Job summary
- Main area
- Personality disorder
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (Beginning approx 15th December 2025 and ending on 1st October 2026 with a potential to extend)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 334-NUR-7448824-SA
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Croydon Personality Disorder Service, Touchstone Centre, Alex House Ground Floor, SLAM NHS Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital
- Town
- Beckenham
- Salary
- £44,485 - £52,521 Pro rata inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 03/11/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Community practitioner - personality disorder
NHS AfC: Band 6
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
The Croydon Personality Disorder Service, based at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, is looking to recruit a Registered Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist or equivalent to the post of Community Practitioner- specialist in personality disorder. We are also open to Band 5 applicants with appropriate qualifications/experience (see JD & PS). This is to provide maternity leave cover, so is for a fixed term/secondment for 12 months, which may end on 1st October 2026, with a potential to extend. It would be an ideal opportunity for someone interested in working with patients with personality disorder/complex emotional needs and wishing to develop their skills in working with these patients. You will have worked in a multi-disciplinary mental health team. We are looking for staff with a commitment to working with people with personality disorder along with the confidence and skill to work effectively in therapeutic groups.
This is an exciting opportunities to learn a range of clinical skills working in therapeutic groups, and with personality disordered patients. You will be trained in using Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT) skills level A, the Structured Clinical Management (SCM) model, and in the competencies required to facilitate SUN (Service User Network) groups, and become an accredited SUN group facilitator. You’ll also learn skills working individually with personality disordered patients, from an experienced and well-established team.
Main duties of the job
We provide specialist, evidence-based MBT, psychotherapeutic day hospital treatment for working-age people with moderate to severe personality disorder. We also run The Sun Project, a coping skills development and crisis support group 3 times a week in central Croydon to people with or without a diagnosis of personality disorder. You will work within our team of psychotherapists, doctors, specialist community practitioners, nurses and care co-ordinators.
We offer a strong, supportive and cohesive team and this exciting post means that you get the opportunity to develop your clinical skills to attain accreditation from us in facilitation of appraisal based coping skills development groups (the SUN project), develop MBT skills in working with personality disordered patients, SCM skills and will participate in learning identified in your appraisal and personal development plan.
Working for our organisation
Our Trust headquarters is located at Denmark Hill less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2). We also provide services and operate across other locations, such as London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; and substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Lambeth, Greenwich and Wandsworth.
Benefits:
Some of our benefits are highlighted here:
Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.
Other benefits include:
Counselling services
Wellbeing events
Long service awards
Cycle to work scheme
Season ticket loan
Staff restaurants
We look forward to receiving your application.
Please note vacancy may be closed early once capacity has been met.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Registered mental health nurse, occupational therapist or mental health social worker or equivalent.
Desirable criteria
- Certified attendance at Personality Disorder Knowledge and Understanding Framework (KUF) training. Certificate of Group skills training
Experience
Essential criteria
- At least 1 year post qualifying mental health service work with people with a range of mental health problems.
- Experience of facilitating groups in a mental health setting.
- Experience of co-ordinating shifts where there is a need to assess, identify, communicate and manage patient risk issues to a range of professionals.
- Experience of supervision and or mentoring students or junior colleagues.
Desirable criteria
- Mentorship or supervision training.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge and demonstrable commitment to deliver accessible and acceptable care to people across cultural and other differences.
- A working knowledge of the physical health vulnerabilities and needs of people with mental health problems.
Desirable criteria
- Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the resilience needed to work safely with this patient group.
Ability
Essential criteria
- Ideally be a car driver with business use insurance.
- Ability to demonstrate commitment to working with people with personality disorder.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Evidence of relevant continuing professional development required by professional registering body.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Simon Shaw
- Job title
- Service Lead, Principal Psychotherapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0203 228 8541
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