Occupational Therapy Team lead in Acute Stroke

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

Job Description

About the Role

We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated Occupational Therapist to join our established Hyperacute and Acute Stroke Multidisciplinary Team at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

Our 34‑bedded combined stroke unit—comprising 12 Hyperacute and 22 Acute beds—is one of the busiest and most dynamic stroke units in the country. You will be joining a cohesive and supportive MDT made up of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Speech & Language Therapists, Stroke Physicians, Dietitians, Stroke Nurse Specialists and the wider Stroke Nursing team.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop advanced practice in a highly specialist environment, with strong clinical leadership and excellent opportunities for professional growth.

What You’ll Be Doing

In this role, you will be responsible for

Joint leadership and management of the Hyperacute and Acute stroke therapy team
Delivering specialist Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention for patients in the Hyperacute and Acute phases of stroke
Providing clinical expertise within the MDT, contributing to early prognostication, pathway planning, complex clinical decision‑making, and joint working
Supervising and developing staff, supporting growth in clinical, leadership and management skills
Leading service development and contributing to Trust‑wide projects and initiatives across the stroke pathway
Supporting and delivering teaching and training within therapies and the stroke service

Building and maintaining strong relationships across the stroke and neurological pathway, including links with

Acute Neuro Team

• Stroke ESD service
• Stroke and neuro rehabilitation ward
• Community services
• Occupational Therapy and wider Therapy departments

What We Offer

This role provides an excellent opportunity to develop specialist stroke skills within a highly supportive and progressive environment. You will work closely with other therapy leads and teams across Neurology, Stroke, and the wider Therapy Service, and will be supported by:

Therapy Clinical Lead for Neuro

Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner for Neurology and Stroke

In‑service training programmes

Clinical peer support

Access to external training opportunities

A strong peer network of Occupational Therapy Team Leads and Clinical Specialists both within PHU and across local Trusts.

Who We’re Looking For

We are looking for an Occupational Therapist who is

Passionate about delivering excellent stroke care

Confident in working within fast‑paced Hyperacute and Acute environments

Experienced in complex clinical reasoning and MDT working

Committed to leadership, service development, and ongoing learning

A supportive mentor and role model for staff

We are looking for an enthusiastic and innovative Occupational Therapist to join our established Acute Neuro Team (ANT) at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth.

The Acute Neuro Team is an integrated multi-disciplinary team of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Specialist Nurses and Therapy Assistant Practitioners. The team provides a specialist neurological service to acute patients with a new neurological diagnosis across wards throughout the Trust, including critical care. The caseload includes acquired brain injury, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, encephalitis, and other acute neurological presentations.

You will provide clinical and operational leadership to the team, manage a varied clinical caseload, complete specialist assessments, complete treatment sessions and formulate discharge plans. You will contribute to determining patients’ onward pathways, including referrals to our Level 2a inpatient rehabilitation unit, Lotus Rehabilitation Unit, and to community teams, with whom we have strong links.

You will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the Acute Neuro Team and will lead on service development initiatives. We are seeking an individual with excellent time management and organisational skills, a flexible approach, and strong interpersonal and leadership skills.

In this role you will work closely with other therapy leads and teams, across Neurology, Stroke, and the wider therapy service, to provide high-quality care and interventions to patients in the acute stages of their recovery; and to provide education and training to Multidisciplinary Team.

This post offers a fantastic opportunity to develop both clinically and managerially in a fast-paced acute environment, working towards all four pillars of practice, and to build on your specialist skills in neurology. You will be well supported by the Therapy Clinical Lead and the Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner for Neurology and Stroke. You will also have a network of other Occupational Therapy Team Leads and Clinical Specialists within PHU and local Trusts for peer support.

You will be supported in the development of your management and leadership skills by participating in PHU’s Management Essentials and Leadership Insights training. You will be able to further your clinical skills through access to external courses.

If you have a minimum of 4 years post-graduate experience, with at least 2 years in the fields of Neurology or Stroke, we’d love to talk to you about this post.

We pride ourselves on our approach to flexible working and are happy to discuss full-time or part-time working.

For further information please contact

Kath.lake@porthosp.nhs.uk, 02392 286000 ext: 6838, or Chelsea.phillips@porthosp.nhs.uk, 02392 286000, ext 6438.

Please refer to the Job description for further details.

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree / diploma in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC registered

Member of RCOT

Evidence of post-graduate training / qualification relevant to this clinical field or equivalent-level relevant experience.

Car driver with access to a car with business insurance

Experience

Essential

Experience of Audit

• Experience of presenting complex data to a range of different audiences
• Experience of working with regional/national networks
• Acute hospital experience 2 years minimum
• Experience of supervising and mentoring junior members of staff and pre-registration students
• Experience of providing clinical/professional leadership to junior members of staff
• Experience of working collaboratively across teams
• Ability to lead and influence change
• Sound level of theoretical profession specific knowledge
• Sound knowledge of the multi-disciplinary team
• Sound knowledge of interventions relevant to clinical area

Additional Information

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.