Band 5/6 Development Specialist Mental Health Practitioner - Devizes

Avon And Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Nhs Trust; Devizes; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Avon And Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust invites applications for a Band 5 developmental practitioner who is recently qualified or aiming to progress toward Band 6, with enhanced supervision, mentorship, and a clear development journey.

You will work within an experienced MDT, contribute to risk discussion, care coordination, and decision-making, and develop autonomous clinical reasoning in a fast-paced environment.

Job description

Support the screening, triage, and assessment of referrals, working within agreed clinical and operational frameworks.

Demonstrate the ability to assess, and prioritise referrals based on clinical risk, acuity, complexity, and identified need, with appropriate supervision.

Identify and recommend appropriate care pathways and disposition routes, including onward referrals, signposting, and service allocation, in line with local and national guidance.

Clearly articulate clinical decision-making and rationale for triage outcomes and pathway recommendations, both verbally and through high-quality clinical documentation.

Undertake initial assessments, synthesising relevant clinical, psychosocial, and risk information to inform care planning.

Work collaboratively with the MDT, contributing to discussions around risk management, formulation, and care coordination.

Proactively utiliseclinical supervision, reflective practice, and feedback to support the development of autonomous Band 6-level skills, including complex decision-making.

Develop confidence in managingclinical uncertainty, problem-solving, and prioritisation in a fast-paced environment, escalating appropriately when required.

Contribute to maintaining safe and effective flow through the service, recognising pressures and balancing risk with responsiveness.

Maintain accurate, timely, and professionalrecords, ensuring decisions and rationales are clearly documented in line with Trust policy and professional standards.

Following a very successful first recruitment, we are now offering another Band 5 developmental opportunity for a motivated and enthusiastic practitioner who is either recently qualified or looking to develop from a Band 5 role towards a more autonomous Band 6 level of practice.

This post is ideal for someone who is highly engaged in their work, demonstrates strong problem-solving skills, and is keen to build confidence, autonomy, and clinical decision-making. The successful candidate will be motivated to develop their clinical reasoning and rationale, and to take on the additional responsibilities associated with a more senior role, with robust support in place.

You will be embedded within an experienced and supportive team of Band 6 practitioners, working closely with the wider multidisciplinary team. Although you will largely undertake the duties of a Band 6 practitioner, this will be with enhanced supervision, mentorship, and structured support to ensure safe practice and ongoing development. A named supervisor will guide you through a clear developmental journey, helping you to consolidate skills, grow confidence, and progress towards greater independence.

This is a fast-paced and rewarding development role, offering significant opportunities for learning and progression. For the right person, it represents a genuine chance for rapid professional growth within a well-established, collaborative service that values curiosity, reflection, and high-quality clinical care.

We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We aim to provideHigh Quality, Compassionate Careeverywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy.

Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200miles, to more than 1.8million people.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.