ARMS Mental Health Practitioner in Colchester

Site Holmer Court Town Colchester Salary £39,959 - £48,117 per annum, pro rata for part time Salary period Yearly Closing 05/11/2026 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

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker or Occupational Therapist to work as a Recovery Co-ordinator in a newly formed At Risk Mental State (ARMS) team supporting young people aged between 14 – 35 years of age within the locality of North East Essex. The ARMS team consists of Psychology, Recovery Co-ordination and Peer Support workers with a focus on psychosocial interventions within primary care.

Main duties of the job

The role involves the Assessment and Case Co-ordination of young people who are identified with an At Risk Mental State, providing high quality evidence based care as per NICE guidelines and National Early Intervention Access & waiting time standards. You will be a highly motivated recovery focused practitioner with an interest in youth mental health and wellbeing. Using the Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States (CAARMS) assessment tool (training will be provided) you will identify and work with people who are at a greater risk of emerging with a psychotic illness who present with a wide variety of mental health and social difficulties. You will be expected to develop positive therapeutic relationships with both the person and their family and work proactively to support to offer a range psychosocial interventions including CBT and family work for up to 3 years.

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 (subject to terms and conditions)
• 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 post holder will be fully conversant and uphold their professional code of conduct.

To participate in the initial assessment of clients within 14 days from time of referral using the CAARMS to determine appropriateness for the ARMS team. To then liaise with referring agencies/FEP team to identify alternative agencies as appropriate to meet the client’s needs.

The assessment and case management of clients, managed under non-CPA, with an expectation of appropriate care planning, risk management and delivery of ongoing support and outcome monitoring.

Active engagement with identified carers/families ensuring services are provided within guidance of the Children & Families' Act and Care Act. To ensure that the needs of carers are assessed and care services are offered as necessary. To provide families and carers with psycho-education.

To provide timely psycho-social interventions relevant to an ARMS client group. These will include (but are not limited to) psychoeducation, co‑facilitating therapeutic groups with a focus on service user reintegration and social inclusion and delivering psychological interventions under appropriate supervision.

To work flexibility and participate within the Multidisciplinary Team to meet the demands of the ARMS Service.

To provide clinical supervision and professional leadership to junior staff and peer support workers and promote evidence based practice.

Attend training as provided and be responsible for keeping oneself up to date at all times with mandatory training.

Keep oneself updated in all legislative government initiatives, particularly those relevant to Early Intervention in Psychosis, At Risk Mental Health and Youth Mental Health.

Cross cover for EIP/FEP service where required to support the wider system

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registration Mental Health Nurse RMN Part 3 OR Registration with HCPC or Social Work England as a Qualified Occupational Therapist or Qualified Social Worker
• Knowledge / experience of delivering low intensity CBT informed interventions for depression, anxiety, personality disorders and/or coping with unusual experiences such as voices and delusions

Qualifications

• Meet the requirements for revalidation as set out by the NMC/HPCP/Social Work England and professional code of conduct/professional standards as relevant to your practice
• Qualified in delivering Family Interventions in line with Health Education England Guidance.

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 the 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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