Bank Mental Health Practitioner -Kent Prisons | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Rochester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK is seeking a Mental Health Practitioner to deliver specialist mental healthcare in prison settings. The role involves working closely with multidisciplinary teams, conducting assessments, and managing a caseload to ensure timely and effective mental health interventions. Suitable candidates will possess a relevant mental health qualification and have experience working in similar environments.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Comprehensive training programs

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Experience in mental health settings.
• Ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Proficiency in conducting assessments and developing care plans.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist mental healthcare to service users.
• Manage a challenging caseload with timely interventions.
• Collaborate closely with community mental health teams.

Skills

Mental health care expertise

Intervention techniques

Team collaboration

Communication skills

Education

Relevant mental health qualification

Job description

Thank you for taking an interest in our Mental Health Practitioner Bank Role.

We hope that you find this overview useful and look forward to receiving your application.

Prison Locations

• HMP Elmley – Isle of Sheppey – Category B – Remand – 1,200 (male) – 24/7
• HMP Swaleside – Category B – High Security – 1,200 (male) – Inc. Inpatient Unit
• HMP Standford Hill – Category D – Open – 500 (male) – Standard
• HMP Rochester / HMP Cookham Wood – Category C – 650 (male) – 24/7
• HMP Maidstone – Category C – 500 (male) – 24/7
• HMP E Sutton Park – Category D – Open – 100 (female) – Standard

The seven prisons are located across three estates, Isle of Sheppey, Rochester and Maidstone, with the Isle of Sheppey prisons being a few minutes’ walk from each other and East Sutton Park approximately 7 miles from Maidstone.

Overview of the Post

To provide specialist mental healthcare to service users and to work as part of the Mental Health In‑Reach Team and wider MDT.

Key Responsibilities

To deliver a range of specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level; to include Referral management, screening assessment, triage, and evidence‑based interventions, Care Planning and risk assessment, and One‑to‑one and group‑work facilitation while managing a mixed and challenging caseload.

Key Principles of the Health and Wellbeing Model for Prison Service

• Service user focus with health promotion at the heart of our care
• Putting the right staff in the right place at the right time – specialist posts to ensure that experience is on hand to lead and support service users by employing specialist practitioners in neurodevelopmental long‑term conditions, older adults, complex case practitioners and discharge coordinators.
• Designing and delivering healthcare for the unique needs of each prison setting. Being highly supportive of clinical and prison staff with training and support enabling the team to work smarter and as part of an effective MDT.

Key Task and Responsibilities

To perform robust assessment, screening, and interventions to service users with mental health and neurodevelopmental and trauma needs.

Ensure that all waiting time, assessment and interventions are delivered in a timely manner, and positively contribute to the achievement of the service’s performance targets.

Ensure integrated and collaborative working with other specialist services, including continuity of care and through the gate arrangements and liaison.

Work closely with community mental health teams (CMHTs) to ensure appropriate sharing of information, continuity of care and the Care Programme Approach (CPA) for all service users where necessary.

To provide comprehensive and timely reports and mental health expertise to multi‑agency public protection panels (MAPPA), police, probation services, solicitors and court liaison teams as directed.

Deliver active clinical leadership and supervision within the team, covering for the manager and colleagues as required. To receive supervision as directed (line management and clinical).

To participate in resource centre services as directed, delivering psychological therapy and specialist activities under the direction of the clinical lead.

To work in a psychologically minded way with service users in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.

Close working relationships with all prison staff, to include participation in sentence planning, resettlement, safer custody, and the ACCT processes.

To develop and take on a specialist lead role as appropriate and provide peer support and training in this area.

To contribute towards support, advice, consultation, and training for prison staff.

The post holder will be part of a skilled multidisciplinary team (MDT) comprising of all healthcare staff, including strategic partners, and prison managing a single referral pathway.

The post holder will be required to undertake training to maximise uptake of screening, health promotion and prevention activity, including vaccinations.

The post holder will be required to hold a caseload and care coordinate services uses with secondary mental health and complex needs. Ensuring a proactive, evidence‑based approach to clinical interventions, health promotion/prevention activity, and management of acute and long‑term conditions using a stepped care approach.

The post holder will ensure that a single, integrated, care plan is devolved in collaboration with service users and responsible for facilitating the development of comprehensive risk assessment, crisis plans, rapid access plans, advance statements etc, involving other agencies such as primary care etc where appropriate. Ensure the individualised care is regularly reviewed and updated where necessary.

The post holder as a care coordinator will attend/contribute in a weekly MDT meeting for service users on secondary case load and complex care needs. This will ensure a tailored individual needs approach.

The post holder will ensure that they undertake all training in evidence‑based CBT approaches, to enhance consistency and quality of care delivery.

The post holder will support patients to manage all areas of their health at every stage, from oral health to long term conditions.

The post holder will ensure that health promotion embedded into every aspect of the service.

Main Responsibilities

• To communicate effectively on a range of issues that are often complex in their nature and in complex situations.
• Participate in the annual appraisal reviews and demonstrate reflective practice through the Knowledge and Skills Framework.
• To maintain comprehensive and timely electronic clinical records ensuring confidentiality is maintained at all times.
• Provide supervision, mentorship & leadership for junior staff. Take all necessary care in the working environment, adhering to relevant health and safety policies.
• Participate and positively contribute to the services integrated clinical governance arrangements.
• Carry out administrative tasks as directed including research, audit, data, and activity statistics.

Custodial Responsibilities

• Assume personal responsibility for the security of issued keys.
• Understand and comply with prison orders, procedures, and instructions in your area of work.
• Comply with all security requirements.
• Respond to any situation or circumstance that might indicate a threat to security of the establishment or to the safety of an individual, completing Incident, Security, Injury, or other reports as appropriate.
• Report breaches of order and discipline including reporting and recording untoward incidents according to local protocol.
• Contribute to effective risk assessment and management procedures.

About Oxleas

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We’re Kind
• We’re Fair
• We’re Listen
• We’re Care

This advert closes on Tuesday 9 Dec 2025.