Mental Health Practitioner in Watford

Site Peace CC, St Albans CC or Danestrete CDC and QEII Town St Albans and Watford or Stevenage and Welwyn Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 06/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 16/10/2026

Job overview

PALMS is looking for additional clinicians to be part of our vibrant multidisciplinary team.

We are seeking to appoint an additional Mental Health Practitioner who is a motivated and forward thinking clinician and leader committed to supporting children and young people (CYP) and their families across Hertfordshire and the full PALMS’ team. You will have experience of assessments and a range of evidence based interventions to support the needs of CYP accessing this mental health service.

PALMS works across Hertfordshire providing a specialist multi-disciplinary approach. PALMS is one of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) which offers individually tailored support for CYP, aged 0-18 who have an intellectual disability and/or are autistic, helping families to manage behaviours of concern, toileting, feeding and sleeping concerns which have not benefitted from community interventions and/or to support mental health needs which cannot be met with reasonable adjustment by other CYPMH services. Interventions include intervention workshops, intervention groups, individual therapy, parent as therapist sessions, and a family clinic. PALMS aims to keep CYP with their families thereby improving outcomes for all family members. PALMS predominantly applies narrative, systemic, positive behaviour, and bio-psycho social models adhering to the STOMP / STAMP and Transforming Care Agendas.

*Proposed interview date: 16th October 2026*

Main duties of the job

The ideal candidate will be:

• Dedicated to supporting CYP with an intellectual disability and/or are autistic and their families.
• Passionate about and have a desire to contribute to change in a vibrant NHS team
• Collaborative in their approach to work with families, networks, and other services
• Able to work both in a team environment and autonomously
• Able to maintain a high degree of professionalism when working in settings where there is a highly emotive atmosphere.
• Flexible in their approach and have resilience under pressure
• Have professional registration for their speciality

Working for our organisation

A big thank you for considering joining us at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust

You’ll find it a great place to work with many benefits offered to you as a member of our staff

We put our patients, their families and carers at the centre of our vision - Outstanding Services and Healthier Communities

Our staff are proud to be Pioneering, Caring and Inclusive in their work to help achieve the Trust vision

We welcome diversity in our workforce and are interested in applicants from all backgrounds and ages

We don’t want you to miss out so we’d like you to know that if we have a high level of interest in this role, the vacancy may close prior to the advertised closing date, so please make your application as soon as possible -

You’ve made a great decision to apply to join to HCT - we’re looking forward to taking the next steps of the journey with you.

The use of AI is monitored and if you have used it then you are required to declare this, as well as what type of AI tools you have used and for what purpose. We reserve the right to further test your individual knowledge and skills in relation to the requirements for the post through robust and thorough interview and assessment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

PALMS principally deliver a flexible service according to service need and personal circumstances, in a planned way. For example, for a full-time worker this equates to flexibly working 37.5 across the working week. PALMS are open to flexible working and therefore part time / job share would be considered, working a minimum of 0.6 WTE. We are committed to supporting flexible working options for staff and welcome discussions on flexible working patterns to support our staff to maintain a healthy work life balance.

We can offer you:

• Regular clinical and professional supervision
• Regular appraisal, personal development planning and opportunities for continuing professional development. This includes specific support with regards to fulfilling the PALMS’ role.
• Opportunities to work closely and meet regularly with a multi-disciplinary team and learn from other evidence based frameworks and approaches.
• Opportunities to provide clinical supervision and line management to other members of the PALMS team as appropriate.

A full valid driving licence and access to a car insured to use for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010). Applicants to be aware that PALMS work within the ULEZ zone and any charges due to non-compliant vehicles cannot be reimbursed by the Trust.

Interviews will be run either in person at one of our bases or using Microsoft Teams, full details and instructions will be provided to successful candidates.

HCT will prioritise recruitment of workers living in England under the new immigration rules for care workers effective from 9 April 2025. Employers must first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within England who needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

• Degree or equivalent in relevant field Professional Qualification (RMN, DipSW, OT or equivalent) supplemented by post graduate diploma specialist training, experience, short courses plus further specialist training to master’s equivalent level.
• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996), including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology.
• Experience in relevant mental health/learning disability setting.
• Specialist knowledge within the field of clinical skills gained through theoretical and practical training and experience.
• Membership of relevant professional bodies
• Approved mental health professional (AMHP)
• Further training in relevant areas of Autism, Learning Disability and mental health.

Other Specifications

• Willingness to uphold the Trust’s values
• Eligible to live and work in the UK
• Hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010)
• Willingness to travel to alternate locations to provide services.

Knowledge & Skills

• High level of communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive, abusive or hostile.
• Ability to identify appropriate evidence based interventions for mental health and/or behaviours that challenge.
• Evidence of well-developed critical decision-making skills
• An ability to make autonomous clinical judgements involving highly complex facts and situations
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, carers and colleagues

Experience

• Significant experience of risk assessment within a mental health or learning disability setting.
• Significant experience of working clinically in a mental health and/or learning disability setting assessing, containing and managing complex cases in a multi-disciplinary setting
• Experience of working with people who have an intellectual disability and/or are autistic
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole course of presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the treat of physical abuse
• Knowledge of child development, child and adolescent mental health and a range of therapeutic models
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised therapies and assessment methodologies
• Experience of dealing with Safeguarding Incidents.
• Clinical experience in a child learning disability context
• Experience of service quality monitoring.
• Clinical experience of working in child and/or adolescent mental health context
• Experience of delivering Clinical Supervision and Line Management
• Experience of multi-disciplinary team working.
• Experience of co facilitating or delivering group interventions.

Personal Abilities

• An interest in working children who have an intellectual disability and/or are autistic
• An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines
• Ability to establish and maintain professional relationships
• An ability to work effectively in a range of direct care settings with families, carers and staff.
• Good organisational skills and an ability to manage their workload
• Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently
• Ability to work as part of a ‘virtual team’.

We will communicate any interview arrangements with applicants via e-mail so it is advisable that you check the email address you give on your application on a regular basis.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band. All new appointments (excluding Medical & Dental roles) are subject to a 26 week probation period.

We are proud to be an armed forces friendly employer and support the employment of the armed forces community, including veterans, spouses and partners. For more information, contact hct.armedforcesrecruitment@nhs.net

Applications from qualified job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications, subject to you meeting minimum criteria of the role and salary threshold. Please visit the Gov.UK website for detail.

If applicable to the role, staff are required to hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car to use with business insurance (unless the member of staff has a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

In submitting an application form, you authorise Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Electronic Staff Record Inter Authority Transfer process should you be appointed to the post.

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 Lisa Cleevely Job title Registered Mental Health Nurse and Clinical Lead Email address hct.palms@nhs.net Telephone number 01727 582122