Mental Health Practitioner - COAST

We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.

At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development. We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare.

Job overview

We are seeking to recruit a passionate, knowledgeable and dynamic Mental Health Practitioner to join our well-established and innovative Sussex CAMHS Acute services. This post will be part of COAST, providing an alternative to hospital admission treatment to our young community. As a mental health practitioner, your goal is to offer support and treatment to young people and their families during a period of mental health crisis.

You will be joining a friendly, supportive and creative multi-disciplinary team and be integral in an exciting project to develop the service to introduce an intensive pathway. Together, with delivering our core business includes assessing young people's mental health, including attention to risk management and care planning, and working with families and the wider systems that support these young people.

This vacancy is Sussex wide and the ability to travel, even in remote areas over weekend and BH is essential for the role.

Main duties of the job

As a Mental Health Practitioner in our team you will be working as part of a supportive team of mental health practitioners who come from nursing, OT, social work and support worker backgrounds. You will deliver crisis assessments, brief interventions to young people and their families/carers who are experiencing a period of mental health crisis, with a particular focus on maximising skills and competencies in activities of daily living.

Contributing to the management of a team caseload of clients with complex needs, you will assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions, which will be delivered in a community & home setting. We follow a multi‑disciplinary approach and as such you will provide specialist assessment and intervention.

The ability to travel across sites is essential for this role.

This post offers the Trust's £2,000 Golden Hello or Relocation Incentive for Band 6 Nurses & Practitioners, (pro rata and subject to terms and conditions; please see attached Protocol Document for full details).

Working for our organisation

Travel easily between coast and countryside, with a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns there’s always new experiences to be enjoyed. Embrace the city life with great access to visit Brighton and London. With easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow and excellent railway links across the UK there is plenty of opportunity for adventure.

We’d love you to join our organisation that is rated ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for caring by the Care Quality Commission. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In order to be a successful Mental Health Practitioner in our team you will need:

• Registered with the NMC or HCPC or Social Work England via a core professional qualification
• Experienced in risk management
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced and varied role
• Experienced working within a mental health setting

It would also be advantageous if you are:

• Experienced working in CAMHS (Children and Young People’s mental health services)

Flexibility with working patterns to include some bank holidays/weekends and evening work is essential, as is own transport – as the role involves travel across Sussex.

Person specification

QUALIFICATIONS

• Registered Professional Qualification
• NMC, HPC or Social Work England Registration
• Post Basic Courses / Study Days
• Evidence of CPD and professional portfolio

EXPERIENCE

• Experience of working with people with mental health problems
• Understanding and contribution to the Clinical Governance Agenda
• Previous experience in similar role

SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.

Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.

SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.

If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.

In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.