Specialist High Risk & Forensic Practitioner

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust; Hereford, Worcester; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Hereford is seeking a Specialist High Risk & Forensic Practitioner to enhance community mental health services. This full-time role involves providing guidance on complex cases, conducting assessments, and managing high-risk patients. The ideal candidate will have significant mental health experience, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to professional development. We offer flexible working options, generous leave, and strong support for wellbeing and career growth.

Benefits

27 days leave plus bank holidays

Generous NHS pension

Flexible working options

Health and wellbeing opportunities

Qualifications

• 5 years post qualification experience in mental health.
• Experience with high risk, forensic and complex patients.
• Mental health assessment skills and evidence-based intervention delivery.

Responsibilities

• Provide guidance and support on complex cases.
• Conduct specialist assessments and manage care pathways.
• Act as the senior lead for referred high-risk patients.

Skills

Mental health assessment skills

Communication in English

Clinical supervision

Ability to act on feedback

Education

RN (Mental Health)

Degree level qualification

Teaching/Assessing Qualification

Tools

Computer systems (Rio, Aero)

Job description

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust

Specialist High Risk & Forensic Practitioner

The closing date is 15 January 2026

Are you looking for a new and exciting challenge? Are you a compassionate mental health practitioner with exceptional forensic, complex and high‑risk mental health skills and experience?

We are excited to be recruiting a Specialist Mental Health Forensic Practitioner to join our new community mental health, Forensic Support Service. We are looking for experienced, enthusiastic and innovative candidates interested in shaping the development of our new service.

Supported by the Reach Out Provider Collaborative, the specialist forensic support service will be based across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, improving the interface between specialised services and secondary care community services, enhancing the efficiency of transitions of care for patients with significant risk histories and improving patient flow through the whole care pathway.

As a valued member of our community multi‑disciplinary team, you must have a positive attitude towards innovation and change with a flexible approach, exceptional interpersonal, team‑working and communication skills alongside excellent mentoring and coaching abilities.

This is a full‑time role.

Interviews are scheduled for 26 January 2026.

Main duties of the job

You will offer guidance, support and advice on complex and high‑risk cases. You will offer an in‑reach function to Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust (HWHCT) inpatient wards, Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams (NMHTs) and specialist community teams such as Early Intervention in Psychosis and Assertive Outreach.

As a reflective practitioner, you will provide a range of mental health assessments for people who are experiencing complex, high‑risk, forensic mental health conditions, including advanced level risk assessments and the provision of evidence‑based interventions. Utilising personal autonomy, you will work alongside inpatient and community mental health MDTs, in striving to ensure the best care for our patients.

We pride ourselves in providing outstanding care and will ensure continual professional development and a wide range of wellbeing and support.

PLEASE NOTE:

This post covers the county of Herefordshire, HOWEVER, travel throughout the two counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is essential to this post, as is the ability to be flexible and highly organised.

About us

At Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, we are working together to deliver outstanding care. We run community hospitals and community health services across Worcestershire and provide mental health and learning disability services across both Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Our people (all 4500+ of them) provide services for people of all ages, experiencing both physical and/or mental health conditions from over 100 sites.

We will support you to thrive; offer flexible working options for a great work‑life balance, help you fulfil your ambitions, and empower you to make positive changes within your team or service. We value diversity and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities.

What we offer;

• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when you work unsocial hours
• Flexible and agile working opportunities
• Great maternity, paternity, and adoption support
• Wide range of supportive staff networks
• Health and wellbeing opportunities

If you would like to know more, please visit our website.

We encourage you to read the attached applicant guidance notes.

Sharing your data — As a data controller we may sometimes need to process your data to pursue our legitimate business interests, for example to request a survey from you (optional), to support the Trust's understanding of where you gained interest in working for the Trust.

Job responsibilities

• Behave consistently with the values and beliefs of the organisation and promote these on a day‑to‑day basis.
• Act as a role model to colleagues, always seeking to maintain the highest standards of professionalism.
• Use their initiative and take responsibility for themselves, the quality of their work and the service they provide to patients.
• Work with the service lead to deliver a service which is soundly evidence based, has a reputation for quality and ensures that all available resources are utilised and within budget.
• Act as the senior lead for the assessment and management planning of referred high‑risk, complex and/or forensic patients within the counties.
• Provide a consultative role within the Adult Mental Health, Older Adult Mental Health and Learning Disabilities SDU in relation to high risk, complex and/or forensic issues.
• Conduct specialist high risk/forensic assessments, advice and management planning guidance to community teams and in‑patient services for a defined, referred caseload of patients.
• Make clinical recommendations to health and social care managers/senior clinicians and teams, in relation to the care pathway required for referred high‑risk, complex, and/or forensic patients.
• Foster and maintain close links with the other professionals and agencies working with this client group both inside and outside the Trust, including case managers at NHSE.
• Be expected to regularly undertake delegated managerial responsibilities and duties, and to deputise for the Service Lead in his/her absence or as required.
• Deputise for the Specialist teams service lead at MAPPA Level 3 meetings and extraordinary MAPPA meetings that are called in relation to persons managed under the auspices of the Counter‑Terrorism Act.
• Deputise for MAPPA Level 2 meetings when required.
• Have an understanding of and support the SDU Clinical lead for PREVENT/CHANNEL as required.
• Maintain involvement in Forensic Liaison and Diversion issues and processes.
• Offer training as required to other internal and external agencies, including those within the criminal justice arena, in relation to mental health awareness, personality disorder awareness, psychological interventions and MAPPA awareness.
• Continue to offer a high level of clinical practice and intervention, including Psychological and Social intervention to patients with complex presentation as referred.

For full details of the duties and criteria for the role please refer to the job description and person specification attached.

Person Specification

Skills & Abilities

• A positive attitude and able to act on feedback
• Ability to praise and be supportive to others
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in English in both verbal and written formats
• Mental health assessment skills
• Delivery of evidence‑based interventions in mental health
• Skilled in the provision of clinical supervision to both peers and junior members of staff

Knowledge

• Knowledge of principles of assessment and treatment of people with mental health problems
• Knowledge of principles of risk assessment and management
• Knowledge of Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity Act 2006 and other relevant legislation
• Appreciation of performance management / quality issues
• Good written skills and report writing
• Computer literate, sound working knowledge of computer systems currently in use (Rio, Aero, etc.)
• Delivery of staff training

Qualifications

• RN (Mental Health). OT Degree Social Worker RN (Learning Disability)
• Degree level qualification supplemented by further specialist training or experience to at least Masters level or equivalent
• Demonstrable evidence of participation in Continuous Professional Development
• Teaching/Assessing Qualification
• Training in psychological interventions (e.g. CBT, DBT)
• Teaching / Assessing Qualification

Experience

• 5 years post qualification experience in mental health
• Working with patients who self‑harm
• Relevant experience working with high risk, forensic and complex patients
• Working with patients who present a risk of harm to others
• Experience of working with severe and enduring mental illness
• Service monitoring / evaluation
• Evidence of delivering psychosocial / therapeutic interventions
• High level of experience working in a multi‑disciplinary environment
• Extensive risk management skills and knowledge
• Service monitoring / evaluation

Additional Criteria

• Will be required to complete breakaway / de‑escalation training
• Able to meet the travel requirements of the post and hold a full drivers licence with insurance for business purposes

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.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust