Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust; Peterborough; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in the UK is seeking a Senior Mental Health Practitioner to provide evidence-based psychological interventions and oversee clinical governance. This role offers competitive compensation ranging from £38,682 to £46,580 per annum. Candidates must possess a relevant professional qualification and at least 2-3 years of experience in mental health care. The position includes flexible working patterns and the opportunity to work within a dedicated team focused on improving patient care.

Qualifications

• Professional qualification in mental health work required.
• Minimum 2-3 years experience working in mental health care.
• Excellent communication skills with service users and agencies.

Responsibilities

• Provide initial clinical triage of referrals to the service.
• Co-ordinate and lead shifts as needed.
• Ensure high standards in outcome reports and letters.

Skills

Commitment to high quality care

Excellent interpersonal skills

Clinical decision making confidence

Proficient in IT

Understanding of psychological therapies

Education

Relevant professional qualification (Dip OT, Dip SW, RMN)

2-3 years experience in mental health care

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Senior Mental Health Practitioner

The closing date is 16 December 2025

The post holder will be part of NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Talking Therapies. This post will support the service to ensure that national guidelines are adhered to, targets are achieved and that the clinical governance arrangements are in place.

To provide evidence based psychological interventions to patients at step 3, across all sectors of care, providing specialist psychological assessment and therapy at the same time as offering advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers, working under supervision within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures.

Main duties of the job

• NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies SPA has been developed to provide a single point of access 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, staffed by clinicians and administration staff with the specialist skills needed to give advice promptly to GPs and other practitioners involved in providing care for people with mental health problems.
• This service provides help to people aged 17 and over who are experiencing common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety disorders, including: generalised anxiety disorder (GAD); social anxiety; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); health anxiety; panic; phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The service also works with people with long term physical health conditions (LTCs) including coronary heart disease (CHD), respiratory problems, chronic pain, and diabetes. The main treatment offered is CognitiveBehaviour Therapy (CBT), however, a range of different therapy modalities are also used to help treat patients.
• To 'signpost' or guide people to appropriate treatments for their needs, or provide advice, information, and guidance to those referring patients to enable increased self-management by the patient of common mental health conditions. Support people who make self-referrals to Mental Health Services and their carers.

About us

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

Offer a same day triage of referrals.

Co-ordinate and lead for shifts as required.

To provide the initial telephone clinical triage as required of referrals to the Talking Therapies service.

To gather further information as required from referrer or other providers to help support a clinical outcome decision.

Identify the appropriate intervention or management required and process to the appropriate CPFT pathway or 3rd sector agency.

Provide completed outcome reports/letters containing the necessary information of a high standard.

Have excellent telephone communication skills.

Be conversant and proactive with Government legislation pertaining to the Mental Health Act, National Service Framework, NHS Plan and Clinical Governance.

Encourage, promote, and maintain effective communication with the Primary Care providers, Community Teams, Acute Care Services, and 3rd Sector providers.

The post will include flexible working patterns over a range of working hours.

Represent NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies SPA at local and Trust wide meetings.

To contribute to the professional development within the NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies SPA.

To always promote and display the highest professional standards.

Professional body code of conduct must always be complied with.

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications

• Relevant professional qualification e.g. Dip OT, Dip SW, RMN, Clinical Psychology Grade A, or equivalent further qualification in mental health work
• Minimum of 2-3 years' experience of working in a mental health care setting and of liaising and working with GPs

Experience

• Experience of working across organisational boundaries and working effectively with a range of external partners
• Experience of supervising qualified and unqualified members of staff
• Excellent communication skills when dealing with service users, relatives, carers, and other outside agencies either by telephone/letter or face to face
• Be proficient in the use of computerised systems especially databases and Microsoft Word and Excel at a level to enable the production of a high standard of finished work
• An understanding of the national Talking Therapies service and how it links to governmental objectives.
• A knowledge of the theory and practice of psychological therapies.

Skills & Abilities

• Able to demonstrate commitment to high quality care and service provision
• Confident and competent IT skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills - written and verbal
• Experience and awareness of mental health and wellbeing
• Confidence in clinical decision making in an electronic based service

Physical Requirements

• High proportion of computer-based activity, long periods of sitting

Other

• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients
• Ability to work within a team fostering good working relationships

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.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

£38,682 to £46,580 a year per annum, pro rata