Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others. There’s a place for you at CNWL. We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.

Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people. We’re always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we’re hoping to find our future leaders and we’ll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run. Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference.

We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff. We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Job overview

We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) to join our team at CNWL Talking Therapies Service Brent. We are a large, well established service based in a diverse borough of London. Our service provides low and high intensity therapies at Step 2 and Step 3, alongside our Step 3 counselling service. We are passionate about the work we do and care provided to service users, and work by the trust values of compassion, respect, empowerment and partnership. Our team is key in the work we do and service provided to the population of Brent.

We are looking for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, who are adaptable, enjoy challenges and diversity and demonstrate an enthusiasm for primary care work. We particularly welcome applicants who speak other languages and who have enthusiasm for and experience of working with diversity.

Main duties of the job

• You will be working within a stepped care model, providing assessments and delivering evidence based low intensity interventions for people with common mental health problems.
• Assessments and interventions may be delivered face to face, via digital platform (Teams) or via the telephone.
• You would also be expected to deliver psychoeducational workshops and become involved in working within the local community and establishing links with voluntary service organisations to promote the service.
• You will receive regular clinical supervision and support from a qualified therapist and work closely with other clinical practitioners within the team.
• The Brent Talking Therapies service has close links with other IAPT teams in CNWL, as well as, wider links with other mental health teams within Brent.
• We have a strong tradition of supporting staff development and further progression onto higher training.

Working for our organisation

The catchment area of the post is the London borough of Brent. The main hub for the service is based at Fairfields House in Kingsbury and there is a satellite hub at Bell House in Willesden Green. You will be required to work across both hubs and in other parts of the borough, e.g. GP surgeries and community settings.

We operate an agile working policy where staff combine remote working and being on-site to deliver face-to-face appointments and other service commitments that require a hub-based presence. The post-holder will work full-time hours and may be required to work at any times between 8am and 8pm on weekdays including an evening clinic as required by the service. Wellbeing is important within our service and we are a collaborative and cohesive team. We have a dedicated wellbeing group within the service to help support individuals' and the wider team wellbeing.

Benefits of working for CNWL include:

• 27 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays, with an increase to 33 days with continuous service.
• NHS discount.
• Opportunities for career progression.
• New starters will have a 13-week probation period which is a supportive process to allow individuals to learn and work within the key aspects of their role over a period of time.

If you would like to see what it’s like to work for CNWL please have a look at https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To accept referrals via agreed protocols within the service. This includes participation in the teams duty and triage rota to screen referrals along with a high intensity therapist and a senior clinician.
• To assess and support people with a common mental health problem in the self management of their recovery.
• To undertake patient-centred interviews which identify areas where the person wishes to see change and or recovery and makes an accurate assessment of risk to self and others.
• To make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the departments referral protocols, refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary or step up the persons treatment to high intensity psychological therapy.
• To provide a range of information and support for evidence based high-volume low-intensity psychological treatments. This may include guided self-help computerised CBT, information about pharmacological treatments. This work may be face to face, telephone or via other media.
• To educate and involve family members and others in treatment where necessary and appropriate.
• To adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the overall number of client contacts offered, and clinical sessions carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.
• To attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.
• To complete all requirements relating to data collection within the service.
• To keep coherent records of all clinical activity in line with service protocols and use these records and clinical outcome data in clinical decision making.
• To work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to maintain a stepped care approach.
• To assess and integrate issues surrounding work and employment into the overall therapy process.
• To operate at all times from an inclusive values base which promotes recovery and recognises and respects diversity.
• To prepare and present clinical information for all patients on their caseload to clinical case management supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis, in order to ensure safe practice and the clinical governance obligations of the worker, supervisor and service are delivered.
• To deal with a range of clients and clinical situations, including those involving highly emotive communication and the need to apply initiative, tact and persuasion in the face of psychological challenges.