Bank Band 7 Mental Health Practitioner

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West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen as part of this model for a registered nurse with a keen interest in providing outstanding support within mental health community settings.

This is an exciting Bank role that builds upon the success of other in physical health to create mental health specific roles that work alongside our GPs and other Primary Care colleagues, while receiving clinical support from our multidisciplinary mental health teams in West London Trust.

The role will offer mental health assessments and brief interventions to referred patients and will also work to support the development of mental health expertise within a defined group of GP practices aligned to a specific PCN.

Main duties of the job

The post holders will provide assessments, formulation and delivery of the psychological intervention/s in primary care, as well as supporting access to MINT or other services such as Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP), Improved Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT where needs can be better met by these services.

The post holder would be expected to work closely with experts by experience, local communities and will also be involved in raising the awareness of mental health difficulties in the general population.

• Review and support the practice lists of SMI including completion of annual reviews with the GPs.
• Where appropriate; proactively in conjunction with GPs identify and clarify where people would benefit from mental health input (e.g. IAT or other services such as MINT)
• Facilitate people with long term mental health conditions to access mental health services and transfers of care back to their GP from WLT MINT.
• Screen, Triage and deliver short term interventions based on clients’ needs and enable access to therapeutic activities working closely with voluntary, Community and third sector organisations.
• Provide an enhanced level of support to PC clinicians through advice and training to improve skills and capacity in responding to the needs of people with mental health conditions discharged back to them

Working for our organisation

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.

Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.

The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.

The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Professional qualification in mental health e.g. Occupational Therapy, Social Work or Mental Health Nursing (RMN) with current NMC/HCPC registration or Psychology as accredited by the BPS. Professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology as accredited by the BPS, and HPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist under the relevant domain
• A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following – psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy and registration with the appropriate body for that profession
• Educated to degree or Diploma level with other courses relevant to primary care mental health services e.g. CBT , Brief Solution Focussed Therapy etc.
• Evidence of recent and ongoing relevant further professional development
• Attendance at specialist short courses relevant to the post (e.g. MBT/DBT, Trauma Informed Care, Group Approaches)

Experience

• Experience of work in the NHS, PCNs or outreach work, or local engagement work (e.g. youth worker, mentoring, peer support etc.), experience of working in voluntary sector, working in community groups.
• Experience of working in General Practice
• Experience of working with Complex Emotional Needs (previously termed Personality Disorders)
• Mental health care and/or working with carers and/or delivering therapeutic group
• Work in multi-cultural settings and work with interpreters
• Mental health issues as a service user or carer
• Evidence of experience in a Band 6 position or equivalent
• Experience of case finding
• Work with behaviours that challenge services
• Experience of working in a primary care setting/ social care/ voluntary sector
• Experience of supervising junior staff within own and/or other disciplines
• Experience of conducting audit, evaluation or research

Knowledge

• Basic understanding of health care systems and structures: staffing, roles and responsibilities, the role of hospitals, primary care and community care
• Team/self-management and organisation skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken and revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the service
• Knowledge of counselling skills/cognitive behavioural skills, psychosocial interventions Knowledge of recovery
• Contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others
• Manage effectively verbal aggression for service users, families, etc. and the risk of physical aggression
• Ability to engage challenging and/or acutely distressed patients in potentially hostile a/ antagonistic situations and use de-escalation techniques effectively Assessment and treatment of Deliberate Self Harm
• Risk assessment/management and crisis intervention skills

Skills

• Being able to work flexibly across local environments
• Concentrate intensely for a substantial proportion of working time, during client contact, teaching/supervision sessions, team meetings, preparing written work etc
• Use IT packages – word processing, e‑mail and internet, Excel and Access
• Plan, organise and prioritise own workload
• Record & report on clinical information as required
• Ability to use or learn NHS clinical systems

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre‑employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks . After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR ).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We encourage the thoughtful use of technology as a demonstration of strong time management and a commitment to innovation. However, we encourage applicants to personalise your recruitment application to showcase your unique skills and experiences.

While AI-generated content can be a helpful tool, relying solely on generic responses instead of highlighting your own strengths and achievements may impact the success of your application. The success of an application will always be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria for the role, so it is important to ensure that your application and any supporting information clearly demonstrate how you meet these requirements.

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.

At West London NHS Trust, we want you to support you to build a career you can be proud of and this starts before your first day with us. Our people live our values every day as they deliver, manage and work to improve our services to patients, carers, families and other professionals.

We’re committed to making our recruitment process clear and efficient. It’s in everyone’s interest that we get the very best people on board as soon as we can.

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