Mental Health Practitioners - Referral and Assessment Hub in Wigan

Mental Health Practitioners - Referral and Assessment Hub

Band 6

Main area Mental Health Practitioner with experience of working in community services Grade Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week (Monday to Friday, but may be extended to seven days per week as the service develops) Job ref 437-8238990

Site Claire House Town Wigan Salary £39,959 - £48,117 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 24/09/2026 23:59

Job overview

As part of Community Transformation, we are changing the way we manage referrals. We have developed a Referral and Assessment Hub in Wigan and are looking to recruit three Mental Health Practitioners to support the screening of referrals and subsequent assessments within the Hub.

You will screen referrals to the Hub for people with mental health difficulties. Following your screening/assessment as a Trusted Assessor, you and your colleagues within the Team's MDT will determine the care pathway of the service user within mental health services, ensuring that the service user is allocated to the most appropriate service, including the VCFSE sector and Social Care.

You will provide duty assessments for the Referral and Assessment Hub at the designated base or at a venue agreed with the service user and carer. You will need to be able to travel across Wigan and Leigh. There may also be times when that duty assessment will require you to in-reach into the inpatient wards if a service user is an inpatient at the time of referral.

These posts are full time position and the working hours will be 9am-5.00pm Monday to Friday initially and over a flexible rota. Dependent on service need, the service may be extended in future to cover seven days per week, including Bank Holidays.

Main duties of the job

Key duties willinclude:

• Triage of referrals coming into the Referral and Assessment Hub as part of a multidisciplinary team, providing an onward journey if not appropriate for Community Services.
• Maintain a competent knowledge of community resources available outside of statutory services to support people in mental health recovery.
• Complete assessment for those inpatients who may require a mental health service upon discharge.
• To link in with the MDT and attend a daily meeting to discuss your assessments
• To promote awareness of the role of the Referral and Assessment Hub within local service area/team, GP practices and the wider community.
• Supporting service user, carer and stakeholder involvement
• Promote a culture of learning, education and professional development
• Adhere to the principles of safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in line with Trust Policy and local reporting procedure, ensuring junior staff compliance with this.

Please see the full job description and person specification for more details.

Working for our organisation

Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over 7000 members of staff, who deliver services from more than 122 locations.

We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford, Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the North West of England and beyond.

Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.

Wherever you go, you will experience a great Northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.

Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification

Band

Saturday (midnight to midnight) and any week day after 8pm and before 6am

All time on Sundays and Public Holidays (midnight to midnight)

1

2

3

4 – 9

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years

Person specification

Experience

• Post-registration experience of working in a multi-disciplinary Community Mental Health Team, Home Treatment Team or other statutory mental health community services
• Evidence of post-registration specialist training and development.
• Knowledge of eligibility requirements to access statutory mental health services
• Good knowledge of community assets, including VCFSE
• Previous experience in a clinical supervisory role
• NMP

Qualifications

• Professional qualification and current registration (Qualified RMN, OT or Social Worker)
• Post registration training relevant to mental health/leadership/management

Other

• Able to travel around the Trust footprint
• Ability to work over a 7 day period, from 9am to 7pm

Skills and Abilities

• Understand all Trust Policies and Procedures in community settings
• Understand the need to safeguard children and vulnerable adults
• Carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with Equal Opportunities, equality and Diversity and dignity in care and work policies and principles
• Maintain high standards of quality in corporate and clinical record keeping ensuring information is always recorded accurately, appropriately and kept up to date
• Evidence of completing mental health assessments
• Contribute to the control of risk and to report any incident, accident or near miss
• Evidence of risk and safety planning skills
• Evidence of continued learning through CPD or development
• Take reasonable care of the health and safety of yourself and other persons
• Evidence of supporting a busy duty system
• Evidence of triaging referrals
• Evidence of Completing Biopsychosocial Assessments
• Evidence of working across multiple pathways

Knowledge

• Offer advice and consultation to members of the multi-disciplinary team based on solid clinical experience of mental health assessment
• Participate in and ensure provision of Clinical Supervision, both as Supervisee and Supervisor and an understanding of the Knowledge, Skills Framework under Agenda for Change
• Ensure compliance with policy, procedure, and protocol, in consultation with the Team Managers, other Senior Practitioners and Professional Leads
• Participate in multi-agency meetings e.g., Protection of Vulnerable Adults, Child Protection.
• Understand the Clinical Governance agenda and provide professional representation in local groups supporting consultation and implementation.
• Full understanding of the Care Programme Approach including the needs and rights of Carers.
• Understanding of current national policy and initiatives in relation to severe and enduring mental health issues.
• Good knowledge of assessment and triage of referrals
• Ability to formulate needs-led, recovery-focused care and pathway plans.
• Knowledge of risk assessment and risk management processes.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation including: Mental Health Act Mental Capacity Act Care Act Section 136 processes
• Support the Team Managers and other Senior Practitioners / Professional Leads in the daily operation of the Teams.
• Promote a learning environment for students
• Detailed knowledge of local community, voluntary and third-sector services.

Communication

• Evidence of excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with service users, carers and partner agencies.
• Ability to communicate complex information and manage challenging or emotive situations.
• Experience of multidisciplinary team working.
• Experience of working across organisational boundaries with health, social care and voluntary sector partners.

Governance

• Knowledge of safeguarding responsibilities.
• Understanding of information governance and confidentiality requirements.
• Commitment to maintaining accurate clinical records.
• Understanding of clinical governance and quality improvement principles.
• Experience of participating in audits, service reviews or quality improvement initiatives
• Experience of implementing national guidance into practice.

Important Information about working for GMMH:
All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website www.nhsemployers.org

The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.

The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application.The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.

Sponsorship

We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – clickhere .

If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.

The Home Office introduces new changes from 22/07/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it here .

Do you have experience outside the NHS?

We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.

We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment. Please contact our Recruitment Team for more information.

**Please note, this vacancy may be closed at any time if sufficient applications have been received**

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.

Name Hannah Elmore Job title Team Manager Email address hannah.elmore@gmmh.nhs.uk Telephone number 01942764463

Susan Bryan Clinical Services Manager, susan.bryan@gmmh.nhs.uk

As a service user, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support.