A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Occupational Therapist to join the Inpatient Therapy Team at Whitstable and Tankerton Hospital.

Friends Ward is a well-established Inpatient Rehabilitation and Recovery Ward providing care and Therapy for the localcommunity. The ward mainly caters for the older population but also caters for much younger patients with long term conditions or following significant trauma.

You will benefit from working with a well-established multidisciplinary team including Speech Therapists, Pharmacists,Dieticians, Doctors, Consultants, Nurses and of course the Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy staff.

You will gainfurther experience of working in an Inpatient setting working with patients who have multiple comorbidities. There will be opportunities to further interests, by becoming a potential link worker for such issues as falls which can only help to further experience and knowledge for progression to the next stage in your career.

Please note, this vacancy does not meet the criteria for skilled worker sponsorship and therefore, we are unable to accept applications from candidates that cannot provide documentary evidence of right to work in the United Kingdom. If you feel you qualify for sponsorship via a discounted salary threshold, please contact us viakentchft.recruitment@nhs.netquoting the vacancy reference number and how you feel you qualify for a discounted salary threshold.

You will join our forward thinking Therapy Team providing a high quality rehabilitation service, working closely with the multidisciplinary team.

You will assess patient’s physical, social and psychological needs within the hospital setting andin discussion with the patient, carer’s, family and multidisciplinary team formulate and implement treatment programmes and discharge planning.

You will be expected to support and supervise Band 5 staff and Therapy Assistantsand participate in the training of others as appropriate. You should also be able to supervise students should the need arise.

For this role you are required to have:
• A Degree level qualification or equivalent in Occupational Therapy.
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
• At least 2 years post qualification experience including elderly care, community work and working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Very good knowledge of a range of physical conditions relating to older people, including rehabilitation, falls and orthopaedics.
• Very good clinical assessment skills
• Very good communication skills.
• Be pro-active.
• Be passionate about empowering patients, their carer’s and their Family.
• Experience of working in the NHS System.

Ability to drive and access to a car is essential in order to carry out Access and Home Visits as accessed as appropriate.

Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’ve got a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. To do this we need outstanding people who share our values compassionate Aspirational Responsive Excellent

We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences

We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn’t visible to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Short listers will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure they apply the principles of the scheme to your submission

The data we collect helps us to ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won’t involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We’ll support you to work flexibly in a way that will suits us both

See where you can go with KCHFT career pathways

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Job responsibilities

As a community Trust many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. As such you will be asked to confirm you have a full UK driving licence where driving is a requirement of the role to be able to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment, if you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net quoting the vacancy reference number so we can support you further.

The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.

Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.

We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.

At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.

Find out more about the community difference here.

Good luck! We can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.


This advert closes on Sunday 21 Dec 2025