Occupational Therapy Clinical Team Lead - Trauma and Orthopaedics

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population.  We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation.  Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff. 

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we.  We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger.  If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. 

NHS Band 7 Salary: £49,387 - £56,515 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours Per Week:  full time 37.5 hours (part time and job shares will also be considered.)

Are you ready to lead, inspire and make a real difference?

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is seeking an experienced, motivated, and forward-thinking Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist to join our dynamic Trauma and Orthopaedic Therapy team at Queen Alexandra Hospital.

This is an exciting leadership opportunity for an Occupational Therapist who is passionate about delivering high-quality, patient-centred care within a fast-paced acute setting, while also contributing to the development of specialist rehabilitation services.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide specialist clinical expertise across a varied orthopaedic caseload, including trauma and complex rehabilitation patients
• Lead and support the day-to-day operational management of the Therapy service
• Contribute to the development of services for spinal cord injury and polytrauma patients, improving pathways and patient outcomes
• Alongside Physiotherapy colleagues, lead on supervision, mentorship and development of Band 5/6 staff, apprentices, support workforce and students
• Contribute to service improvement initiatives, audits, and quality improvement projects
• Ensure delivery of safe, effective discharge planning and rehabilitation pathways
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams including physiotherapists, nurses, consultants, and community services
• Promote evidence-based practice and innovation across the service

Join us in delivering outstanding care, every day.

For a full list of roles and responsibilities, please see the attached job description. 

Essential

• Registered with HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council).
• BSc in Occupational Therapy
• Significant post-qualification experience in a clinical therapy role, ideally within a Trauma and Orthopaedic setting.
• Proven leadership and management experience in a healthcare environment.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to manage complex situations. A commitment to continuous professional development and service improvement

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of experience to meet the scope and authority of the post.
• Evidence of advanced level of practice including in depth experience at band 6 level
• Supervision of staff/students
• Leadership, recruitment and selection of staff
• In individual/group and team work in a variety of relevant settings
• Of research/audit
• Documented evidence of Continuous Practice Development (CPD)
• Practice innovation
• Of working with users/carers and external agencies

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Operational management and leadership skills
• Supportive, excellent interpersonal skills including ability to communicate clearly both written and oral
• Outstanding leadership skills
• Understand legal responsibilities of your profession, with knowledge of professional and ethical issues in practice
• Ability to build effective working relationships within the Multi-Disciplinary Team
• Knowledge of health and safety issues
• Detailed knowledge of the principles and application of clinical governance including experience of quality issues and audit
• Specialist knowledge and application of assessments, interventions, outcome measures
• Self-motivated, assertive, diplomatic, and tactful
• An ability to work alone, autonomously and set own priorities
•  Ability to work flexibly and manage pressure of work
•  Ability to delegate and negotiate.
•  Able to analyse professional and ethical issues, including ability to critically appraise own performance
• Ability to recognise when to seek advice
•  Supervisory and appraisal skills
•  Ability to organise and respond efficiently to complex information
• Ability to cope with a stressful working environment and with emotional or aggressive patients or carers
•  Ability to build effective working relationships
•  Competent IT skills
•  Presentation skills
•  Commitment to lifelong learning
•  Ability to engage with service users, including a commitment to client centred, non-discriminatory practice
• Ability to keep accurate and legible patient notes including numeracy and literacy skills.
• Driving licence as required for role

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and Disability, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs. 

For more information, please see our People and OD Strategy 2026