Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Senior Specialist Practitioner (Complex Emotional Needs)

The closing date is 04 March 2026

Job summary

Senior Specialist Practitioner

(Community Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker or Occupational Therapist)

Location: Gloucester, Based at Eastgate House

This role is offered on a permanent basis. The hours are part-time, 22.5 hours per week.

This is an exciting opportunity for excellent people who are passionate about creating positive changes for people described as experiencing 'Complex Emotional Needs'. We provide a warm welcome and a creative, systemic way of working that aims to change cultures and to support the people that support the people experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings.

All of our interventions are shaped by lived experience, psychology and the practice insights from Nursing, Social Work and Occupational therapy.

Main duties of the job

Providing specialist understanding of the issues pertaining to high risk clinical situations and working effectively with vulnerable people experiencing distress.

Providing 'systemic interventions' that support care coordinators through complementary pieces of work for instance with families, care staff and 3rd sector partners.

Delivery of an established friends and family 12 week psycho-education and peer support programme.

Working with our VCSE partner to facilitate the OATS Open access therapeutic support service, a peer therapy group running 3 times a week in Gloucester.

Designing and delivering a range of bespoke training packages to a wide range of agencies.

Contributing to the development of Frequent Engagement Response Network person centred plans for individuals who come to the attention of blue light agencies.

Providing a trauma informed perspective within consultation and reflective practice opportunities offered to partner agencies.

Working to reduce stigma, change cultures and effect changes leading to positive outcomes for people who have experienced trauma.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About us

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Date posted

17 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

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

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

327-26-120

Job locations

Eastgate House, Gloucester

121-131 Eastgate, Gloucester

Gloucester

GL1 1PX

Job description

Job responsibilities

Gloucestershire Health and Care is committed to embedding and providing personalised care through all of its services as part of our high-quality care strategy. The purpose of personalised care is to empower people to lead the lives they want to live. Personalised care starts with a conversation with people about what matters to them. It builds on what people can do, as well as addressing their health needs. Including new ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our peoples skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care. So we want to know What Matters to You and that you will share our values and join us on this very important journey.

Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.

This role is not eligible for sponsorship as per the Governments UK VISA and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information please visit https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Must be a Mental Health Professional with a recognised qualification as a Community Mental Health Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker
Must be registered with appropriate professional body.

Desirable

Experience of delivering group work interventions
Experience of delivering training
Specialist knowledge of evidenced based interventions in the treatment of complex emotional needs
Experience of supervising staff
Experience of mentoring/ coaching/ teaching experience
Knowledge of evidence based interventions with service users in an all phases of mental health problems
Express a passion for/commitment to this area of work

Experience

Essential

Must have demonstrable post qualification experience in mental health or related area.
Experience of first line assessments including the assessment of risk
Working knowledge of recovery approach and social inclusion.
Experience of collaboration working with other agencies including the voluntary sector

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Must be a Mental Health Professional with a recognised qualification as a Community Mental Health Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker
Must be registered with appropriate professional body.

Desirable

Experience of delivering group work interventions
Experience of delivering training
Specialist knowledge of evidenced based interventions in the treatment of complex emotional needs
Experience of supervising staff
Experience of mentoring/ coaching/ teaching experience
Knowledge of evidence based interventions with service users in an all phases of mental health problems
Express a passion for/commitment to this area of work

Experience

Essential

Must have demonstrable post qualification experience in mental health or related area.
Experience of first line assessments including the assessment of risk
Working knowledge of recovery approach and social inclusion.
Experience of collaboration working with other agencies including the voluntary sector

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

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Eastgate House, Gloucester

121-131 Eastgate, Gloucester

Gloucester

GL1 1PX

Employer's website

https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/who-we-are/jobs/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Eastgate House, Gloucester

121-131 Eastgate, Gloucester

Gloucester

GL1 1PX

Employer's website

https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/who-we-are/jobs/ (Opens in a new tab)