Primary Care Network Senior Mental Health Practitioner

NHS; Lewisham; On-site; GBP 54,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS trust is seeking a Senior Mental Health Practitioner in Lewisham. The role involves providing clinical assessments and support within a primary care network, ensuring effective transitions between care levels. Candidates must be registered mental health professionals with experience in community settings. This full-time permanent position offers a salary ranging from £54,320 to £60,981 per annum, contributing to a vital service in mental health care.

Benefits

Generous pay and leave package

Flexible working options

Career development opportunities

NHS discounts

Counselling services

Cycle to work scheme

Season ticket loan

Qualifications

• Registered mental health professional appropriate to the job role.
• Evidence of post qualification training/education.
• Ability to provide quality care that is responsive to service user needs.

Responsibilities

• Carry out assessments, care planning, and interventions for patients.
• Provide advice, education, and support to service users.
• Support effective transition between primary and secondary care.

Skills

Communication skills

Clinical condition management

Ability to work independently

Experience with mental health issues

Education

Registered mental health professional

Non-medical prescriber

Job description

Overview

Go back South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Primary Care Network Senior Mental Health Practitioner

The closing date is 07 October 2025

SLAM NHS Foundation Trust has been working closely with Primary Care Network Leads and the Integrated Care Board to develop new Primary Care Network Practitioner roles working to enhance mental health provision within primary care. Following a successful pilot, we are now looking to recruit into PCN senior practitioner roles.

The post holder must be an autonomous practitioner with excellent communication skills who can develop strong working relationships across the networks. You will use your own initiative and flexibility to adapt your practice to suit the needs of service users and the PCN that you will be working with. You will facilitate vertical integration between the PCN and SLAM, facilitating early step up and step down transitions when this is required.

As a senior PCN Practitioner, you will benefit from wrap-around supervision and support, with an allocated supervisor in both primary and secondary care, as well as peer supervision through the Health and Wellbeing hub. We encourage applications from candidates who are keen to continuously develop their practice. You will have access to the PCN Peer Support Network and the newly established SLAM mentoring scheme.

The post holder will work in a clinical role within a PCN and using the stepped care approach provide early intervention to service users.

Main duties of the job

1. To carry out assessments, care planning and interventions for patients with mental health needs.
2. To provide advice, education and support to service users and their carers or family members.
3. To be an essential part of the interface between partner agencies including SLaM, primary care and voluntary sector.
4. To support effective transition to primary care and referral back into secondary care settings.
5. To be actively involved in the interventions provided by the primary care team and provide expert advice and support to enable them to provide an effective service for patients with mental health needs.
6. To provide peer support for the other Primary Care Mental Health Practitioners working across the Primary Care Networks.

About us

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance.

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

• Generous pay, pensions and leave,we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work life balance,flexible working and supporting a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
• Career development,There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes.
• Car lease,our staff benefit from competitive deals to lease cars
• Accommodation,our staff benefit from keyworker housing which is available on selected sites
• NHS discounts,with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands through Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan

Job responsibilities

Clinical

• To provide medicine management education, adherence advice and lifestyle advice for patients and their families and/or carers, presenting with mental health needs
• To assist in supporting early intervention and shared decision-making around self-management of symptoms and adherence to treatment
• To work with patients and team members to support engagement with appropriate services and treatment which may include onward referral to secondary mental health services or signposting to other mental health services, social prescribers, third sector partners, voluntary services, wellbeing hubs and community-based support groups.
• To support patients to transition from secondary care to primary care by providing appropriate number of step down sessions at the point of step down from secondary care services dependant on patient need.
• To support patients in their referral from primary care to secondary care and ensure effective and safe transition.
• To support patients to stay well within their local communities, including psychological support and the re-enforcement of psychology techniques.
• To promote the safety and the wellbeing of patients and their families and/or carers.
• To develop a close relationship with Primary Care practices with the PCN, attending practice meetings and having regular informal contact.
• To work closely and in partnership with colleagues within primary care and their community partner organisations in a collaborative way, ensuring that decisions are made that ensure the best care for service users and that there is a seamless pathway.
• To support GPs in assessing risk by providing expert advice and consultation.
• To support primary care teams with the administration of long-acting depot injections for those patients with complex needs.
• To support patients on the SMI register to access annual physical health checks and to work in collaboration with the Band 4 Associate Nurses in the PCN with delivery of physical health checks.
• To work closely with the Mental Health Personal Independence Co-ordinators.

Quality Improvement

• To contribute to the improvement of pathways between primary and secondary care and where practicable, to standardise processes across the PCN.
• To improve quality and effectiveness of prescribing of mental health medications through clinical audit and education of prescribers to improve performance against NICE standards and clinical and prescribing guidance.
• To support primary care initiatives which improve the physical health outcomes of those with a long-term mental health condition and the mental health outcomes of those with a long-term physical health condition.

Training Development and Education

• To provide informal mental health specific learning for staff across the primary care network, including providing specialist advice relating to mental health.
• To undertake mandatory and statutory training as required by Trust policy, identifying individual training needs.
• To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development Review/appraisal.
• To undertake personal development as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).

Management

• To facilitate and enable appropriate communication within Primary Care Networks within Croydon, between other teams and departments across Croydon including Local Authorities, service users, carers and other relevant agencies.

GENERAL:

• This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the postholder may be required to undertake other duties which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with the manager.
• The postholder is expected to comply with all relevant Trust and PCN policies, procedures and guidelines, including those relating to Equal Opportunities and Confidentiality of Information.
• The postholder is responsible for ensuring that the work that they undertake is conducted in a manner which is safe to themselves and others, and for adhering to the advice and instructions on Health and Safety matters given by Manager(s). If postholders consider that a hazard to Health and Safety exists, it is their responsibility to report this to their manager(s).
• The postholder is expected to comply with the appropriate Code(s) of Conduct associated with this post and meet the required professional standards for on-going registration.
• To make effective use of supervision and be able to acknowledge their own limitations, reflect on practice and discuss/identify their training and development needs with their line manager.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered mental health professional appropriate to the job role (Registered mental health nurse
• Evidence of post qualification training/education
• Evidence of recent continued professional development.
• Non-medical prescriber

Knowledge

• An understanding of the relationship between primary and secondary care services
• Ability to provide quality care that is responsive to service user needs, without close supervision.
• Knowledge of key legislation and guidelines in relation to statutory mental health responsibilities, including Safeguarding Adults, Young people and children.
• Awareness of racial and diversity issues and factors affecting access to mental health care.
• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment.

Skills/Abilities

• Specialised clinical condition management skills, e.g. depression/anxiety/distress/anger management; family work skills.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate and to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive and/or challenging behaviour.
• Highly developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, highly technical and sensitive information to clients, families and colleagues.
• Ability to contribute to, monitor and implement changes and improvements to services

Experience

• Experience of working in a community mental health setting
• Experience of working with people who have experienced serious ongoing mental health problems
• Experience of providing a range of clinical interventions, including triage and assessment, to people in the designated care group with a variety of health problems
• Experience of working with and addressing issues of diversity including experience of working within a multicultural framework
• Previous experience of working within primary care.

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.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

GP surgeries that form the Lewisham Alliance Group

£54,320 to £60,981 a yearper annum inclusive of HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

334-NUR-6765321-LF

Job locations

GP surgeries that form the Lewisham Alliance Group