Occupational Therapist (Children with Disabilities) - 04188

Are you an experienced Occupational Therapist who is passionate about working with children and young people with disabilities? West Berkshire Council are seeking a dedicated professional to join our Children’s Occupational Therapy Team within Children’s Social Care.

About the Role

As a Children’s Occupational Therapist, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality assessments and interventions to children and young people with disabilities, enabling them to participate, function and thrive in family life within their home environment.

The successful applicant would ideally have experience working with children who have disabilities and complex health/sensory needs.

Key responsibilities include:

• Delivering robust child centred assessments and identifying appropriate interventions.
• Recommending and prescribing specialist equipment such as seating systems, bathing, toileting and safety equipment for sensory needs.
• Assessing the need for both minor and major home adaptations and progress these through the Disabled Facilities Grant process.
• Working with the local housing team and associations to recommend suitable housing and facilitate adaptations to improve children’s access to essential facilities within their home.
• Completing moving and handling risk assessments and write manual handling care plans, prescribe hoists and slings to ensure safe moving and handling of children and ensure risks are reduced for parents and carers.
• Working collaboratively alongside health and social care colleagues

About You

The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and attributes:

• At least one year’s experience working as an HCPC registered Occupational Therapist.
• Sound knowledge of legislation, standards and best practices
• A diverse knowledge and understanding of how disability can affect children and their families and a sound awareness of safeguarding.
• Excellent assessment, intervention, and report writing skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with children, families, and multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively in a team
• Ability to prioritise and manage a diverse caseload
• Commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion
• Knowledge of and experience in Sensory Integration would be an additional benefit.

West Berkshire Council offers a range of excellent employment benefits, including:

• Market supplement of £3K to top of salary
• Flexible working wherever possible between the hours of 07.00-21.00
• Hybrid working wherever possible working 40% in the office
• Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities
• Generous Local Government pension scheme
• Family friendly policies
• A range of local discounts
• Wellbeing Programme including Employee Assistance Programme and employee benefits
• You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement starting at 29 days per annum (plus public holidays) Rising by an additional 5 days after 5 years service.

Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Jo Nightingale on 07876 394780 or email Joanna.Nightingale1@westberks.gov.uk

Join us at West Berkshire Council and make a positive impact in our community while advancing your career.

Explore everything that a career with West Berkshire Council has to offer here: Working with Us

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

How to apply

Please now complete a short online application form. You will then be able to upload your CV.

This role has been identified as public facing in accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016; the requirement to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English applies.

This role involves regulated activity with adults at risk. As such, appointment is subject to anEnhanced DBS check with the relevant Barred List(s).

In this post you will be required tomaintain continuous registration with the DBS Update Service for the duration of your employment.

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AI in Applications

We recognise that candidates may choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support the preparation of their job applications. When used appropriately, AI can be a helpful aid in structuring responses, checking clarity, and improving presentation.

However, applications must reflect your own skills, experience and understanding. If an application appears to rely excessively on AI-generated content, it may not meet the required standard and could be rejected.

We encourage all applicants to ensure their submissions are authentic, tailored to the role, and clearly demonstrate their own knowledge, experience and suitability