Mental Health Practitioner | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

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

Job summary

A healthcare organization is seeking a Registered Mental Health Practitioner to provide specialist care for offenders. The role involves collaborating with mental health teams to ensure continuity of care and improving health outcomes. Candidates must have relevant qualifications and be able to work in a challenging environment. The position demands strong communication skills and the ability to lead clinical initiatives. Join a diverse team dedicated to positively impacting patient lives.

Qualifications

• Experience in providing mental health care in a prison setting.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a team.
• Knowledge of mental health issues and interventions.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist mental healthcare to offenders.
• Engage with community mental health teams.
• Deliver clinical leadership and supervision within the team.

Skills

Psychological assessment

Mental health interventions

Team collaboration

Communication skills

Education

Relevant mental health qualification

Job description

Are you ready to unlock your potential within a challenging, creative and fast paced work environment? Do you want to work with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past?

This is an excellent opportunity for a Registered Mental Health Practitioner to join our team of diverse, talented healthcare professionals to deliver care that is not only efficient but deeply centred on the patient.

Our healthcare team has a real impact on promoting health and well‑being to those in prison and we pride ourselves on using skills and strategies that instil hope for patients’ future resettlement back into the community. We directly deliver Mental Health, Physical Health, Pharmacy and Clinical Substance Misuse in an integrated healthcare delivery model to provide effective and responsive care to improve wellbeing and support better outcomes in the future.

This position isn’t just a job; it’s a chance to blend your clinical knowledge, personal skills and a commitment to delivering the highest standards of care in an environment that is as rewarding as it is challenging.

Important Sponsorship Information

We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

Role and Responsibilities

As a Mental Health Practitioner you will be providing specialist mental healthcare to offenders and working as part of the Mental Health In‑Reach Team, plus wider mental health services. You will be required to work in a psychologically minded way with offenders in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.

Our Mental Health Team provide specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level including referral management, screening assessment, triage, evidence‑based interventions, care planning and risk assessment, plus one‑to‑one and group‑work facilitation.

Our Mental Health Practitioners manage a mixed and challenging caseload and are required to perform robust assessment, screening and interventions to offenders with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. You will contribute to alternatives to inpatient admission and assisting with early discharge through the implementation of high intensity interventions and complex case management arrangements.

One of our key aims is to ensure continuity of care for an offender on ordinary location and reduce the length of stay, both in relation to prison inpatient services and external NHS/independent inpatient services. You will work closely with community mental health teams to ensure appropriate sharing of information, continuity of care and the Care Programme Approach for all offenders as necessary.

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).

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

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 co‑ordinate services 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.

Values and Culture

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

Application Requirements

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre‑employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

• Proof of right to work documentation
• Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
• Proof of address documentation
• Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home Office Share code.

Address History:

• 5 years address history will be needed.
• Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.
• Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.
• In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
• If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).

Closing Date

This advert closes on Monday 15 Dec 2025.