Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Band 6 Specialist Practitioner (Later Life Nursing) - Bristol

The closing date is 01 March 2026

Job summary

TheNorth Bristol Recovery Team - Later Life Stream provides specialist mental health support for older adults experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Our focus is on recovery, enabling individuals to maintain independence and quality of life within their own homes and communities.

We work closely with partner agencies, sharing expertise and resources, including a dedicated experienced later life consultant psychiatrist. Our multidisciplinary team includes nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, and support workers, all committed to delivering person-centred care.

As a Band 6 RMN, you will:

  • Provide comprehensive mental health assessments and interventions for older adults.
  • Work collaboratively with service users, carers, and partner agencies to promote recovery and wellbeing.
  • Contribute to care planning and risk management, ensuring safe and effective practice.
  • Support the development of junior staff and students within the team.

This is a opportunity to join a supportive and innovative team, where your skills and experience will make a real difference to the lives of older adults.This secondment opportunity with North Bristol Assessment and Recovery team would suit applicant's with interest, background or experience supporting Later Life service users, their families and carers and those experiencing physical complexities. Working within our specialised LL Multi disciplinary team providing specialist care interventions.

Main duties of the job

Main Duties of the Role:

  • Comprehensive Assessment: Undertake robust mental health assessments for older adults, including risk assessment, mental state examination, and identification of needs.
  • Care Planning: Formulate and implement person-centred care plans that promote recovery, independence, and wellbeing, while mitigating identified risks.
  • Interventions: Deliver a range of evidence-based interventions, including psychosocial approaches, non-pharmacological strategies, and pharmacological interventions where appropriate.
  • Duty Role: Participate in the team's duty rota, responding to urgent calls and referrals, providing timely advice, triage, and support to service users, carers, and professionals.
  • Crisis Management: Offer rapid response to individuals in crisis to prevent escalation and avoid unnecessary hospital admission.
  • Collaborative Working: Liaise with families, carers, and partner agencies to ensure coordinated, wrap-around care.
  • Monitoring and Review: Regularly review care plans and interventions, adapting as needed to meet changing needs.
  • Professional Development: Support the development of junior staff and students, contributing to a learning culture within the team.

Please note that the North Bristol Recovery Team covers a wide geographical area, so applicants would preferably hold a valid driving licence and have access to their own transport.

For a full list of duties and responsibilities, please see the attached Job Description.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Details

Date posted

13 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year

Contract

Secondment

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

342-BR024-0226

Job locations

Greenway Centre

Doncaster Road

Southmead, Bristol

BS10 5PY


Job description

Job responsibilities

In a wide range of situations and locations, undertake the full range of activities required to deliver comprehensive mental health assessment, for service users, who may be distressed and in crisis. This will include:

  • The use of standardised assessment tools.
  • Identification of history, strengths and aspirations.
  • Assessment of mental state.
  • Identification of impact of culture and diversity.
  • Assessment of functional needs.
  • Identification and assessment of the needs of family and carer.
  • Identification and evaluation of risk.
  • Consideration and assessment of physical health.
  • Identification of complicating factors.
  • Identifying and ensuring specialist involvement where required.
  • Identifying the interventions and treatments required to enable positive change.
  • Identify Social Care needs.
  • Identify Safeguarding and public protection needs.
  • Assessment of mental capacity under the Mental Capacity A.

To be responsible for developing delivering and reviewing comprehensive and complex treatment programmes using appropriate frameworks in line with evidencebased practice, including strategies to manage risk for service users with complex needs and carers, bringing in other resources as required.

To plan, deliver and evaluate defined, specialist therapeutic interventions as indicated in the assessment process, in line with personal plans, including to service users who maybe on other caseloads. This might include:

  • Individual or group therapeutic intervention.
  • Psychosocial interventions.
  • Motivational and coping enhancement strategies.
  • Medication management.
  • Interventions under the Mental Health Act.

To deliver a range of defined activities/interventions to improve the carers ability to support the service user and to enable them in their relationship with the service user.

To develop and maintain good partnership working with other services throughout all treatment episodes, including regular liaison within Primary Health Care Team, inpatient and intensive services, day services, voluntary sector and with nominated carers/advocates.

In collaboration with service users and carers, to be responsible for facilitating the development of comprehensive crisis plans, rapid access plans, advance statements etc, involving other agencies such as primary care etc where appropriate.

To personally build and lead others to build, hope inspiring relationships with service users, which acknowledge the personal journey of each person, and focus on strengths and aspirations to allow the creation of meaningful personal plans.

To be responsible for maintaining own workload, as well as planning the workload of others, on a day-to-day basis, ensuring that time is prioritised effectively, utilising electronic resources such as diaries/scheduling.

To be responsible for the protection of individuals from abuse and harm in line with local safeguarding policies and procedures, including working with others in the planning development and review of protection plans.

Coordinating and undertaking protective interventions which may be required in the protection of others, as outline in the protection plan, taking individual action where indicated.

Personally leading others to collaboratively and sensitively work with individuals, with a range of mental health needs to develop skills to manage their own health, in accordance with their personal plan, by actively promoting and using approaches which are affirming, build on strengths, identify past positive experience and success, and use small steps to move towards the person's goal.

Undertake active clinical leadership and supervision within the team, covering for the manager and colleagues as required.

To maintain the single health and social care record, ensuring both paper and electronic records are kept up to date in accordance with professional and organisational standards.

Report and record within agreed timeframes, all activity relating to information reporting and performance requirements.

To participate in management, caseload and clinical supervision in accordance with trust policy.

To provide mentoring/ training for others in relevant practice areas, according to professional requirements, taking a collaborative approach to practice development and evidence-based care. Specifically this means providing a safe and effective learning environment for the mentoring and supervising of students, participating in their learning objectives and assessments.

Demonstrate responsibility for developing own practice in line with professional qualifications and for contributing to the development of others, by making use of and providing, effective feedback, supervision, coaching and appraisal.

To adhere to professional codes of conduct ensuring required skills and competencies required are maintained.

Monitor and maintain health, safety and security of self and others, undertaking assessments and taking appropriate action where required. Develop own knowledge and practice, and contribute to the development of others, making use of available feedback, supervision and appraisal to identify appropriate areas of development for this work role, taking responsibility for accessing identified learning and training opportunities.

Lead, maintain and participate in practices which enable effective team working.

To participate in local arrangements where required to manage unexpected staff absences.

This post is open to newly qualified social workers. In line with AWP trust policy all newly qualified social workers (NQSW) will be recruited initially at Band 5 level, regardless of advertised role banding. All NQSWs are expected to successfully complete their ASYE within 2 years of employment, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which case it may be extended for a further 2 years.

If you have been appointed to an advertised Band 6 role this will be an automatic progression, following confirmation of your successful ASYE completion. If you have been appointed to a Band 5 post you will then be eligible to apply for a subsequent Band 6 vacancy upon successful ASYE completion.

Please see attached Job Description file for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

Job description

Job responsibilities

In a wide range of situations and locations, undertake the full range of activities required to deliver comprehensive mental health assessment, for service users, who may be distressed and in crisis. This will include:

  • The use of standardised assessment tools.
  • Identification of history, strengths and aspirations.
  • Assessment of mental state.
  • Identification of impact of culture and diversity.
  • Assessment of functional needs.
  • Identification and assessment of the needs of family and carer.
  • Identification and evaluation of risk.
  • Consideration and assessment of physical health.
  • Identification of complicating factors.
  • Identifying and ensuring specialist involvement where required.
  • Identifying the interventions and treatments required to enable positive change.
  • Identify Social Care needs.
  • Identify Safeguarding and public protection needs.
  • Assessment of mental capacity under the Mental Capacity A.

To be responsible for developing delivering and reviewing comprehensive and complex treatment programmes using appropriate frameworks in line with evidencebased practice, including strategies to manage risk for service users with complex needs and carers, bringing in other resources as required.

To plan, deliver and evaluate defined, specialist therapeutic interventions as indicated in the assessment process, in line with personal plans, including to service users who maybe on other caseloads. This might include:

  • Individual or group therapeutic intervention.
  • Psychosocial interventions.
  • Motivational and coping enhancement strategies.
  • Medication management.
  • Interventions under the Mental Health Act.

To deliver a range of defined activities/interventions to improve the carers ability to support the service user and to enable them in their relationship with the service user.

To develop and maintain good partnership working with other services throughout all treatment episodes, including regular liaison within Primary Health Care Team, inpatient and intensive services, day services, voluntary sector and with nominated carers/advocates.

In collaboration with service users and carers, to be responsible for facilitating the development of comprehensive crisis plans, rapid access plans, advance statements etc, involving other agencies such as primary care etc where appropriate.

To personally build and lead others to build, hope inspiring relationships with service users, which acknowledge the personal journey of each person, and focus on strengths and aspirations to allow the creation of meaningful personal plans.

To be responsible for maintaining own workload, as well as planning the workload of others, on a day-to-day basis, ensuring that time is prioritised effectively, utilising electronic resources such as diaries/scheduling.

To be responsible for the protection of individuals from abuse and harm in line with local safeguarding policies and procedures, including working with others in the planning development and review of protection plans.

Coordinating and undertaking protective interventions which may be required in the protection of others, as outline in the protection plan, taking individual action where indicated.

Personally leading others to collaboratively and sensitively work with individuals, with a range of mental health needs to develop skills to manage their own health, in accordance with their personal plan, by actively promoting and using approaches which are affirming, build on strengths, identify past positive experience and success, and use small steps to move towards the person's goal.

Undertake active clinical leadership and supervision within the team, covering for the manager and colleagues as required.

To maintain the single health and social care record, ensuring both paper and electronic records are kept up to date in accordance with professional and organisational standards.

Report and record within agreed timeframes, all activity relating to information reporting and performance requirements.

To participate in management, caseload and clinical supervision in accordance with trust policy.

To provide mentoring/ training for others in relevant practice areas, according to professional requirements, taking a collaborative approach to practice development and evidence-based care. Specifically this means providing a safe and effective learning environment for the mentoring and supervising of students, participating in their learning objectives and assessments.

Demonstrate responsibility for developing own practice in line with professional qualifications and for contributing to the development of others, by making use of and providing, effective feedback, supervision, coaching and appraisal.

To adhere to professional codes of conduct ensuring required skills and competencies required are maintained.

Monitor and maintain health, safety and security of self and others, undertaking assessments and taking appropriate action where required. Develop own knowledge and practice, and contribute to the development of others, making use of available feedback, supervision and appraisal to identify appropriate areas of development for this work role, taking responsibility for accessing identified learning and training opportunities.

Lead, maintain and participate in practices which enable effective team working.

To participate in local arrangements where required to manage unexpected staff absences.

This post is open to newly qualified social workers. In line with AWP trust policy all newly qualified social workers (NQSW) will be recruited initially at Band 5 level, regardless of advertised role banding. All NQSWs are expected to successfully complete their ASYE within 2 years of employment, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which case it may be extended for a further 2 years.

If you have been appointed to an advertised Band 6 role this will be an automatic progression, following confirmation of your successful ASYE completion. If you have been appointed to a Band 5 post you will then be eligible to apply for a subsequent Band 6 vacancy upon successful ASYE completion.

Please see attached Job Description file for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

Person Specification

Eduction and Registration. Experience.

Essential

  • Education and Registration. Diploma level/Degree in relevant health/social care profession, e.g., RMN, OT, Social Worker.
  • Current relevant registration with the NMC or HCPC and commitment to CPD.

Desirable

  • Experience Demonstrates substantial post-registration experience gained working in a range of frontline settings.
  • Able to deliver from a range of possible key therapeutic interventions CBT, Psychosocial.
  • Demonstrates a developed understanding of the recovery principles, and of the role of secondary Mental Health services in the delivery of care.
  • Experience of undertaking carers' assessments.
  • Demonstrates substantial experience of, and relevant professional practice qualification in mentoring/assessing Students and learners.
  • Experience of working with service users with a diagnosis of dementia, older adults and/or crisis services.

Other Requirements

Essential

  • Empathy for individuals who have experienced mental health problems and ability to cope with behaviour which may be challenging at times.
  • Mobile with the facility to move quickly across a geographically dispersed area with limited access to public transport.
Person Specification

Eduction and Registration. Experience.

Essential

  • Education and Registration. Diploma level/Degree in relevant health/social care profession, e.g., RMN, OT, Social Worker.
  • Current relevant registration with the NMC or HCPC and commitment to CPD.

Desirable

  • Experience Demonstrates substantial post-registration experience gained working in a range of frontline settings.
  • Able to deliver from a range of possible key therapeutic interventions CBT, Psychosocial.
  • Demonstrates a developed understanding of the recovery principles, and of the role of secondary Mental Health services in the delivery of care.
  • Experience of undertaking carers' assessments.
  • Demonstrates substantial experience of, and relevant professional practice qualification in mentoring/assessing Students and learners.
  • Experience of working with service users with a diagnosis of dementia, older adults and/or crisis services.

Other Requirements

Essential

  • Empathy for individuals who have experienced mental health problems and ability to cope with behaviour which may be challenging at times.
  • Mobile with the facility to move quickly across a geographically dispersed area with limited access to public transport.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address

Greenway Centre

Doncaster Road

Southmead, Bristol

BS10 5PY


Employer's website

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Address

Greenway Centre

Doncaster Road

Southmead, Bristol

BS10 5PY


Employer's website

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/about-us/working-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Service Manager

Jennifer Powell

j.powell20@nhs.net

07976056731

Details

Date posted

13 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£38,682 to £46,580 a year

Contract

Secondment

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

342-BR024-0226

Job locations

Greenway Centre

Doncaster Road

Southmead, Bristol

BS10 5PY


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)