Rapid Response Senior Practitioner

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Rapid Response Senior Practitioner to join the Southwark Community Teams. You will deliver rapid assessments, triage urgent referrals, and work with crisis services to ensure timely care, liaising with PCMHT, GPs and other partners.

The role requires experience in crisis care, NICE-guided practice, and the ability to work autonomously with strong communication and professional development.

Qualifications

• Degree standard or professional equivalent.
• Experience in community mental health teams or Home Treatment / Crisis Teams.
• Experience with depression, anxiety and personality difficulties per NICE guidance.
• Knowledge of NICE-guided psychotherapies (DBT and CBT).

Responsibilities

• To offer preliminary assessments that require rapid intervention.
• To provide comprehensive and ongoing assessment to service users deemed to be high risk.
• To participate in daily referral screening meeting to identify rapid response referrals.
• To participate in the team duty rota.
• To liaise closely with crisis services and emergency out of hours services and provide evidence-based care per NICE guidance.
• To ensure all referrals are accepted within target time frames.
• To contribute to governance and to monitor KPIs.

Skills

Autonomous practice

Clinical supervision

Written communication

Time management

Feedback skills

Education

Degree or professional equivalent

Job description

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Rapid Response Senior Practitioner

The closing date is 17 November 2026

PLEASE NOTE THE ROLE DOES NOT REQUIRE THE PSTS TRAINING

The post holder will work within the Primary Care Mental Health Team (PCMHT) providing a Rapid response to urgent referrals to service users referred to Southwark Community Teams.

The Rapid response post will triage and assess service users in crisis and if necessary, refer on to acute services i.e. Home Treatment team.

The Rapid response service will also ensure that all referrals to the PCMHT do not exceed the twenty-eight day wait for assessment and will work closely with PCMHT staff, the GP's in Southwark and other referring agencies.

Main duties of the job

Key Responsibilities:

To liaise with professional bodies as required in matters relating to staff within the team. To ensure that all relevant good practice guidance is reflected within the working practice of the team. Investigate serious incidents and complaints as directed by the Clinical Service Lead/ Head of Care Pathway. To ensure that lessons learned and from serious incidents are disseminated and any recommendations made are incorporated into operational policy to improve the service.

About us

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; as well as substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich.

Job responsibilities

CLINICAL

• To offer preliminary assessments that require rapid intervention.
• To provide comprehensive and ongoing assessment to service users deemed to be high risk.
• To participate in daily referral screening meeting to identify rapid response referrals.
• To participate in the team duty rota
• To liaise closely with crisis services and emergency out of hours services. To provide evidence-based care as outlined in NICE guidance.
• To participate in the team duty rota.
• To provide cover for GP Connect from 5-7pm
• To ensure that all referrals are accepted within the target twenty days time frame.
• A full awareness of key performance indicators (KPI) targets ensuring that the rapid response service meets key KPIs.

TRAINING & SUPERVISION

• To attend regular clinical and management supervision and appraisal
• To contribute to the teaching and training of mental health professionals and other staff working in the service.
• To undertake the mentorship of students working in the service

PROFESSIONAL

Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice/ Codes of Conduct according to the employer and regulating and professional bodies (NMC/HPC) Ensure client confidentiality is maintained at all times

Attend clinical/managerial supervision on a regular basis as agreed with manager. Participate in individual performance review and respond to agreed objectives Maintain accurate and timely written records

GOVERNANCE

• To devise and implement action plans and monitoring to support clinical and corporate governance requirements.
• To implement systems to provide risk analysis that identifies and quantifies financial and non-financial risks, and supports the service in formulating management plans to minimise the risks, perform regular reviews and feed into the Trust Risk Register and Risk Management

Person Specification

• Degree standard or professional equivalent.
• Relevant experience in community mental health teams or Home Treatment / Crisis Teams
• Demonstrable experience of working with service users with depression, anxiety and personality difficulties using evidence based interventions within NICE guidelines.
• Transferable psychological skills and knowledge relevant to work with working age adults with severe and enduring & psychotic disorders in secondary care
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of psychological therapies, particularly DBT and CBT.
• Ability to work as an autonomous practitioner with an appropriate level of clinical and managerial supervision. Ability to manage own time and workload.
• To give and receive feedback in a constructive way Demonstrates high standards in written communication skill in clear letter/report writing. Effective skills.
• Commitment to continuing professional development, to partnership working and to reflective clinical practice

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

community southwark

Southwark South community mental health team

£58,133 to £65,261 a yearper annum inclusive of HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

334-NUR-8320095-LF

Job locations

community southwark

Southwark South community mental health team