Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner

Job Overview The delivery of an enhanced Primary Care Team as part of a new approach to the delivery of Mental Health Primary Care services in Thurrock. This unique team will be based in Thurrock Locality. The post will be based in General Practice, working with existing Primary Care teams to triage, manage and follow up patients registered with GPs in the area. The post will assist with undertaking physical health checks for patients on the SMI register and support patients who are discharged from secondary care. This is an exciting role for a Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner to support a new way forward in the delivery of Community Mental Health Services. The post will be hosted by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) with day to day management within Primary Care.

Main duties of the job As a Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner you will be highly skilled and motivated individual, be part of the Enhanced Primary Care team, at the forefront of establishing this innovative development in Primary Care Mental Health Services. As a highly competent and proficient practitioner, you will be able to work autonomously and be confident in your ability to provide evidence based Psychological and non-Psychological treatments for common mental health disorders. Proactive in your approach to collaborative working, you will be based in the Locality. The team will offer a range of interventions from active mental health monitoring, guided self-help, physical health checks and the administration of depot injections for those patients discharged from Community Mental Health Teams. The Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner will work with the wider local network (e.g. IAPT and Adult Social Care) to ensure early “help” interventions and proactive care and treatment is delivered at the Primary Care level.

Working for our organisation Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you. Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential. Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks. If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.

Benefits 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service. Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay. Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits. £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us Season ticket loans are interest-free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.

Work that wraps around your needs Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed. Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.

Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references. As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust. Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply.

If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you. The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre-employment checks. Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.