Assistant Practitioner

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust; England; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A health service organization in Suffolk is seeking a compassionate Assistant Practitioner to deliver urgent mental health support to children and families. The position involves working under supervision, providing direct care, and engaging with a multidisciplinary team. Applicants should have relevant community mental health experience and a foundation degree in health or social care. The role supports a dynamic team environment with ongoing training opportunities and aims to advocate for service users' needs.

Qualifications

• Experience working with Service Users with mental health needs.
• Experience within a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT).
• Working knowledge of CPA process.

Responsibilities

• Deliver direct care and support to service users in crisis.
• Carry out delegated clinical tasks including care planning.
• Support triage and response functions for urgent referrals.
• Maintain accurate records using Trust systems.

Skills

Compassionate care

Community mental health experience

Team collaboration

Person-centered approach

Enthusiasm

Education

Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care or Mental Health

Care certificate or relevant equivalent

Job description

We are recruiting a compassionate and skilled Assistant Practitioner to join our new Under 18's Suffolk Crisis Service Team at NSFT which is due to go live from April 2026. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a dynamic team delivering urgent mental health support to children, young people and families across Suffolk.

You will work under the supervision of registered professionals to provide high-quality care and interventions, supporting individuals in crisis and helping to reduce risk in the community.

You will be part of a multidisciplinary team consisting of Consultant Psychiatrists, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, a Therapies team, Registered Nurses, Social Workers, Assistant Practitioners, Peer Support Workers, Nursery Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Community Team Managers, a Matron and a Service Manager specialising in perinatal mental health.

We are looking for an experiencedB4 Assistant Practitioner with relevant mental health and community experience to join our Perinatal Community Mental Health Team. This vacancy is based in the county of Suffolk. Within our specialist service you can look forward to a supportive and collaborative team, with friendly, visible and accessible senior staff and medics.

Main duties of the job

The under 18's Suffolk Crisis Service Team provides prevention, detection and management of mental health problems that complicate pregnancy and the postpartum year.

You will be responsible for:

Deliver direct care and support to service users in crisis, under supervision of registered clinicians.

Carry out delegated clinical tasks including care planning and interventions.

Support triage and response functions for urgent referrals, including from A&E and 111.

Maintain accurate records using Trust systems such as Lorenzo and System One.

Promote recovery-focused care and social inclusion.

Work collaboratively with families, carers, and multi-agency partners

About us

We are a cohesive, friendly, and kind team and will support you every step of the way.

This is an opportunity to work within a specialist multi-disciplinary setting, which offers a wide range of MDT clinical assessments and treatments, specific specialist perinatal therapeutic individual and group interventions. We promote a strong service user led participation culture as well as supporting partners and families.

We are looking for passionate and high-spirited individual who can be a part of our amazing team to improve services for our service users. We want people to be proactive, creative and innovative to advocate for our service users and develop our service further.

Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.

Job responsibilities

It is expected most of our work is completed face to face in service users homes or in the community, so a valid UK full driving licence is essential. Access to your own vehicle is preferred, though pool cars can be booked through the Trusts hire car system.

If youre enthusiastic, person centred and have the skills needed to work in a community setting, we would love to hear from you.

We offer a comprehensive induction programme that includes a review of the Perinatal research and literature, specific training, shadowing with colleagues and other initiatives. We believe that staff, who feel valued by their employers and are truly engaged, can provide better outcomes for our service users.

Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

Person Specification

Other

• Able to travel independently

Experience

• Working with Service Users with mental health needs
• Working within Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)
• Working knowledge and understanding of CPA process.

Qualifications

• Care certificate or relevant equivalent
• Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care/mental health or apprenticeship in H&SC/mental health L5

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.