Community Mental Health Practitioner
Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.
As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive range of services, including:
- Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults, including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
- Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
- Extensive community physical health and well-being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term condition management.
The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,500 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health, general nurses, children’s nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers, as well as those specialising in learning disabilities and community physical health services.
For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 6 Mental Health Practitioner in Preston East Community Mental Health Team.
The successful candidate will: Several years post-qualification experience, ideally in a community mental health setting.
Manage a caseload of individuals with complex mental health problems.Participate in the Duty system in managing clinical inquiries and emergencies which may be referred to the team at short notice.
Undertake assessment of patients referred to the CMHT by IRS.
Provide supervision to colleagues within the team.
Deputise if required for Team Manager in submitting reports, attending and/or chairing meetings.
Assist in rota planning to ensure the team continues to always function effectively.
Preston East CMHT, based at West Strand House in the heart of Preston, delivers assessment, care and treatment to a large, varied and culturally diverse population, bringing challenge but also reward. You will be a joining an experienced, resilient and welcoming team from a variety of backgrounds
Main duties of the job
To act as a key member of the Multi-Disciplinary Team ensuring the effective assessment, planning monitoring and evaluation of care given to service users with mild/moderate and severe and enduring mental illness under the Care Programme Approach process and ensuring the effective management and supervision of staff accountable to the post holder, whilst liaising with a wide range of multi-agency professionals.
Working for our organisation
LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.
Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.
We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.
LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.
The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.
Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role.
Person specification
Education/ Qualifications
Essential criteria- Registered Mental Health Nurse
- Registered Social Worker
- Evidence of commitment to continuing professional development
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria- Understanding of Health and Safety policies and procedures
- Knowledge and practice of Mental Health Act 1983
- Demonstrate understanding of how research has influenced practice
- Can provide evidence of recent professional/personal development
- Can demonstrate the ability to manage change
Work Experience/History
Essential criteria- Previous post graduate experience
- Supervision of staff
- Able to work as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Experience of assessing, planning and implementing and reviewing care needs
- Experienced in acting as a mentor/assessor of student staff
You are advised to consider applying for LSCFT vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within four weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.
Please note that further communication from LSCFT will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCFT to contact them.
Please ensure that you read the person specification as your application will be measured against this document.
If you use AI to assist with your application, you must declare this. Undeclared use may result in withdrawal. Please ensure your application reflects your own skills and experiences. While AI tools can assist, they may produce generic or inaccurate content.We encourage you to provide personal examples that demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria.
For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).