Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)

Job summary

In line with the government's priority to increase access and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, the Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) role is an exciting opportunity to deliver evidence-based early interventions for children and young people, working across both educational settings and healthcare sectors in England.

Successful candidates will be employed initially on a two year fixed term contract, providing an expansion to existing provision of mental health support across a range of educational settings in the Cornwall region. As part of this role there will be a requirement to travel to Exeter University for an element of the training from the service where the candidate is based. We are currently recruiting to bolster our team and roles are in locations across most of Cornwall. Applicants commit to remaining in post for two years on successful completion.

Main duties of the job

Successful candidates will be offered a full-time educational programme delivered specifically for the role in partnership with the University of Exeter. Due to the location of the employing services, the training will be delivered within the Exeter area. This post will be funded at NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) mid-point Band 4 level, gaining credits towards either a degree or diploma level qualification (depending on level of previous academic study), plus guaranteed employment on completion of training, with a starting salary on the NHS AfC Band 5 scale.

To enable this, all applicants must demonstrate in their application the ability to work at degree level or have an equivalent level of relevant experience, with a proven record of previous learning or formal study in child development, wellbeing or mental health. Further to that experience of working with children and young people and an understanding of the educational system in England is highly desirable.

The training programme for this post starts in September 2024, is 12 months in duration and will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services and educational settings, such as primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges.

Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days within a University, independent self-guided study days and experience gained in education wellbeing and mainstream mental health services

During training, the post-holder will work under supervision to gain experience across healthcare and educational settings to enable them to gain the level of competence required to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.

The training course is divided into 6 modules, developing skills and knowledge in areas such as:

- Working with children, young people and their parents/carers to support self-management including development of plans for specific interventions and agreeing outcomes;

- Learning to manage own caseload, gaining the necessary skills to practice a range of interventions such as guided self-help;

- Preparing and presenting caseload information to supervisors;

- Working with colleagues to provide better access to specialist mental health services and supporting referrals where required;

- Supporting colleagues in education to identify and manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing.

On successful completion of training, trainee EMHPs will be equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and capabilities to work as a qualified EMHP as autonomous and responsible practitioners within their scope of practice, alongside education colleagues.

EMHPs will play a key role as members of the new Mental Health Support Teams, who will have the responsibility for delivering schools' overarching approach to providing mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people.

About us

We're an NHS community and mental health provider Trust based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We deliver community and hospital-based care to improve people's physical and mental health.We also provide specialist support to people with dementia or a learning disability.

We are a people organisation and people matter to us. As part of the team, you'll help support the health and wellbeing of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the UK.

Over 4,000 people make up the Trust. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, plus admin and support staff.

We work in people's homes, in community clinics and bases.Some staff work from one of our 13 community hospitals. Our aspiration is to have great people, provide great care, be a great place to work and a great partner.

Approximately 568,000 people live here. A third of people who live in Cornwall are supported by acute hospital services in Devon.As a result, we also work closely with our partners in Devon. In the summer, and during other holidays lots of people choose to visit the area. This increases the numbers of people who use our services.