Children & Family Senior Mental Health Practitioner*£3k Welcome Bonus*

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust; Norwich; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking organization as a Senior Mental Health Practitioner, where your passion for supporting children and families can truly make a difference. This dynamic role within an award-winning team offers the chance to work creatively with young people facing mental health challenges. Enjoy flexible working opportunities while being part of a vibrant service that prioritizes therapeutic relationships and community support. With ongoing training and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, you’ll thrive in an environment that values your contributions and fosters professional growth.

Benefits

£3,000 Welcome Bonus

Flexible working opportunities

Ongoing training and development

Qualifications

• Experience in mental health practice and clinical interventions.
• Ability to demonstrate effective risk assessment and management.

Responsibilities

• Provide community-based intensive support to children and families.
• Establish trusting therapeutic relationships to reduce distress.

Skills

Risk assessment knowledge

Basic computer skills

Psychosocial interventions

Education

Nursing degree or equivalent

Dip OT, Clinical Psychology or equivalent

Job description

Children & Family Senior Mental Health Practitioner*£3k Welcome Bonus*

Band 6

Main area Mental Health Practitioner Grade Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Part time
• Flexible working

37.5 hours per week Job ref 246-GYW6993373-B

Site 80 St Stephens Town Norwich Salary £37,338 - £44,962 gross per annum (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 18/05/2025 23:59

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience

YOUR APPLICATION

We can provide all our job application materials in alternative formats so that these are accessible to everyone. Should you require any documents within this job pack in an alternative format, please do not hesitate to contact us at [e-mail].

PLEASE NOTE: If you use a hotmail, msn or yahoo e-mail account, you will need to check your "junk" mail regularly as these email providers will divert any communication from this Trust/NHS JOBS straight into your " junk" inbox.

Please note, NSFT uses tools to screen any applications generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Job overview

“I love working in CAIST for the difference we can make in a young person’s and their family/carer’s life, through their most difficult times.” Come and join our award winning team!

Is your passion working creatively with children and families? Looking for a role with flexible working opportunities?

We are excited to offer an opportunity to join our Award Winning Under 18’s Crisis Service as a Senior Mental Health Practitioner supporting young people and their families across Norfolk and Waveney.

We have bases in East, Central & West Norfolk; we allocate a base closest to where you live. The role is peripatetic so on occasion you may need to travel to different sites, so being able to travel independently is essential.

The CAIST (Crisis, Assessment & Intensive Support Team) service is a vibrant and dynamic service that has 3 teams based across Norfolk & Waveney and currently offers an 08.00 to 20.00 service, 7 days a week.

The team offers community based intensive support to children, young people & their families. CAIST aim to establish trusting therapeutic relationships, to reduce risks when children & young people may be experiencing high levels of distress.

When you join CAIST, you can expect your role to be varied and diverse – no two days are ever the same!

Main duties of the job

Don’t just take our word for it, hear what one of the team said about working with us:

“The team consists of a variety of great individuals from all backgrounds and skills, who feel passionately about supporting young people and what we do; this is demonstrated in the hard work and passion for the job.

Despite being challenging at times, working within the CAIST team is incredibly rewarding. Skill development and progression is encouraged to continually evolve and expand the service and I feel proud to be a part of such an amazing team.”

Whilst experience in working with children and young people would make you perfectly suited to this role, we are really open to welcoming people from clinical backgrounds who have experience in other areas of mental health. We understand that you will be able to bring with you a wealth of skills and experience to the team and would welcome new ways of thinking.

We are looking for people to join us with enthusiasm, optimism, fresh ideas and energy. We will expect you to want to work clinically but be equally as comfortable being part of strategic decision making.

We would love to hear from you if you have experience in working with people who suffer with mental health difficulties, and you have at least 12 months post qualification experience in a mental health setting or similar.

Working for our organisation

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 nursing networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We want you in our team if you share our values and core beliefs. If you want to work in an environment of mutual respect, transparency, integrity and collaborative working we are the team for you.

Please read the job description/person specification carefully and ensure your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience needed.

This post attracts a recruitment premium of £3,000 (pro-rata for part time roles). This is a one off payment with half paid on appointment and half paid after the completion of a satisfactory probation period (6 months). The premium is taxable. Please note that should you leave employment, or choose to move to an alternative post within the Trust that does not attract this recruitment premium, you will be required to reimburse all or some it, as follows: 100% of the value of the premium in the first 12 months; 50% of the value of the premium in the period 12 months to 2 years following appointment.

**Previous applicants need not apply**

Person specification

Qualifications

• Nursing degree or equivalent, Dip OT, Clinical Psychology or equivalent

Experience

• Able to demonstrate an appropriate level of knowledge of mental health practice from previous experience
• Demonstrate effective risk assessment and risk management experience
• Experience in the delivery of clinical interventions
• Experience in supporting service development

Skills

• Risk assessment knowledge and skills
• Basic computer skills including use of email/internet

Knowledge

• Knowledge of psychosocial interventions
• An understanding of the policies and guidelines both local and national e.g. National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines (Government initiative)
• Developing knowledge of local wider systems and networks
• Able to time manage and reflect on clinical practice PMA Training Prevention and Management of Suicide training

Other

• Ability to travel independently

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Apart from its legal duties in relation to equality and diversity, the Trust recognises and actively promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.

As a part of the Disability Confident Employer Guaranteed Interview Scheme we interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job vacancy (outlined in the Person Specification).. We encourage you to indicate your eligibility through TRAC jobs when applying.

DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECK (formerly CRB)
FOR POSTS WITH DIRECT SERVICE USER CONTACT - Please be advised that due to recent changes in the DBS Service, organisations no longer receive copies of DBS Disclosures – these are sent directly to candidates only. Therefore, it will be your responsibility, if successful, to ensure that this is taken to the appointing officer as soon as you receive it.

Alternatively, if you have subscribed to the update service, we will be able to check your status once we have your authority to do so.

The Trust has now introduced a DBS Update Service which is a contractual requirement. You need to subscribe when you have applied for your DBS clearance and there is a time limit to subscribe of 19 days after receipt of your DBS disclosure. Please ensure that this is completed within the set time scale.

This update service is an annual subscription at a cost of £16 to you. This will enable the Trust to have instant online access to your DBS record, with your consent, and so will remove the need for you to have to apply for this repeat check again.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.