Senior Practitioner – Forensics in Billericay

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Site 2 Health Close Town BILLERICAY Salary £49,387 - £56,515 annum + 5% High Cost Allowance Salary period Yearly Closing 26/10/2026 23:59

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.

Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.

We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.

You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.

The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.

We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.

We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.

We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.

Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Senior Forensic Practitioner to join the Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT). This Band 7 role provides clinical and operational leadership within a specialist forensic community service, working as part of a multidisciplinary team to support service users with complex social, forensic and rehabilitation needs.

You will hold a clinical caseload alongside your leadership responsibilities, and contribute to the management and coordination of the wider team caseload, providing clinical leadership and supporting effective multidisciplinary working.

SCFT is developing its service model to strengthen geographical working across Essex. This includes three geographical teams, shared clinical leadership and access to specialist resources across the service. The service is also introducing extended-hours working to increase planned clinical capacity and respond appropriately to changing patient need.

You will contribute positively to these developments and help implement new ways of working. This includes working flexibly with colleagues across the service, supporting effective primary and secondary working arrangements, and improving continuity of care, transition and discharge.

You will work closely with the Service Manager and the wider multidisciplinary team, providing clinical leadership, supporting staff and maintaining high standards of clinical practice and service delivery.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Forensic Practitioner in the Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT), you will provide clinical and operational leadership while holding a caseload of service users with complex needs.

You will manage and coordinate the team caseload, ensuring service users receive appropriate assessment, care planning, risk management and rehabilitation support. Drawing on a detailed understanding of their needs and risks, you will contribute to effective clinical decision-making and provide advice on complex clinical and forensic matters.

You will lead the multidisciplinary team, chairing MDT meetings where required.

You will help develop the SCFT service model, including the move to three geographical teams, stronger local working and shared clinical responsibility. You will support primary and secondary working arrangements to maintain continuity of care, effective cross-cover and good use of the wider team's skills. As the model evolves, you will also help develop extended-hours working, supporting planned clinical activity and timely responses to changing need and risk.

You will contribute to transition and discharge planning, working with inpatient services, community mental health services, local authorities and other partners to support appropriate movement through services.

You will also contribute to supervision, appraisal, staff development, service improvement, partnership working and the management of clinical risk.

Working for our organisation

Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you.

• Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential.
• Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks.
• If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.
• 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service.
• Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay.
• Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits.
• £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us
• Season ticket loans are interest‑free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.

Work that wraps around your needs

• Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT) provides specialist community forensic mental health support to service users with forensic histories and complex social, clinical and rehabilitation needs.

As Senior Forensic Practitioner, you will provide clinical and operational leadership within the team, working closely with the Service Manager and the wider multidisciplinary team to maintain standards of clinical practice and service delivery.

You will be responsible for managing and coordinating the team caseload and will maintain a detailed understanding of the service users being supported by the team. You will ensure that care planning, risk assessment, risk management and rehabilitation planning are carried out effectively and in accordance with relevant professional and Trust requirements.

You will hold a caseload of service users, including those with complex needs, and collaborate with other members of the team in their support and management. Caseload size and composition will be determined according to service requirements, patient need and the demands of the role.

You will provide clinical leadership within the multidisciplinary team and contribute to effective MDT decision‑making. This will include chairing MDT meetings where required, providing professional advice, supporting complex clinical decision‑making and ensuring that concerns relating to clinical risk are appropriately identified and managed.

You will work closely with colleagues across the Trust and with external agencies and statutory partners. Effective partnership working will be important in supporting service users with complex social, forensic and rehabilitation needs and in promoting effective transition and discharge.

SCFT is developing its service model to provide a more integrated geographical approach across Essex. The developing model includes three geographical teams, with shared clinical leadership and access to specialist resources across the service.

The postholder will contribute to the development and implementation of this model, working with colleagues to establish effective team arrangements and ways of working. This will include supporting primary and secondary working arrangements, effective cross‑cover and shared responsibility for service users.

The service is also developing extended‑hours working to increase planned clinical capacity and provide an appropriate response to patient need and risk. The postholder will be expected to contribute to the development and implementation of these arrangements as the service model progresses.

You will support the service to move towards more planned and coordinated clinical work, while maintaining the ability to respond to changing clinical need and risk.

You will contribute to improving patient flow through effective transition, discharge and step‑down arrangements. This will include working closely with inpatient services, community mental health teams, local authorities and other partner agencies.

Clinical and team leadership

You will provide clinical leadership to the multidisciplinary team and support effective decision‑making in relation to complex clinical and forensic presentations.

You will contribute to the supervision, appraisal and development of staff and provide support and guidance to members of the multidisciplinary team. You will also contribute to recruitment, performance management and staff development within the team.

You will organise and manage your own time in response to the demands of the team and its caseload. You will need to balance competing priorities, respond to changing demands and manage unpredictable work patterns while maintaining safe and effective clinical practice.

Clinical governance and service improvement

You will contribute to clinical governance, audit, quality improvement and risk management and support the implementation of changes to practice.

You will work with colleagues to identify areas for improvement and support the development of effective and responsive specialist forensic community services.

You will contribute to the education and development of students and other learners, undertaking appropriate practise education responsibilities where applicable to your professional role.

Person specification

Education/ Qualifications

• Relevant professional qualification (Nursing, Social Work, Occupational Therapy)

Skills / Experience

• Significant experience working at Band 7 level (or equivalent), or evidence of undertaking responsibilities at Band 7 level, in a relevant clinical or forensic setting.
• Evidence of post qualifying continued learning and proven awareness of developments in criminal justice & mental health
• Experience in offender mental health setting

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre‑employment checks.

Please note -staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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