Job summary
- Main area
- CMHT Slough
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 371-MHS896
- Employer
- Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- New Horizons
- Town
- Slough
- Salary
- £50,008 - £56,908 per annum (inc. of HCAS)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/11/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner (ARRS Scheme)
Band 7
Job overview
Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner (ARRS Scheme)
Day-to-Day the successful applicant will be employed by the Trust (BHFT), but based within GP surgeries, seeing primary care patients and working on primary care systems, but with a specific mental health focus.
That being so, patients coming into primary care with mental health difficulties - rather than having a 10-minute appointment with a GP - will have a 15-30 minute appointment with a senior Mental Health Practitioner (Nurse, Social Worker or Occupational Therapist).
Although the successful applicant won't be doing 40 appointments per day like a GP does, these are still very busy roles in fast-paced environments. Most ARRS Mental Health practitioners see 14 patients on a normal day. Equally, there is no caseload, nor CPAs, nor funding applications for packages of care, nor management responsibilities - so the ancillary tasks that come with secondary care roles are certainly less.
The ARRS project has been an enormous success - patients are happy with the service, GP colleagues are happy as mental health needs are dealt with in primary carer more efficiently - and the ARRS Mental Health Practitioners who like the role really like it, but equally it's not for everyone. If you really enjoy patient contact and fast-paced work, this would suit you down to the ground, but obviously with that comes less flexibility around things like home-working, working hours, managing your own diary etc.
Main duties of the job
As above, day-to-day the successful applicant will be physically based within GP surgeries. Each Primary Care Network (PCN) has about 4 GP surgeries, and ARRS workers usually spend a day in all the surgeries on rotation.
Your clinics, like GPs' clinics, are populated by Surgery receptionists. Appointments are split between initial appointments (generally 30 mins) and follow-ups (15 mins). Key tasks involve mental state examinations, liaising with secondary services and Talking Therapies, making onward referrals.
If you're a Non-Medical Prescriber and/or have an 'Advanced History Taking' qualification, that would be ideal (but is not necessary). Respectively these would enable you to initiate first-line pharmacological treatments for Anxiety and Depression (the most common presentations in primary care; and ascribe formal diagnoses.
Most applicants don't have these qualifications, which is absolutely fine, but it means a little bit more GP contact/oversight is required when it comes to initiating and monitoring treatments in Primary Care.
You'll have access to all the same training and CPD materials and opportunities as any other clinician involved in the trust, and your line manager and clinical supervisor will be based within BHFT.
Working for our organisation
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.
Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
- Caring for and about you is our top priority
- Committed to providing good quality, safe services
- Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
- Flexible working options to support work-life balance
- 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
- Generous NHS pension scheme
- Excellent learning and career development opportunities
- ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
- Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
- Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
- Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
- Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
- Free parking across Trust sites
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The “must haves” for this role:
- Registered Mental Health Nurse/ Occupational Therapist/ Social Worker
- Experience in a leadership role
- Recent and relevant experience in an adult mental health setting.
- Excellent Risk Assessment skills and understanding of triangulation of risks
- Able to work onsite four days a week and one day from home at New Horizons Slough.
For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.
If you’re someone who shares our passion for excellence and care, you belong at Berkshire Healthcare!
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: 01753 690950 or email: [email protected] or [email protected] who’ll be delighted to help.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants where required.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Current professional registration: Registered Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist or equivalent
- Evidence of relevant post registration training and development in particular motivational interviewing, brief solution focussed interventions, cognitive and behavioural approaches and psychosocial intervention
Desirable criteria
- Independent and supplementary Prescriber
- Recognised Post Graduate clinical or leadership qualification relevant to the role
- Mentor and mentorship training
Experience
Essential criteria
- Minimum 5 years post registration experience in working with people with mental health needs.
- Community experience in mental health services for adults and older age adults with severe / significant mental illness
- Experience of providing a range of evidence based interventions to people with a variety of mental health problems and serious mental illness
- Considerable experience in the assessment and management of clinical risk. Experience in physical health assessment for people with mental health needs.
- Experience of effective collaborative working in partnership to deliver holistic health and social care outcomes.
- Evidence of Interdisciplinary / multi-agency working experience including primary care and community/ voluntary sector.
- Experience of leadership and development of junior colleagues
Skills/Abilities
Essential criteria
- Able to demonstrate commitment to high quality care and service provision
- Possess high level of IT skills including word, outlook, excel and power point.
- Ability to prioritise workload effectively, meeting expected deadlines
- Excellent analytical and decision-making skills.
- Advanced interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to communicate and work with a wide range of professionals across traditional service interfaces.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure.
- Ability to manage change and deal with conflict / stressful situations.
Knowledge/ Understanding
Essential criteria
- Advanced understanding of the mental health needs of adults.
- Specialist knowledge of person-centred care and its application.
- Able to demonstrate advanced understanding of health inequalities amongst marginalised groups
- Specialist knowledge of psycho-social interventions and their appropriate use.
- Working knowledge of appropriate assessment tools including risk management.
- Working knowledge of the policies and guidelines pertinent to the planning and delivery of community MH care to adults with mental health needs.
- Recovery focused practitioner able to apply recovery principles to adults and older people, understanding of ‘strengths- based’ approaches
- Clear understanding of psychotropic medication and the monitoring of effects and side effects
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
- Recognise peoples’ right to privacy and dignity, treating every person with respect
- Willingness to embrace integrated model and new ways of working.
- Willingness to be flexible in approach and attitude
- Ability to work flexibly, outside normal working patterns if needed
- Ability to foster good interagency working.
- Ability to represent the team / service / Trust in a professional manner.
- Ability to travel independently.
Applicant requirements
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Ashim Goswami
- Job title
- Associate Nurse Consultant
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07983702549
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