Mental Health Treatment Requirement Psychological Practitioner

NHS; Workington; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Band 5 Psychological Practitioner for the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) service in Workington. The post involves structured assessments, low‑intensity interventions and multi‑agency collaboration within a developing PMHTR team.

The role offers an internal secondment/ fixed term opportunity with supervision and professional development supported by the Trust, working across Cumbria and with Probation services to reduce

Qualifications

• Recognised counselling or Psychological Therapies qualifications including PWP, CBT, DBT, Person Centred or Solution Focused therapies.
• BACP/BABCP or equivalent accreditation is required.

Responsibilities

• Undertake structured assessments and deliver low‑intensity psychological interventions.
• Provide clinically and managerially supervised practice within PMHTR.
• Contribute to multi‑agency work with Probation and partner agencies.

Skills

PWP

CBT

DBT

Person Centred

Solution Focused

Education

BACP Accreditation

Job description

Mental Health Treatment Requirement Psychological Practitioner

Band 5

Main area Mental Health Grade Band 5 Contract 9 months (Fixed Term or Secondment: 9 months) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 351-BAY1136-SRP

Site Workington - Lancashire and Cumbria footprint Town Cumbria Salary £32,073 - £39,043 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 16/11/2026 23:59

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive range of services, including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults, including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
• Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Extensive community physical health and well-being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term condition management.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,500 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health, general nurses, children’s nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers, as well as those specialising in learning disabilities and community physical health services.

An exciting internal secondment / fixed term opportunity has arisen for a Band 5 Psychological Practitioner to join the Primary Mental Health Treatment Requirement (PMHTR) Team within Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.

This role offers a valuable development opportunity to gain experience within a specialist mental health and criminal justice pathway, delivering psychologically informed interventions to individuals subject to a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR). You will work closely with Probation Services and partner agencies to support improved mental health outcomes and reduce reoffending.

The role involves undertaking structured assessments, delivering low-intensity interventions, and contributing to multi-agency working. You will be supported through regular clinical and managerial supervision within a developing and dynamic team.

This post is offered as a secondment opportunity and internal applicants must have line manager approval prior to applying.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work within the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) service in Workington and the wider Cumbria footprint.

The role of the MHTR Psychological Practitioner is to work with people who have been convicted of offences that appear to be an associated with an unmet psychological need or problem.

The post holder will have detailed knowledge and the practical skills, in order to carry out assessments, formulations and therapeutic interventions with this client group, and they will be expected to be able to evaluate their work.

The role will be to provide low level psychological interventions for depression, anxiety, trauma, personality disorders and learning difficulties.

Working for our organisation

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Recognised counselling or Psychological Therapies qualification including: PWP, CBT, DBT, Person Centred, Solution Focused therapies etc.
• BACP/BABCP or equivalent accreditation

Knowledge

• Knowledge of mental health issues and/or learning disability
• Knowledge of use and interpretation of health screening tools
• Knowledge of assessing and mitigating risk - including risk of harm to self and others

Experience

• Working with people with complex needs for a minimum of 2 years either whilst studying or post qualification
• Delivering a range of therapies and interventions

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Name Karen Thistlethwaite Job title Team Lead Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07483 146716 Additional information For an informal discussion regarding the post please contact Karen Thistlethwaite - MHTR team manager - [e-mail] / 07483 146716 or Rea Cardwell - Clinical Lead - [e-mail]