Lead OT Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich

Lead OT Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and forward-thinking Occupational Therapist to join Queen Elizabeth Hospital as the Site Lead Occupational Therapist, providing visible clinical and operational leadership across acute inpatient therapy services.

The post holder will play a key leadership role in shaping Occupational Therapy delivery across the site, ensuring high-quality, patient-centred care while supporting operational flow, reducing length of stay and improving patient outcomes. You will lead service development, drive quality improvement initiatives and support workforce transformation aligned to Trust, IC and national NHS priorities.

Working as part of the senior therapy leadership team, you will influence site-wide decision making, support multidisciplinary working and ensure Occupational Therapy contributes fully to urgent and emergency care pathways, frailty, discharge planning and complex rehabilitation.

You will act as a professional role model, embedding evidence-based practice, driving innovation and supporting the development of a highly skilled and engaged workforce.

Main duties of the job The Occupational Therapy Site Lead provides professional, clinical, performance and operational leadership to Occupational Therapy staff working at and based at the QEH site.

To achieve this, the post holder works in close collaboration with the Head of Occupational Therapy, AHP peers and the Band 7 Occupational Therapy Team Leads.

The Occupational Therapy Site Lead is a highly experienced clinician who independently manages a significant and highly specialised clinical caseload. The post holds responsibility for providing strategic development of Occupational Therapy services within QEH. The post holder will develop partnerships and work closely with all service stakeholders both within and beyond the Trust to ensure a safe, evolving, fit for purpose and cost efficient service is provided.

The post holder will contribute to wider strategic planning to facilitate enhanced quality of patient care within the Occupational Therapy service.

The post holder leads a rolling programme of education, clinical evaluation, audit and research across the speciality.

The post holder is responsible for developing partnerships with key operational leads both internally within the Trust and externally.

The Occupational Therapy will deputise for the Head of Occupational Therapies as required.

About us 7-day working for Therapies is under development within the Trust and the post holder may be required to undertake a different working pattern, including weekends, in the future.

Interview date: 16th March 2026 on the UHL site .

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

• Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
• Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
• Improving the experience of staff with disability
• Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
• Making equalities mainstream

Job responsibilities Key Result Areas & Performance:

To be the Lead Occupational Therapist within UHL, advising on OT issues, working closely with the Head of Therapy and representing Occupational Therapy within the Trust and to outside agencies, as required.

To be responsible for maintaining up-to-date knowledge and skills at an advanced level in the practice of Occupational Therapy.

To initiate, develop and implement innovative models of service delivery in collaboration with the Therapy Manager and in partnership with AHP and service managers within the LGT and Social Services.

To be responsible for maintaining advanced knowledge of relevant health and social care initiatives and legislation, and to implement improvements in practice to meet these.

To actively participate in meetings with the Head of Therapy and operational meetings with the senior OT staff, in order to advise on all aspects of the UHL OT service.

To deputise for the Head of Therapy in her absence for relevant matters.

To ensure that own practice and service meets agreed local and national standards and clinical governance requirements, including COT Standards for Practice, Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

To undertake regular review of and evaluation of own work through the use of evidence-based practice, audits, research and effective outcome measures.

To lead and participate in clinical work and to promote a high standard of expertise within the OT department, and to ensure these standards are maintained by all staff.

To be professionally and legally accountable for aspects of Occupational Therapy treatment and care delivered to patients to ensure a high standard of clinical care.

To be responsible for allocating and managing own clinical caseload of clients with highly complex needs.

To act as an expert resource on Occupational Therapy, providing specialist support and advice to the Occupational Therapy team, students, members of the multi disciplinary team and professionals working in Social Services and voluntary sectors.

To develop, promote and deliver OT services that meet the needs of the local population, ensuring the service is effective, equitable and patient focused.

To identify professional and operational issues that need to be addressed at strategic level, and to alert the Therapy Manager so as to reach appropriate agreed actions. This may include developing proposals / bids in an attempt to gain additional funding for areas of service development.

To lead on the implementation of multidisciplinary initiatives within the OT team.

To initiate, develop and implement OT guidelines and protocols in collaboration with the Therapy Manager.

To work with the Therapy Manager to ensure that the OT service responds locally to relevant national initiatives and guidelines.

To initiate and lead the departmental audit / research cycle.

Work force

To successfully implement changes in work structure and/or work patterns within the OT team, using advanced communication and change management skills.

To lead on the ongoing review and evaluation of the skill mix of the team in order to ensure the department can best respond to the changing needs of clients referred to the service.

To lead the Occupational Therapy Team, ensuring that all team members are practising effectively within agreed local and national standards and competency frameworks.

To be responsible for the allocation and prioritisation of workload for all Occupational Therapy staff in the team, to ensure that resources are matched efficiently and effectively to client needs. To delegate responsibilities to the staff in keeping with their grade and competency.

To ensure that all team members are participating effectively in professional and operational supervision.

To lead the appraisal process across the whole team. In doing so, ensure that all team members are provided with, and are participating effectively in, regular appraisal sessions in line with LGT procedures.

To be responsible for recruiting to OT staff vacancies up to and including Band 7 level. This will include creating advertisements, writing job descriptions and person specifications, organising and participating in short listing, interviewing (including chairing) and selection of applicants. To act as an assessor for the recruitment of staff in other teams when appropriate.

To lead on the provision of learning and development opportunities for individual therapy staff and the OT team, to ensure that they achieve their work competencies, personal development plans, and meet local and national standards.

To lead the provision of learning and development opportunities to allied professional and support staff within UHL, where this relates to specialist OT skills and knowledge, in order to support the delivery of effective and cohesive multi-disciplinary services.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration
• BSC Hons OT
• Clinical course representative of specialism
• MSC or working at MSC level

Experience

• Broad experience post qualification with significant experience in acute sector clinical OT
• Experience of team leadership and effecting change
• Working knowledge of current national and local health care issues
• Experience of supervising/teaching under and post graduate staff
• Community Experience

Knowledge

• Knowledge and experience of standard setting, quality issues and clinical audit and an understanding of clinical governance
• Ability to undertake evaluation of the service
• Knowledge of service activity measures and clinical outcome measures
• Ability to keep clear, precise records and reports which meet legal requirements and are in the English language.
• Able to communicate clearly with all staff disciplines and the public
• Research experience

personal Qualities

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