Job summary
Mental Health Practitioner (nurse) B6 - Primary Care Network (PCN)
This role forms a key part of the developing integrated mental health offer within Hounslow Primary Care Networks (PCNs). The post will support people with a range of mental health conditions -both serious mental illness (SMI) and common and complex mental illness (CCMI) - and will contribute to a holistic, accessible and community-focused primary care mental health service.
Working as part of an innovative multidisciplinary model between Hounslow PCNs and West London NHS Trust's MINT services, the Mental Health Practitioner will help deliver joined-up care, early intervention, improved navigation, and better outcomes for local residents. The post holder will work autonomously within GP practices while being clinically supported by a PCN Senior Mental Health Practitioner, and will collaborate closely with GPs, pharmacists, social prescribers, PCN clinicians, and wider community and voluntary sector partners
Main duties of the job
The objectives of the service are to:
o Take a holistic view of an individual's needs, considering mental health, physical health, social factors, community networks, and personal strengths.
o Reduce unnecessary long assessments and duplicated history taking by improving shared working and streamlined pathways.
o Provide early advice, intervention and brief psychosocial support within primary care, helping people access the right service at the right time.
o Strengthen the interface between primary care, community mental health (MINT), acute services, local authority teams and the voluntary sector.
o Improve access to evidence-based mental health interventions, psychological support and community resources in a timely and coordinated way.
o Support safe, seamless transfers of care between MINT and primary care, with rapid access back into services where needed.
The Mental Health Practitioner will be responsible for the following key functions:
Clinical responsibilities
o Provide holistic, specialist bio-psycho-social and mental state assessments for patients in primary care, including SMI and CCMI annual reviews.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.
The Trust is rated as 'Good' overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional qualification in mental health e.g. Occupational Therapy, Social Work or Mental Health Nursing (RMN) with current NMC/HCPC registration or Psychology as accredited by the BPS. Professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
- A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following - psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy and registration with the appropriate body for that profession
Desirable
- Educated to degree or Diploma level with other courses relevant to primary care mental health services e.g. CBT, Brief Solution Focussed Therapy etc.
- RGN/physical health qualification
- Evidence of recent and ongoing relevant further professional development
- Attendance at specialist short courses relevant to the post (e.g. MBT or DBT, Trauma Informed Care, Group Approaches)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of work in the NHS, PCNs or outreach work, or local engagement work (e.g. youth worker, mentoring, peer support etc.), experience of working in voluntary sector, working in community groups.
- Experience of working in General Practice
- Experience of working with Complex Emotional Needs (previously termed Personality Disorders)
- Work with client groups with serious mental health problems: omental health care and/or oworking with carers and/or odelivering therapeutic group interventions and/or oworking in MDTs and/or
- Work in multi-cultural settings and work with interpreters
- Mental health issues as a service user or carer
Desirable
- Evidence of experience in a Band 5 position or equivalent
- Experience of case finding
- Experience of working in GP
- Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience of conducting audit, evaluation or research
- Other relevant post registration experience
- Work with behaviours that challenge services
- Experience of teaching/training in a formal or informal setting
- Experience of working in a primary care setting/ social care/ voluntary sector
- Experience of supervising junior staff within own and/or other disciplines
Knowledge
Essential
- Basic understanding of health care systems and structures: staffing, roles and responsibilities, the role of hospitals, primary care and community care
- Self-management and organisation skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken, revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the service
- Knowledge of counselling skills/cognitive behavioural skills, psychosocial interventions
- Knowledge of recovery approaches as used with those with mental health conditions
- Work with people from a wide range of backgrounds
- Contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others
- Manage effectively exposure to distressing/highly emotional circumstances
- Manage effectively verbal aggression from service users, families, etc. and the risk of physical aggression
- Respectful and collaborative approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals
- Able to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionally
- Ability to engage challenging and/or acutely distressed patients in potentially hostile and/or antagonistic situations and use de-escalation techniques effectively
- Assessment and treatment of Deliberate Self Harm
- Risk assessment/management and crisis intervention skills
- Use of psychosocial assessment methods
- Higher level communication skills, both written and oral
- Sufficient clinical knowledge to be able to make autonomous decisions, based on an analysis of complex presenting problems and judgement about available options, with senior clinical support/supervision
Desirable
- Ability to interpret research and apply to practice
- Specialist knowledge of mental health conditions as well as their relationship to physical disorders
- Understanding of NHS England's plans with regard to Primary Care Networks.
Skills
Essential
- Computer literate
- Being able to work flexibly across local environments
- Awareness of diversity of cultural norms and being able to respond to this appropriately
- Concentrate intensely for a substantial proportion of working time, during client contact, teaching/supervision sessions, team meetings, preparing written work etc.
- Use IT packages - word processing, e-mail and internet, Excel and Access
- Ability to use or learn NHS clinical systems
- Work cross-culturally and/or in different languages
- Work to professional guidelines
- Accept accountability for own work, and of working towards defined results
- Plan, organise and prioritise own workload
- Record and report on clinical information as required
Other Requirement
Essential
- Ability to build effective relationships and collaborate across teams
- Work as part of a team spread across multiple locations operating with a matrix structure
- Ability to work effectively, timely and independently
- Ability to frequently work under pressure and maintain intense concentration, particularly in unpredictable situations where there will be exposure to highly distressed and/or disturbed patients, often exhibiting challenging behaviours and the risk of physical violence
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Commitment to equal opportunities
- Ability to accept constructive feedback
- Personal experience of a mental health condition
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional qualification in mental health e.g. Occupational Therapy, Social Work or Mental Health Nursing (RMN) with current NMC/HCPC registration or Psychology as accredited by the BPS. Professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
- A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following - psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy and registration with the appropriate body for that profession
Desirable
- Educated to degree or Diploma level with other courses relevant to primary care mental health services e.g. CBT, Brief Solution Focussed Therapy etc.
- RGN/physical health qualification
- Evidence of recent and ongoing relevant further professional development
- Attendance at specialist short courses relevant to the post (e.g. MBT or DBT, Trauma Informed Care, Group Approaches)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of work in the NHS, PCNs or outreach work, or local engagement work (e.g. youth worker, mentoring, peer support etc.), experience of working in voluntary sector, working in community groups.
- Experience of working in General Practice
- Experience of working with Complex Emotional Needs (previously termed Personality Disorders)
- Work with client groups with serious mental health problems: omental health care and/or oworking with carers and/or odelivering therapeutic group interventions and/or oworking in MDTs and/or
- Work in multi-cultural settings and work with interpreters
- Mental health issues as a service user or carer
Desirable
- Evidence of experience in a Band 5 position or equivalent
- Experience of case finding
- Experience of working in GP
- Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience of conducting audit, evaluation or research
- Other relevant post registration experience
- Work with behaviours that challenge services
- Experience of teaching/training in a formal or informal setting
- Experience of working in a primary care setting/ social care/ voluntary sector
- Experience of supervising junior staff within own and/or other disciplines
Knowledge
Essential
- Basic understanding of health care systems and structures: staffing, roles and responsibilities, the role of hospitals, primary care and community care
- Self-management and organisation skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken, revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the service
- Knowledge of counselling skills/cognitive behavioural skills, psychosocial interventions
- Knowledge of recovery approaches as used with those with mental health conditions
- Work with people from a wide range of backgrounds
- Contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others
- Manage effectively exposure to distressing/highly emotional circumstances
- Manage effectively verbal aggression from service users, families, etc. and the risk of physical aggression
- Respectful and collaborative approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals
- Able to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionally
- Ability to engage challenging and/or acutely distressed patients in potentially hostile and/or antagonistic situations and use de-escalation techniques effectively
- Assessment and treatment of Deliberate Self Harm
- Risk assessment/management and crisis intervention skills
- Use of psychosocial assessment methods
- Higher level communication skills, both written and oral
- Sufficient clinical knowledge to be able to make autonomous decisions, based on an analysis of complex presenting problems and judgement about available options, with senior clinical support/supervision
Desirable
- Ability to interpret research and apply to practice
- Specialist knowledge of mental health conditions as well as their relationship to physical disorders
- Understanding of NHS England's plans with regard to Primary Care Networks.
Skills
Essential
- Computer literate
- Being able to work flexibly across local environments
- Awareness of diversity of cultural norms and being able to respond to this appropriately
- Concentrate intensely for a substantial proportion of working time, during client contact, teaching/supervision sessions, team meetings, preparing written work etc.
- Use IT packages - word processing, e-mail and internet, Excel and Access
- Ability to use or learn NHS clinical systems
- Work cross-culturally and/or in different languages
- Work to professional guidelines
- Accept accountability for own work, and of working towards defined results
- Plan, organise and prioritise own workload
- Record and report on clinical information as required
Other Requirement
Essential
- Ability to build effective relationships and collaborate across teams
- Work as part of a team spread across multiple locations operating with a matrix structure
- Ability to work effectively, timely and independently
- Ability to frequently work under pressure and maintain intense concentration, particularly in unpredictable situations where there will be exposure to highly distressed and/or disturbed patients, often exhibiting challenging behaviours and the risk of physical violence
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Commitment to equal opportunities
- Ability to accept constructive feedback
- Personal experience of a mental health condition
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
