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

NHS; Norwich; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the healthcare sector seeks a Senior Mental Health Practitioner for their Under 18's Crisis Service. The role involves providing community-based support to children and families, requiring travel across Norfolk. With opportunities for both full-time and part-time roles, the successful candidate will join an award-winning team dedicated to making a difference in young people's lives.

Benefits

Welcome Bonus

Ongoing training and development

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Registered professional in mental health or related field.
• At least 12 months experience in a mental health setting.
• Ongoing professional development towards degree level.

Responsibilities

• Support young people and families in crisis across Norfolk and Waveney.
• Conduct effective risk assessments and deliver clinical interventions.
• Work across various sites as required by the role.

Skills

Communication

Engagement

Risk assessment

Decision-making

Education

Registered Mental Health or Learning Disability Nurse

Occupational Therapist

Social Worker with relevant registration

Tools

Electronic Patient Record system

Job description

Job summary

£3K Welcome Bonus (T&C'S APPLY)

"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.

About us

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.

Details Date posted

06 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year gross per annum (pro rata)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

246-GYW6993373-C

Job locations

80 St Stephens

80 St Stephens Road

Norwich

NR1 3RE

Job description Job 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**

Job description Job 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 Essential

• Registered Mental Health or Learning Disability Nurse, Occupational Therapist OR Social Worker with the relevant professional registration
• Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor training (NMC registrants) or Practice Educator (AHP & Social Worker Registrants)
• Ongoing professional development working towards degree level ( if professional registration is following a diploma level course)

Desirable

• Recognised Leadership/Management training
• Higher degree or post graduate certificate in area of clinical / therapeutic practice

Experience Essential

• 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
• Demonstrable experience in assessment of mental health
• Experience in working in team delivering person centred treatment packages
• Experience of managing a caseload and the provision of Mental Health Care services to people with mental health care needs
• Experience supervising others/students including preceptorship programme, student placements etc

Desirable

• Experience in supporting service development
• Experience in delivering group based interventions
• interventions Experience in supporting service development and quality improvement initiatives
• Experience working in the specific area

Skills Essential

• Excellent communication and engagement skills Conflict resolution and Breakaway training (or requirement to undertake within first 12 weeks)
• Competent assessment skills
• Effective analytical and decision-making skills
• Care planning and Risk assessment knowledge and skills
• Able to effectively prioritise own workload
• Computer skills and experience of using an Electronic Patient Record system
• Competent and effective documentation

Desirable

• Able to time manage and reflect on clinical practice
• Prevention and Management of Suicide training
• Medicine Management
• Safeguarding training

Knowledge Essential

• The ability to use clinical assessment tools and outcome measures effectively and collaboratively
• An understanding of the policies and guidelines both local and national e.g. National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines (Government initiative) Up to date knowledge of legal and ethical frameworks including Mental Health Act.
• Have the ability to discuss, identify and escalate safeguarding issues in a sensitive way to protect those who are vulnerable
• Ensure care is values-based, nonjudgemental and equitable, and supports the principles of equality, diversity and inclusivity being met.

Desirable

• 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 Essential

• Ability to travel independently

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Registered Mental Health or Learning Disability Nurse, Occupational Therapist OR Social Worker with the relevant professional registration
• Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor training (NMC registrants) or Practice Educator (AHP & Social Worker Registrants)
• Ongoing professional development working towards degree level ( if professional registration is following a diploma level course)

Desirable

• Recognised Leadership/Management training
• Higher degree or post graduate certificate in area of clinical / therapeutic practice

Experience Essential

• 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
• Demonstrable experience in assessment of mental health
• Experience in working in team delivering person centred treatment packages
• Experience of managing a caseload and the provision of Mental Health Care services to people with mental health care needs
• Experience supervising others/students including preceptorship programme, student placements etc

Desirable

• Experience in supporting service development
• Experience in delivering group based interventions
• interventions Experience in supporting service development and quality improvement initiatives
• Experience working in the specific area

Skills Essential

• Excellent communication and engagement skills Conflict resolution and Breakaway training (or requirement to undertake within first 12 weeks)
• Competent assessment skills
• Effective analytical and decision-making skills
• Care planning and Risk assessment knowledge and skills
• Able to effectively prioritise own workload
• Computer skills and experience of using an Electronic Patient Record system
• Competent and effective documentation

Desirable

• Able to time manage and reflect on clinical practice
• Prevention and Management of Suicide training
• Medicine Management
• Safeguarding training

Knowledge Essential

• The ability to use clinical assessment tools and outcome measures effectively and collaboratively
• An understanding of the policies and guidelines both local and national e.g. National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines (Government initiative) Up to date knowledge of legal and ethical frameworks including Mental Health Act.
• Have the ability to discuss, identify and escalate safeguarding issues in a sensitive way to protect those who are vulnerable
• Ensure care is values-based, nonjudgemental and equitable, and supports the principles of equality, diversity and inclusivity being met.

Desirable

• 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 Essential

• Ability to travel independently

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information 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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

80 St Stephens

80 St Stephens Road

Norwich

NR1 3RE

Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

80 St Stephens

80 St Stephens Road

Norwich

NR1 3RE

Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)