Consultant OTs
The resources on this page are to help managers and senior OTs develop and aspire to consultant status
A consultant occupational therapist is a senior clinical and leadership role. This is a pivotal role for enabling the profession to retain clinical excellence within the career structure and provides opportunities for experts in occupational therapy practice to be retained in senior clinical leadership roles.
2010 Excellence in Stroke Care Award winner
Thérèse Jackson is a Consultant OT within stroke services and is the winner of our 2010 Excellence in Stroke Care Award. This film shows the contribution Therese makes within this domain of practice:
Consultant occupational therapists work in a variety of settings, crossing traditional boundaries and developing new ways of working
There are consultant occupational therapists working in varying areas of clinical practice, from mental health and learning disabilities to stroke and chronic fatigue. These posts have a wider role in influencing and driving strategic and service change, and using research and evidence based practice to improve outcomes for service users. A consultant occupational therapist has five core functions:
- expert clinical practice, which is central to the role
- practice and service development
- professional leadership and consultancy
- research, audit and evaluation
- education, training and development.
For more information on the roles of consultant occupational therapists and the work they do access these resources in conjunction with COT Briefing 21 - Consultant Occupational Therapist and the career planning section of the Interactive Learning Opportunities Database (ILOD):
- Download Occupational Therapy Consultant Information Sheet
Find out about the development of occupational therapy consultant posts, and the purpose and role of these positions. - Download Developing Yourself for a Consultant Therapist
This worksheet has been developed to assist you to reflect on your current skills and knowledge with a view to developing your career as a consultant occupational therapist.
Thérèse Jackson, Consultant Occupational Therapist in Stroke withNHS Grampian, has kindly given us permission to share the following posters she has produced on Consultancy:
- The Consultant Occupational Therapist in Stroke Services: Leadership in the NHS
- Consultant Occupational Therapist Career Route
The College supports a group of consultant OTs
The Consultant Occupational Therapy Forum is for consultant OTs and is open to all consultant OTs who are also members of BAOT. The Forum meets twice a year to influence and support activities, policy, publications and guidance within the profession.
Consultant OTs talk about their roles and career pathways
Consultant OTs share examples of expert clinical practice, which is central to the role and talk about professional leadership.
They also give examples of how they came into post and talk about how their career has developed, and provide examples of how they influence and are involved in strategy locally and nationally.
Consultant OTS in this video:
