Occupational Therapist (Band 5 - MAT Cover)

Job summary
Are you an Occupational Therapist who would like to explore a rewarding career experience?

We are seeking a highly motivated Occupational Therapist to join our team at Cygnet Acer. The successful post holder will be appointed as a Band 5 Occupational Therapist.

Main duties of the job
Post: Band 5 equivalent Occupational Therapist
Salary: £32,883- £35,465 full time equivalent (dependent on experience)
Site: Cygnet Acer Clinic (Upper)
Service Line: Acute service for women
Hours: 40 Hours (full time equivalent)
Contract: Fixed-Term (Maternity Cover) 12 months
Start Date: October-November 2026

Acer Upper is a mental health acute service for women, based at Cygnet Acer Clinic in Derbyshire.

The ward provides assessment and treatment for women experiencing a mental health crisis who require an emergency admission.

Our team works closely and collaboratively with service users, their families and the referrer to provide a seamless pathway from referral to discharge.

Our approach is recovery focused and supported by a comprehensive multidisciplinary team, contributing to shorter lengths of stay.

We also benefit from a highly specialised personality disorder service on site, and can offer a pathway for women that may require an extended therapy programme.

About us
Our dedicated clinical teams provide a full multi-disciplinary programme that includes; occupational therapy, psychology, psychiatry, offering service users the opportunities and support they need to stabilise their condition and enter society with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and optimism.

Our interventions are matched according to individual needs. Our team will always adapt their engagement technique and personnel delivering specific interventions to maximise engagement and ensure that progress is always being made with the men in our care.

Our occupational therapy department supports service users to engage in meaningful occupations, overcome barriers that prevent them from engaging in meaningful activities and focuses on supporting individuals to develop the skills needed to live a more independent and fulfilling life in the community. To support with this, we have a full therapy programme that includes a range of self-care, productive and leisure-based activities. Our occupational therapy pathway has different stages of treatment and the interventions offered will change as our service users progress through each stage of this pathway.

Job responsibilities
Occupational Therapy Directorate
Under the leadership of our occupational therapy directors we support over 150 Occupational Therapists and over 300 OT support staff. Working together as a large team we provide support to each other across the group, with the opportunity to be part of specialist interest groups & become involved in service development.

Every service line has a clinical lead occupational therapist to lead and develop evidence based practice and agreed occupational therapy pathway.

We ensure our occupational therapy team members have a voice through participating in service model development, utilising the expertise and support of our clinical lead occupational therapists.

Occupational Therapy Preceptorship & Induction:
We understand the pandemic has brought with it challenging times, and we recognise this may have had an impact on some of your placement experiences. We offer an Occupational Therapy 12 month preceptorship programme to support and consolidate core Occupational Therapy Skills.

For more insight into life as an OT at Cygnet Health Care visit;

Here you can listen to the opinions, stories and advice from our exceptional OTs it could help the next step in your career.

5 reasons why you should make an application today

• We care about people in our services
• Expert clinical supervision and protected time for a weekly 1:1 with your clinical supervisor
• Induction & service line training in area of specialism
• Dedicated CPD time for peer support, skill development and specialist training
• We support and develop you to build skills and confidence for the next level in your career.

Cygnet Health Care Benefits

• Free parking
• Free meals for staff on duty
• Relocation package available
• Group pension plan helping you save for your future
• NHS Discount Cards & Blue Light Card (includes big brand discounts)
• Wellbeing centre with exercises, recipes, financial and mental health advice.
• Plus much more

A career at Cygnet comes with excellent benefits. Whether its saving you money on the high street, with healthcare, holidays & leisure or securing your future with professional development and a pension we support you to be happy both in & out of work.

Apply now to enjoy excellent career prospects while reaping the rewards of making a difference to others every day.

If you would like to discuss this role with the recruiting occupational therapist or arrange an informal visit, wed be more than happy to facilitate this. Please contact: Jane Mosley (Occupational Therapist at Acer Lower)

View email address on meeveem.com or Kerry Booth (Regional Lead for South Yorkshire) View email address on meeveem.com

Requirements
The successful candidate will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS and reference check and an offer of employment will be subject to successful clearance.

*Recruitment agencies please note: Speculative emails are not to be sent directly to our clinical staff, these need to go via our internal recruitment team. If speculative candidates are sent directly to a member of the clinical team, we will consider these candidates as our own*

What next?
If you care about making a difference we want to talk to you.

Click the button to apply

Person Specification
General Requirements
Essential

• Please refer to job description above

Desirable

• Please refer to job description above

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details
Employer name: Cygnet Health Care
Address: Chesterfield, S43 3DN, United Kingdom
Employer's website:

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Recruiter: Katie Dixon
View email address on meeveem.com
View phone number on meeveem.com

Details
Date posted: 18 August 2026
Pay scheme: Other
Salary: £32,883 to £35,465 a year
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: VPBBD9AA36
Job locations: Chesterfield, S43 3DN, United Kingdom