instil hope, inspire confidence, and work collaboratively with individuals to meet their goals and build on life skills. You will work alongside Service Users, an Occupational Therapist and the MDT.
We are looking for someone who ideally has experience of working within older people mental health service and/or can adapt their skills to work with our client group.
Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!
Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs
Within the service, we follow a Recovery-based and trauma-informed approach, working alongside Service Users who have a mental health diagnosis. Your role would be to instil hope, inspire confidence, and work collaboratively with individuals to meet their goals and build on life skills. You will work alongside Service Users, an Occupational Therapist and the MDT.
We are looking for someone who ideally has experience of working within older people mental health service and/or can adapt their skills to work with our client group.
Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!
Please visit our Facebook and Twitter page @NSFTjobs
- Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care/mental health OR Apprenticeship in H&SC/mental health L5 OR Equivalent Qualification at L5 or above in a related subject
- Experience of working with groups of people
- Ability to work both independently and under supervision
- Experience of working within mental health
- An understanding of Occupational Therapy and the importance of functional independence and meaningful occupations.
- Health and safety risk awareness
Other
- Ability to travel independently (driving service users in pool cars and own car)
- Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care/mental health OR Apprenticeship in H&SC/mental health L5 OR Equivalent Qualification at L5 or above in a related subject
- Experience of working with groups of people
- Ability to work both independently and under supervision
- Experience of working within mental health
- An understanding of Occupational Therapy and the importance of functional independence and meaningful occupations.
- Health and safety risk awareness
Other
- Ability to travel independently (driving service users in pool cars and own car)
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer name
Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust
Address
Julian Hospital
Bowthorpe Road
Norwich
NR2 3TD
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)
Employer name
Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust
Address
Julian Hospital
Bowthorpe Road
Norwich
NR2 3TD
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)
How this role compares
We hold 351 NHS vacancies in East of England that publish a salary, and their median advertised starting figure is £33,677. This role pays less than about 73% of them.
There are 3,997 NHS roles open across the UK on GovJobs right now, 425 of them in East of England.
You have 1 day left to apply. NHS adverts we hold typically run for around 13 days, so this is a shorter window than usual.
Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust has 32 other vacancies open on GovJobs, with a breakdown of what they pay and the kinds of roles they recruit for.
These figures are calculated from the vacancies GovJobs currently holds, not from official pay statistics. They are a guide to the market, not a valuation of this post.
How to apply
GovJobs does not take applications or send your details to the employer. Use the apply button to open the official Nhs Jobs advert, then check the employer's instructions, attachments, person specification and closing time before applying.
This listing was last checked on 25 Aug 2026, 15:08. If the official advert has changed or closed, report it and we will review the listing.
Why this listing is on GovJobs
GovJobs indexes public-sector vacancies from official sources, normalises the title, employer, location, salary and deadline, and links back to the source so you can verify the advert yourself.
The source for this role is Nhs Jobs. Applications stay on the official employer or source website, not on GovJobs.
