Mental Health Risk and Referrals Manager | Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust; Burgess Hill, Horsham, Crawley; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK is seeking a Mental Health Risk and Referrals Manager. The role involves overseeing a duty team, managing clinical risks, and ensuring effective referrals to services. Ideal candidates will have experience in primary and secondary mental health care, strong communication skills, and a commitment to inclusive practices. Flexible working options and excellent professional development opportunities are available.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Excellent training and development opportunities

Community engagement initiatives

Qualifications

• Experience in primary and secondary mental health care is essential.
• Ability to manage client interactions with compassion and understanding.
• Strong understanding of clinical risk and safeguarding processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage screening of relevant self and professional referrals.
• Provide duty cover and organize the duty rota.
• Maintain substantial client contact for screening suitability.

Skills

Mental Health Knowledge

Risk Management

Communication Skills

Education

Relevant healthcare qualification

Job description

Overview

Calling Mental Health Nurses (RMNs), Occupational Therapists, Psychological Therapists and other mental health professionals with experience of primary and secondary mental health care. This is a role overseeing and working with a duty team, focused on supporting patients to access primary care services safely. NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies (previously known as IAPT) is nationally recognised as a high performing talking therapies service with a reputation for clinical excellence, innovation and collaborative working with secondary care and voluntary services. We provide a range of NICE compliant psychological therapies for people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, and achieve excellent recovery outcomes for our patients. We have good staff retention and aim to grow inclusive staff teams where diversity is valued and the workforce reflects the communities served.

We are excited to announce we are looking for a further Mental Health Risk and Referrals Manager to complement our current team of two and work alongside the Clinical Leadership team. We are collaborative in the way we work, encouraging everyone to contribute ideas and suggestions for continual improvement, and have made creative adaptations to our Duty system in response to our Mental Health Risk and Referral Managers' feedback.

Responsibilities

• Manage screening of relevant self and professional referrals carried out by a team of Duty Workers.
• Provide duty cover when needed and work alongside the Clinical Leadership team to organise and deliver the established NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies duty rota.
• Offer system advice and support to CBT Therapists, Counsellors, PWPs and the Administrative Team about all aspects of clinical risk, supporting robust risk management and safeguarding processes across the service.
• Maintain substantial client contact by telephone, often with distressed individuals, to screen suitability for the service and make appropriate referrals into secondary mental health services.
• Manage the interface between NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies and secondary mental health care services.
• Report to the Deputy Clinical Lead and engage with the West Sussex Triage Hub within the Community Mental Health Framework for Adults and Older Adults’ No Wrong Front Door approach.

Location and Working Arrangements

We have bases in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Crawley and Horsham and are open to discussing the applicant's base preference. Staff deliver services from 8am to 8pm and contribute 7.5 hours of cover over this daily time frame. We have adapted our service to enable psychological therapies via video and telephone work, with a blended approach involving home working and on-site work. The post holder will be willing and able to travel throughout West Sussex as required.

Team and Reporting

You will report to the Deputy Clinical Lead and engage with the new West Sussex Triage Hub, a multi-agency approach to managing referrals to services, using the Community Mental Health Framework for Adults and Older Adults’ No Wrong Front Door approach. You will be part of a multidisciplinary team including CBT Therapists, Counsellors, PWPs, Administrators, Managers and Employment Advisors, and regularly engage with external stakeholders.

Why Work for Us?

• Positive 2023 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust
• Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast

Our Values

Our values—Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence—guide everything we do.

Equal Opportunities

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This advert closes on Thursday 25 Sep 2025.