Senior Mental Health Practitioner

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare organization seeks a Senior Mental Health Practitioner to improve mental health care for young people in Huddersfield. This role involves delivering evidence-based therapies, managing a diverse caseload, and contributing to service development initiatives. Ideal candidates will possess relevant professional qualifications along with experience in crisis management and supervision. Strong communication skills and the ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team are essential for success. The position offers the chance to make a significant impact while working within a dedicated support team.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering training in mental health settings.
• Substantial post qualification experience with children and young people.
• Advanced clinical knowledge in mental health assessments.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of young people with mental health issues.
• Lead service development initiatives within the Mental Health Support Team.
• Provide expert supervision to junior staff.
• Conduct assessments and deliver evidence-based interventions.

Skills

CBT training

Experience with young people

Supervision skills

Crisis management

Multi-disciplinary team working

Communication skills

Education

Relevant professional qualification (e.g. nursing)

Post graduate qualification in mental health

Teaching and assessing qualification

Job description

Go back South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Senior Mental Health Practitioner

The closing date is 20 January 2026

Are you an experienced Senior Mental Health Practitioner/ Clinical Supervisor looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young people within the Kirklees area? Would you like to be part of a diverse and innovative service that offers mental health support in an educational setting?

We are seeking applicants to join our Mental Health Support Team named Kirklees Keep In Mind, who work in the schools across Kirklees. This is an exciting time to join our team to deliver evidence based interventions to children within our schools with mild to moderate mental health conditions. Focusing on early intervention we also provide training and workshops to schools using the whole school approach, which enables schools to provide a culture of wellbeing for all their pupils.

We are striving to build a team with a variety of diverse skills and experiences. To build this multi-disciplinary team we encourage applicants from varying backgrounds such as but not exclusive to CBT therapists, mental health nurses, occupational therapists, social workers and child psychotherapists.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.

Main duties of the job

This role would suit an experienced healthcare professional with a level of formal CBT training and experience of delivering CBT interventions. The applicant must have experience working with young people with moderate/complex mental health issues.

As a band 7 senior mental health practitioner you will be expected to confidently manage a caseload of young people including triaging, consulting with schools, managing risk and delivering evidence based interventions to support the mental health of the young people who come to our service either on an individual or group basis.

As part of our senior leadership team you will be involved with service development of the MHST, taking initiative to identify opportunities to improve the service. You will also be able to draw on your experience to lead case management supervision and provide expert supervision to the junior staff within the team.

You will be able to make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the service referral protocols, refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary.

At the time of advertising, this role does meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. We look forward to receiving your application.

About us

We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means we are accountable to our members, who can have a say in how we run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we expect all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.

We do reserve the right to close the vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Job responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY

This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post-holder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post-holder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

To provide highly specialist skills and expertise, facilitating interventions of the highest quality in the field of mental health, including emergency assessments and intensive interventions with children, young people and their families.

To work autonomously and collaboratively within the MDT, providing consultation and teaching for other agencies/professionals.

To provide supervision and teaching to all other disciplines within CAMHS and to deputise as agreed for the team leader.

To promote safeguarding and the welfare of children and young people

KEY RESULT AREAS:

CLINICAL

1. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility in accordance with the Trust Policies and procedures.
2. The post-holder will have highly developed skills in assessing the needs of children and their carers based on the analysis of highly complex facts and situations. Interventions will be planned based on the assessment information and interpretation of this. The clinical assessment will include gathering appropriate historical information from the child and family, allied to clinical observation of family relationships and mental state of the child and other family members, and obtaining relevant information from other agencies. Offering highly specialist expertise in child and adolescent mental health, ensuring clear documentation in all appropriate case notes and sharing assessments and information with the family and all relevant professionals.
3. To undertake highly specialist initial assessments of young people following acts of serious self-harm and attempted suicide in line with evidence based practice.
4. To undertake highly specialized risk assessments following referral for presentations requiring urgent mental health or psychiatric assessment and plan relevant interventions.
5. To implement intensive interventions with young people and their families, as relevant to the post-holder’s main clinical role, i.e. group and individual work, systemic family interventions. This will include analysis, interpretation and evaluation to reformulate plans of care.
6. The post-holder will provide therapeutic care to emotionally demanding clients in highly emotive situations.
7. The post-holder will develop and maintain therapeutic relationships with children and carers. This will include cases of high complexity which require more specialised levels of assessment and therapeutic skills.
8. As part of multi-disciplinary team, the Senior Mental Health Practitioner will deliver and devise complex packages of care. Provide individual and family review/follow-up sessions to children, young people or their carers.
9. To take a lead role in setting guidelines and standards that will ensure all young persons identified with complex problems are discharged from Specialist CAMHS with an appropriate package of care from universal services.
10. The post-holder will have skills to communicate highly complex information regarding personal psycho-social problems in an empathic and supportive way using the highest level of interpersonal skills in situations which can be highly emotional and sometimes antagonistic. Service users and families may have difficulty or be reluctant to understand what is communicated to them.
11. Communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information utilising highly developed interpersonal skills. Take into account issues of confidentiality and the consent of Adults and Young People. Considering and assessing a child’s maturity to consent.
12. To work with children, young people (0-18) and their families, liaising with external agencies, e.g. Education, Social Services and Paediatric Services. Presenting problems are frequently complex and require that sophisticated packages of care are negotiated and delivered. To actively promote user/carer involvement in all aspects of care planning/delivery whilst respecting the rights, capabilities and wishes of the individuals concerned.
13. To apply a sound knowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinical work.
14. To deputise for the team leader in his/her absence.
15. Apply Trust policies and procedures in instances of aggression, acute distress and disturbed mental health presentations.

HUMAN RESOURCES

1. The Senior Mental Health Practitioner will take the responsibility in developing, managing and coordinating the supervision systems for the team.
2. The post-holder will support other team members in managing cases, providing joint working where appropriate on specific therapeutic techniques.
3. To manage and coordinate rotas for all disciplines within CAMHS specific to their own area of specialism.
4. To support the Clinical Governance Lead within the service and participate in the development and maintenance of governance processes, i.e. clinical incident reporting, risk management.
5. Contribute to the induction of new starters in the service.
6. Responsible for first line resolution of complaints in line with Trust policy.
7. Responsible for budgetary requirement of equipment necessary for clinical interventions.

RESEARCH

1. The post-holder will identify and undertake R and D activity, where appropriate, and be responsible for regular audit projects/service evaluations and for the development of research projects in line with evidence based practice.
2. To participate and take a lead role in audit, service evaluation and quality management initiative.
3. The post-holder will deliver and supervise others to participate in audit pertaining to their specialist area ensuring agreed results are implemented.
4. To utilise theory, evidence based literature and research to support evidence based practice in work with client and that of the service planning, development and delivers. To maintain links with academic institutions.
5. To introduce, through consultation with colleagues, quality initiatives.
6. To be committed to a quality approach for patient care.

For full job description, please see attached supporting documents.

We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of delivering training to others.
• Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting.
• Experience of working in different cultural contexts.
• Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.
• Multidisciplinary team working.
• Inter-agency liaison and consultation.
• Experience of providing highly specialist advice and supervision to other professionals.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance for working with children, young people, mental health and safeguarding.
• Evidence of advanced clinical/therapeutic knowledge and skills in mental health.
• Extensive experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence based practice.
• Advanced experience of safeguarding children and young people.
• Experience of community settings.

Physical Attributes

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

Qualifications

• Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine.
• Post qualification training in identified portfolio, e.g. LD, LAC, eating disorder.
• Dip SW or relevant mental health profession.
• A teaching and assessing qualification.
• Membership of professional body.
• Post graduate qualification in mental health (e.g. CBT, Family Therapy, Counselling).

Personal Attributes

• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team.
• Commitment to multi-agency approach/working.
• Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
• Calm, confident, innovative, creative and assertive.
• Ability to make and lead decisions under pressure/crisis situations.
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
• Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
• Ability to cope calmly in a crisis.
• To demonstrate good self-care and encourage the same in team members.
• A current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability).
• To have integrity, be honest, open, transparent and respectful.

Special Knowledge & Skills

• Excellent verbal and communication skills.
• Ability to manage own caseload and to be a self-reliant and autonomous practitioner.
• Excellent negotiation skills, and problem solving skills.
• Excellent record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.

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 West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust