Mental Health & Wellbeing Practitioners Healthy Minds

The Street Lane Practice; Leeds; Remote; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading mental health service in Leeds seeks Healthy Minds Clinicians to provide remote support for individuals struggling with anxiety, stress, and low mood. You will engage in one-to-one consultations, assess mental health needs, and provide therapeutic guidance. Successful candidates should have a relevant mental health qualification and experience in compassionate care. The role offers flexible working hours, mainly in the evenings and weekends.

Benefits

Ongoing training

Indemnity insurance

Support from clinical leads

Qualifications

• Have experience working one-to-one with patients, clients or service users.
• Have professional experience with mental health or emotional wellbeing needs.
• Be able to work effectively with patients over the phone.

Responsibilities

• Conduct empathic therapeutic discussions with patients.
• Assess patient mental health needs and risk.
• Provide information on healthy lifestyles.

Skills

Empathy

Compassion

Mental health assessment

Therapeutic support

Communication

Education

Mental health or therapeutic support qualification

Tools

Telecommunications

System One

EMIS

Job description

Join Enhance Healthy Minds Make a Difference in Mental Health

We are recruiting Healthy Minds Clinicians (Nursing, Psychology, Counselling/Therapy).

Are you passionate about supporting others and have a background in mental health or emotional wellbeing? Healthy Minds, a leading remote mental health service, wants you on our team. As our service grows we are seeking skilled, compassionate clinicians to help us deliver high-quality, short-term support to individuals experiencing anxiety, stress, low mood, and depression.

The service provides virtual mental health wellbeing clinics within core hours but primarily on weekday evenings between 18:00 and 20:30 and on weekends from 09:00 to 17:00.

Healthy Minds is accessible through local GP practices and is available outside of regular office hours. We speak directly to people from the comfort of their homes, empowering them with guidance, practical coping strategies, and clear signposting to the right services. This is not a therapy or crisis service but a supportive space for brief, meaningful interventions that make a real impact.

Successful applicants will receive ongoing training, regular supervision and be supported by the Team Lead and the Clinical Lead. The service provides indemnity insurance for all Practitioners within the service.

Wellbeing practitioners are engaged on a self-employed basis.

Main duties of the job

Healthy Minds is targeted at patients who suffer from low level mental health difficulties such as anxiety, depression, low mood, stress, worry and panic. It is a short-term intervention service which provides limited short-term support. The service is not intended to provide longer term support or hold a case load.

About us

Enhance Healthy Minds is a friendly and expanding mental health service based in Leeds, working fully remotely to support patients across primary care. For the past seven years, we've been dedicated to offering compassionate, accessible support to people who need a listening ear and meaningful guidance.

Our team has grown steadily over the years, and we were proud of the positive difference we make. Many of the individuals we work with are reaching out for mental health support for the first time, and we aim to make every interaction as welcoming, understanding, and stress-free as possible.

Working in close partnership with GP practices, we provide timely support to people experiencing emotional or psychological challenges. Through remote sessions, we offer therapeutic guidance and signposting for those with mild to moderate mental health concerns, always with the goal of helping patients feel heard, supported, and empowered.

Job responsibilities

Healthy Minds

Job Description and Person Specification

What is Healthy Minds?

Healthy Minds is an extended hours mental health service provided directly to patients through their GP practices. It is a remote service providing patients with therapeutic guidance and signposting for low level mental health concerns.

Healthy Minds is not:

• a therapy service,
• a service which can provide psychological education and helpful information,
• a service which can assist with coping mechanisms,
• a service which can advocate healthy lifestyles for mental health and wellbeing,
• a service that engages patients with other appropriate agencies.

Healthy Minds is targeted at patients who suffer from low level mental health difficulties such as anxiety, low mood, stress, worry and panic. It is a short-term intervention service (i.e. not intended to provide a regular set of sessions).

The Role of Healthy Minds Wellbeing Practitioners

Healthy Minds Wellbeing Practitioners engage in one-to-one telephone consultations with patients. During these consultations practitioners:

• Assess the patient's mental health need,
• Engage in empathic therapeutic discussion,
• Signpost the patient to the most appropriate services,
• Engage in psychological education with the patient,
• Provide information regarding healthy lifestyles to promote better mental health,
• Demonstrate compassion and understanding to the patient,
• Assess any presenting risk and/or safeguarding issues and provide a risk management plan if required (See Risk to Self guidance document),
• Communicate risks, difficulties and other information to the GP practices.

Patients are booked into the Wellbeing Practitioners clinical rota by the patient's GP practice, however the Wellbeing Practitioner is responsible for the ongoing management of contact with patients; assessing the need for follow-up appointments, communication with GP practices and patient discharge.

It is essential that all Wellbeing Practitioners have the required level of experience and expertise.

• Have a mental health or therapeutic support based qualification,
• Have experience working on a one-to-one basis with patients, clients or service users,
• Have professional experience working with mental health or emotional wellbeing needs,
• Have an excellent knowledge and understanding of mental health needs,
• Be able to demonstrate excellent skills in assessing and working appropriately with mental health and emotional wellbeing needs,
• Demonstrate empathy, compassion and patience towards all patients,
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to work effectively with patients in short-term intervention,
• Have an excellent understanding of appropriate therapeutic support for patients with mental health needs,
• Have a good understanding of appropriate referral routes for patients with mental health needs,
• Be able to work effectively with patients over the phone,
• Have a quiet and appropriately confidential space to work from home,
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to keep accurate records in an efficient and professional manner and to do so within time limited constraints,
• Be able to demonstrate a high level of understanding regarding patient risk (to self and/or others),
• Demonstrate the ability to assess patient risk and follow risk management guidance effectively,
• Be able to attend regular clinical supervision,
• Be able to work independently and in isolation, without on-call support,
• Be able to provide Healthy Minds clinics in the evening and/or weekends,
• Be able to use System One and EMIS computer systems (with training),
• Be able to attend initial training sessions, shadowing and observations,
• Be able to attend clinical supervision,
• Either have a current DBS check or be in a position to obtain a DBS check,
• Be able to work within a flexible service. Working hours may vary in line with demand (during quiet periods clinics may be cancelled and therefore will not be funded),
• Be able to work on a self-employed basis.

It would be desirable for Healthy Minds Practitioners to:

• Be able to issue Med3 sick notes,
• Have experience in risk management,
• Have experience and understanding of the roles and functioning of GP practices within the NHS,
• Be able to attend ongoing training events as required,
• Be able to attend service meetings regularly (every six weeks or other mutually agreed regular arrangement),
• Have an understanding of NHS services for mental health,
• Have knowledge of local support services, such as the third sector.

Important note to all Healthy Minds Practitioners

Wellbeing Practitioners are provided with limited on-call support. Since Healthy Minds clinics take place outside of core hours, the practitioners are expected to be able to manage their patient contact in isolation and be able to make clinical judgments regarding any immediate action which may be required. Although Healthy Minds is not a crisis management service, it is not unknown for some patients to disclose risk during consultations which has previously been undisclosed or to be referred to Healthy Minds in error. Although there is guidance in place to assist the practitioner, it is the practitioner themselves who makes decisions about risk management. Since Healthy Minds clinics take place outside of core hours, the Healthy Minds Practitioner must feel confident in their ability to recognise, assess and take responsibility for managing risk appropriately until such time as they are able to consult with available colleagues.

Support and Management

Wellbeing Practitioners work in isolation during clinics, however support and guidance is available during core hours, there is limited out-of-core-hour support.

Team Lead: Available within their normal working hours, which include some core hours.

Clinical Lead: A GP with clinical responsibility for the Healthy Minds service. Only available when working, during core hours.

Service Manager: Available when working, during core hours.

Individual GP practices are also able to engage in support for the patient and can offer guidance to a practitioner regarding specific patients. Only available during the practice's usual core hours.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Have a mental health or therapeutic support based qualification.
• RNM, Psychology, Counselling/Therapy Qualification.
• Have experience working on a one to one basis with patients, clients or service users.
• Have professional experience working with mental health or emotional wellbeing needs.
• Have an excellent knowledge and understanding of mental health needs.
• Be able to demonstrate excellent skills in assessing and working appropriately with mental health and emotional wellbeing needs.
• Demonstrate empathy, compassion and patience towards all patients.
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to work effectively with patients in short-term intervention.
• Have an excellent understanding of appropriate therapeutic support for patients with mental health needs.
• Have a good understanding of appropriate referral routes for patients with mental health needs.
• Be able to work effectively with patients over the phone.
• Have a quiet and appropriately confidential space to work from home.
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to keep accurate records in an efficient and professional manner and to do so within time limited constraints.
• Be able to demonstrate a high level of understanding regarding patient risk (to self and/or others).
• Demonstrate the ability to assess patient risk and follow risk management guidance effectively.
• Be able to attend regular clinical supervision.
• It would be desirable for Healthy Minds Practitioners to:
• Be able to issue Med3 (sick notes)
• Be able to attend service meetings regularly (every six weeks or other mutually agreed regular arrangement).
• Have experience in risk management.
• Have experience and understanding of the roles and functioning of GP practices within the NHS.
• Be able to attend ongoing training events as required.
• Have an understanding of NHS services for mental health.
• Have knowledge of local support services, such as the third sector.

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.