Home First Clinical assessor (OT/PT)

Job Overview

• Westminster Community Independence Service is seeking a motivated and experienced Band 6 Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist to join our team for a seven‑month career‑break cover within the Home First and Urgent Community Response Pathway.
  
  

This is an excellent opportunity for a therapist who has successfully completed core Band 5 rotations and is ready to take the next step in their career. We are looking for someone who is passionate about delivering high‑quality care, proactive, engaged, and committed to supporting people in their own homes at moments of greatest need.

You will deliver holistic, patient‑centred therapy to individuals in their own homes across the following pathways:

• Home First
• Urgent Community Response (UCR)
• Hospital at Home
  
  

While prior community experience is welcome, it is not essential. However, applicants must demonstrate:

• Alignment with CNWL Trust value
• An understanding of the realities of working in people’s homes
• Confidence working independently and as part of a wider multidisciplinary team
• Willingness to work flexibly, including weekends, public holidays, and extended hours

Ability to undertake face‑to‑face visits and lone working

The successful candidate will work primarily within the Home First pathway, facilitating safe and effective hospital discharges. You will also provide therapy input across the UCR and Hospital at Home pathways as service needs arise.

This post is based in Westminster, but you may be required to visit patients across the London Boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, and Kensington & Chelsea depending on service demand.

We operate a seven‑day service, and Home First working hours run from 8 am to 8 pm. Expectations will be to participate in shift work and out‑of‑hours rotas as part of the role.

The face to face interviews will be held on 16th April 2026.

Main duties of the job

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of own patient caseload. To ensure a high level of care, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• Promote a holistic, supportive, and patient cantered service that facilitates an intervention approach to promote change, acceptance and promotes self-management aiming to optimises functional improvement

Work with Home First: supporting with triage, patient care pathway, and sharing knowledge related to the discharge to assess and admission avoidance strategies

Work with patients, carers and families, and other statutory health related services

Work autonomously and within the MDT team delivering individualised treatment interventions and management programmes

Be flexible in the approach to delivering treatment and advice, have skills to deliver a variety of treatment interventions

Have advanced communication skills that would include motivational and emotional support skills

Working for our organisation

Central and North West London NHS Trust expects all staff to act in a way which shows you understand our core values and are willing to put them into practice with service users, their friends, family, carers, and also other staff members.

As a member of the clinical team, we expect you to show COMPASSION, contribute to a caring and kind environment and recognise that what you do and say helps can make the lives of others better.

We expect you to RESPECT everyone and acknowledge and welcome people’s differences rather than ignore them or see them as problematic.

We expect you to EMPOWER

others and continually try to provide information, resources and support to help others make their own decisions and meet their own needs.

We expect you to work in PARTNERSHIP and behave in a way that shows that you recognise that commissioners and users of our services are the people who generate and pay for our work.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of own patient caseload. To ensure a high level of care, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• Promote a holistic, supportive, and patient cantered service that facilitates an intervention approach to promote change, acceptance and promotes self-management aiming to optimises functional improvement
• Work with Home First: supporting with triage, patient care pathway, and sharing knowledge related to the discharge to assess and admission avoidance strategies
• Work with patients, carers and families, and other statutory health related services
• Work autonomously and within the MDT team delivering individualised treatment interventions and management programmes

Be an advocate for the patient.

Knowledge of where to sign-post patients for support, e.g. local or national support groups

To be responsible for a caseload and work without direct supervision, and provide peer support for members of the MDT

To ensure patient care and planned interventions are supported by available evidence base and experiential knowledge and are in accordance with Code of Professional conduct.

To keep up to date and monitor literature related to Discharge to Assess and Crisis Response.

To carryout risk assessment in line with Trust/National Protocol.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Diploma/degree in Physiotherapy OR diploma /degree in Occupational Therapy
• Registration with HCPC
• Membership of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy OR Membership of the RCOT
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Attendance at recent postgraduate courses
• Involvement in CSP Special Clinical Interest Groups OR RCOT Special Clinical Interest Groups
• Evidence of CPD maintained in a portfolio
  
  

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

• Must be able to provide evidence (through appraisals, competencies and reflection from post graduate study) to demonstrate development of specialist knowledge

Experience of community work

Experience with patients with dementia and confusion

Experience with patients with physical frailty and disability

Knowledge of validated assessment tools and outcome measures

Experience of student and therapy assistant supervision

Specialist knowledge of broad range of conditions Experience of working as part of a therapy team and/or multidisciplinary team

Desirable criteria

• Extensive post qualified experience in profession, to include acute experience
• Experience in clinical service development.
• Experience in audit or measuring clinical effectiveness.
• Worked in Urgent Community Response or Discharge to asses service
  
  

Skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent interpersonal facilitation, negotiating and communication (written and verbal) skills
• Good team player – able to support others in making their contribution.
• Remain updated with professional and evidence-based practice and new research
• To be competent in performing complex assessments and treatments with patients with a variety of conditions