Job Description

The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service (SPMHS) is a multi-disciplinary community mental health service for pregnant and postnatal women and birthing people with moderate to severe mental illness. The aim of the team is to detect, prevent and treat perinatal mental health problems to improve the experience of pregnancy and the two years postpartum for service users and their families.



Staff work closely with their local maternity sites in North Central London; University College London Hospital, Whittington Hospital, Royal Free Hospital, Barnet Hospital and North Middlesex University Hospital. Clinics run at maternity sites, children's centres and community centres across the boroughs as well as home visits.



The successful post holder can decide between the South team (inner HCAS) and East team (outer HCAS) as their preferred clinical base.



The East team covers the boroughs of Enfield & Haringey , and the team base is at Forest Primary Care Centre, 308 Hertford road, N9 7HD



The South team covers the boroughs of Camden & Islington , and the team base is at St. Pancras hospital, NW1 0PE.



The post holder will d evelop and oversee the provision of an evidence based occupational therapy service within defined service areas.



Provide clinical leadership in alignment with evolving service developments, and assist the Team manager in the strategic coordination of the Occupational Therapy service.



To assess and contribute to the diagnosis of individuals referred to the Perinatal service.



To manage a caseload of women and birthing people with diverse and complex needs, providing interventions which support and promote improved mental and physical health for mothers, babies and their families.



To plan, implement and evaluate occupational therapy interventions.



To be responsible for supporting and supervising the Band 6 Occupational therapists and Occupational therapy students.



North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.



2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all



3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.



Why NLFT?



We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities. We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives. NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme Excellent internal staff network

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.



The post holder will be responsible for formulating Occupational therapy specific care and treatment plans for service users with diverse and complex mental health needs, in accordance with best practice and service objectives. They will manage a varied and challenging caseload, including conducting home visits, as well as assessments and reviews. The role also involves collaborative work through joint appointments with multidisciplinary professionals to ensure holistic and integrated care.



Flexibility is essential, as the post requires travel across boroughs to conduct face-to-face appointments in patients' homes, hospital clinics, and community settings. Although access to a car is advantageous, it is not a mandatory requirement.



This job description is written as an indication of the nature and scope of duties and responsibilities. Additional competencies may be required to fulfil the needs of specific areas and client groups. It is not intended as a fully descriptive list and does not include specific skills or therapeutic interventions that may be required of the specialist service area. The post- holder will be expected to carry out other duties assigned by the Operational Service Manager's, which are appropriate to the grade.



Please see and Person Specification for detailed description of roles and responsibilities.