Job summary
Are you ready to take the next step in your career and make a real difference in community mental health? We are looking for a dynamic, forward-thinking, and passionate Senior Mental Health Practitioner to join our Lewisham Neighbourhood Team 3.This is more than just a clinical role - it's a leadership opportunity. You'll be at the supporting our community redesign programme, helping to shape and implement innovative care pathways that truly meet the needs of our service users and carers. From referral management and supervision to caseload planning and step-down support, you'll play a key role in driving quality and consistency across the team.We're seeking someone who thrives in a collaborative environment and is excited by the chance to influence service development. You'll work closely with the Service Manager, Team Leaders, Multi-Professional Team, and Community Matron to ensure our services are responsive, inclusive, and recovery-focused.This role offers a fantastic platform to grow your operational and quality improvement skills, while also contributing to the professional development of others. If you're motivated by impact, innovation, and meaningful change we want to hear from you.Come and be part of a team that values your expertise and supports your development
Main duties of the job
We are seeking a highly experienced and enthusiasticSenior Mental Health Practitioner to join Lewisham Community Services. This role offers the opportunity to contribute to our community redesign programme, focused on improving access, quality, and continuity of care for individuals with severe and enduring mental health needs.
We welcome applications from candidates who are hands-on, solution-focused, and committed to delivering high standards of care. Leadership and clinical expertise will be valued.
This varied role requires a qualified Community Psychiatric Nurse, Occupational Therapist, or Social Worker with experience supporting individuals with complex mental health needs and their carers. You will manage a caseload, provide clinical leadership, and contribute to service development.
Key skills include strong clinical knowledge in mental health and risk management, excellent communication, and the ability to supervise junior staff. You should be confident in handling complex cases, including step-down planning, and actively contribute to pathway redesign and quality improvement.
You will work closely with Team Leaders, the Multi-Professional Team, and the Community Matron, with support from the Service Manager.
This is a great opportunity to help shape the future of community mental health services in Lewisham. If you're ready to take the next step in your career and support meaningful service transformation, we encourage you to apply.
About us
At South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, we believe in providing excellent care which is delivered with pride and compassion. Everything we do is to improve the lives of the people and communities we serve and to promote mental health and wellbeing for all.
The Community Mental Health Team is a service providing care and treatment for service users with severe or complex mental health difficulties, including but not limited to psychotic illnesses, mood and personality disorders, and other co-morbid disorders.
We are a multidisciplinary service with a range of professionals, including social workers, nurses, doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists, and specialist workers, providing employment support, benefits advice, and social inclusion. We provide a broad range of medical, psychological, and social treatments and interventions.
We work closely with acute and crisis services and mental health services in primary care to ensure that service users receive the right care at the right time.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Assume responsibility for own case list and case management of patients with mental health disorders who are determined to be at medium/high risk and complex.Work in the community settings as required. Work with wider MDT and Adult psychiatrists to make a clinical diagnosis and formulation from a standard assessment, including risk assessment, on which to recommend a treatment intervention.Design, write and share a copy of the care plan with parents/carers and patients. Carry out the planned intervention with minimal supervision.Assess safeguarding issues for own cases and refer concerns to the Adult Safeguarding team.Deliver evidence based treatment interventions based on NICE guidelines. Use individual, group work, advice and supervision according to the needs of patients and have a flexible and innovative approach to packages of care.Participate and lead in joint complex assessments with other disciplines and other agencies and provide reports for referrers, families and other agencies as required.Maintain good relationships and clear lines of communication with other professional agencies and departments, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.Undertake all duties in line with the professional Codes of Professional Conduct, and maintain professional registration requirements for the post according to discipline/professionWork in accordance and within the principles, policies, procedures and guidelines of all aspects of clinical governance.Attend monthly supervision and annual appraisal meetings. Make effective use of colleagues in sharing and participating in casework supervision and other forms of supervision when required according to local practice, including attending peer supervision meetings if available.Identify development and training needs with manager in accordance with Trust/Directorate guidelines. Remain up to date with changing practices and wherever possible make full use of all training and educational facilities.Join and lead with colleagues in specialist teaching, consultation /support to other professionals and agencies. Participate in the provision of a good quality learning environment for trainees, overseeing placements and supervising trainees.Participate in the monitoring, evaluation and audit of the service.Work with others to undertake and promote research-based practice and use that knowledge in your everyday practice, sharing it with others in the team.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Assume responsibility for own case list and case management of patients with mental health disorders who are determined to be at medium/high risk and complex.Work in the community settings as required. Work with wider MDT and Adult psychiatrists to make a clinical diagnosis and formulation from a standard assessment, including risk assessment, on which to recommend a treatment intervention.Design, write and share a copy of the care plan with parents/carers and patients. Carry out the planned intervention with minimal supervision.Assess safeguarding issues for own cases and refer concerns to the Adult Safeguarding team.Deliver evidence based treatment interventions based on NICE guidelines. Use individual, group work, advice and supervision according to the needs of patients and have a flexible and innovative approach to packages of care.Participate and lead in joint complex assessments with other disciplines and other agencies and provide reports for referrers, families and other agencies as required.Maintain good relationships and clear lines of communication with other professional agencies and departments, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.Undertake all duties in line with the professional Codes of Professional Conduct, and maintain professional registration requirements for the post according to discipline/professionWork in accordance and within the principles, policies, procedures and guidelines of all aspects of clinical governance.Attend monthly supervision and annual appraisal meetings. Make effective use of colleagues in sharing and participating in casework supervision and other forms of supervision when required according to local practice, including attending peer supervision meetings if available.Identify development and training needs with manager in accordance with Trust/Directorate guidelines. Remain up to date with changing practices and wherever possible make full use of all training and educational facilities.Join and lead with colleagues in specialist teaching, consultation /support to other professionals and agencies. Participate in the provision of a good quality learning environment for trainees, overseeing placements and supervising trainees.Participate in the monitoring, evaluation and audit of the service.Work with others to undertake and promote research-based practice and use that knowledge in your everyday practice, sharing it with others in the team.
Person Specification
Qualifications & Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- o First level nursing qualification/registration [RMN or RSCN, or first level qualification in social work, psychotherapy, clinical or counselling psychology.
- All applicants will require professional registration with a statutory body: the Nursing Midwifery Council, Social Work England, Health Professional's Council, Chartered Clinical Psychologists by BPS, Child Psychotherapists by ACP or UKCP
- Experience and ability to function as a specialist practitioner in Mental Health & Wellbeing assessments and specific interventions with patients with various mental disorders.
- Experience of working as a care coordinator or community practitioner in Adult Mental Health or Wellbeing settings.
- Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care.
- Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment.
- Evidence of experience of clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision.
- The skill to undertake mental health assessments to ascertain differential diagnosis
- Evidence of ability to work with the client group using a recognised and registered therapeutic approach and related skills both in short and long term work.
- Ability to contain anxiety and think clearly without recourse to premature action in situations of emotion and stress.
- Evidence of skill in the use of a variety of approaches that patients may find supportive and offer individualised care
- Evidence of competency in clinical judgement
- Evidence of competency in risk assessment.
- Evidence of using child protection or adult safeguarding in practice effectively.
Desirable
- Training in Clinical supervision
- MSc level qualification associated with adult mental health, e.g. clinical psychology, psychotherapy or equivalent, with a strong portfolio of post registration clinical professional development
- Experience of working with people with; A history of trauma, Personality disorder, SMI, Facilitation of case formulation
- Ability to work as part of a team offering support to those with different professional backgrounds
- Evidence of working autonomously
- Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management. Research informed and evidence based methods of assessment, treatment and case management.
Person Specification
Qualifications & Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- o First level nursing qualification/registration [RMN or RSCN, or first level qualification in social work, psychotherapy, clinical or counselling psychology.
- All applicants will require professional registration with a statutory body: the Nursing Midwifery Council, Social Work England, Health Professional's Council, Chartered Clinical Psychologists by BPS, Child Psychotherapists by ACP or UKCP
- Experience and ability to function as a specialist practitioner in Mental Health & Wellbeing assessments and specific interventions with patients with various mental disorders.
- Experience of working as a care coordinator or community practitioner in Adult Mental Health or Wellbeing settings.
- Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care.
- Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment.
- Evidence of experience of clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision.
- The skill to undertake mental health assessments to ascertain differential diagnosis
- Evidence of ability to work with the client group using a recognised and registered therapeutic approach and related skills both in short and long term work.
- Ability to contain anxiety and think clearly without recourse to premature action in situations of emotion and stress.
- Evidence of skill in the use of a variety of approaches that patients may find supportive and offer individualised care
- Evidence of competency in clinical judgement
- Evidence of competency in risk assessment.
- Evidence of using child protection or adult safeguarding in practice effectively.
Desirable
- Training in Clinical supervision
- MSc level qualification associated with adult mental health, e.g. clinical psychology, psychotherapy or equivalent, with a strong portfolio of post registration clinical professional development
- Experience of working with people with; A history of trauma, Personality disorder, SMI, Facilitation of case formulation
- Ability to work as part of a team offering support to those with different professional backgrounds
- Evidence of working autonomously
- Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management. Research informed and evidence based methods of assessment, treatment and case management.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
