Primary Care Mental Health Liaison Practitioner

Sussex Partnership Nhs Foundation Trust; Bognor Regis; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Bognor Regis is seeking an experienced Band 6 Mental Health Practitioner to work within GP surgeries, providing up to 10 sessions of psychologically informed interventions to adults with moderate mental health problems.

You will conduct initial assessments, liaise with IAPT, GP practices and local services, and ensure care plans with primary and secondary care partners. Flexible working and ongoing professional development are supported.

Qualifications

• Registered Mental Health qualification or equivalent.
• Up to date Registration.
• Post Basic Courses / relevant Study Days.
• Evidence of CPD, post-qualifying clinical experience.
• Experience of partnership working across multiple teams.
• Experience of managing a caseload and prioritising clinical work.
• Experience of delivering clinical interventions to people with MH problems.
• Experience of consultative working with professionals.
• Experience of conducting clinical assessments, including risk assessments.
• UK professional registration is required.

Responsibilities

• Autonomously manage a defined caseload of clients with mild to moderate MH problems, delivering psycho-education, CBT-informed sessions, and short-term recovery-focused interventions.
• Complete initial assessments and liaise with referrals coordinators, GPs and other agencies.
• Deliver a pre-defined offer of 6–8 sessions per client.
• Opportunity to co-facilitate groups if interested.

Skills

Mental health nursing

Registration

CPD

Caseload management

Partnership working

Assessment & risk assessment

Education

NHS nurse registration

Job description

The Bognor Assessment & Treatment Service is a community mental health team which supports people living with a severe and enduring mental illness. The MHLP team is part of the Bognor Assessment and Treatment Service and work as liaison between the ATS and GP Surgeries. The post holder will work within GP surgeries and will be the liaison and link between primary care and secondary care services., We are looking for an experienced Band 6 Mental Health Practitioner (Mental Health Nurser) to work within GP Surgeries to provide up to 10 sessions of psychologically informed or psycho educational interventions to people with moderate mental health problems. The successful applicant will also be responsible for completing initial assessments and liaising with GP's, IAPT services, local agencies and signposting to third sector services., Working as an MHLP includes:

Key responsibilities

• Working autonomously to a defined caseload of clients diagnosed with mild to moderate mental health problems. This will include offering specific interventions such as psycho-education, CBT informed sessions and short term recovery focused interventions
• You will complete initial assessments and work closely with our referrals coordinators, GP's and other agencies.
• Your interventions will be a pre-defined offer of 6-8 sessions.
• You are welcome to co-facilitate groups if you have an interest in this area.

Benefits and support

• We are a friendly and supportive team that meets regularly to ensure you feel safe and supported.
• We offer several MDT meetings per week to ensure support is available for complex case discussions.
• You will receive regular managerial supervision and be offered the opportunity to supervise junior staff.
• You will also have access to regular clinical supervision and support from our Community Leads.
• We actively encourage people to think about their development and career goals, and will support you to complete further training.

To work as part of the secondary care mental health service, acting as a link clinician to primary care teams. Clinical work will be carried out within primary care settings. To work with GPs and primary care teams, specifically colleagues in IAPT (Time to talk), providing support, advice, consultation and shared care for adults, regardless of age and diagnosis, presenting with a functional mental illness, to enable safe management of clients within primary care. To work in partnership with GPs and other primary care colleagues around individual patients and to work jointly with them to develop care plans for the client. To assess individuals with complex presentations, prior to referral to secondary care and if required, directing them into the appropriate specialist service within secondary care ensuring they are not passed between services. To maintain a close working relationship with local secondary care teams, keeping them informed of developments within primary care. To build up professional relationships within Primary Care to allow effective development of care pathways within localities. To work closely with secondary care colleagues, using their expertise where necessary, to ensure an appropriate response, particularly, but not exclusively from medical colleagues. To ensure and keep updated a comprehensive knowledge of local resources and services available and how to access these and provide this information to practices and specialist teams as requested. To provide comprehensive and accurate information on the role of the Primary Care Mental Health Liaison Practitioner, local resources and services to GPs, primary care teams, secondary care teams, service users and third sector agencies. To work to early intervention principles and provide assessments for service users with more complex presentations identified in consultation with GPs. To organise, provide and coordinate formal and informal training to GPs and primary care teams on topics relating to mental health as agreed with GPs and PBCs, in order to further enhance the skills of the staff in the diagnosis and management of mental health disorders.

Qualifications

• Registered Mental Health qualification or equivalent
• Up to date Registration
• Post Basic Courses / relevant Study Days
• Evidence of CPD, post-qualifying experience of clinical work with people with a range of mental health problems
• Experience of partnership working within and across various different statutory and non- statutory teams and agencies
• Experience of successfully managing a caseload and prioritising clinical work
• Experience of providing a range of clinical interventions to people with a variety of mental health problems.
• Experience of working consultatively with professionals
• Experienced in conducting clinical assessments, including risk assessments.
• You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.

At SPFT we put people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You'll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.

We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it's part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we'll explore what works for you and the role.

We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn't based on your real experience. Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we'll explore your examples further at interview, so it's important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page. We're shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve.