Community Mental Health Lead Practitioner

Transformationunitgm; Bognor Regis; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A health service provider is looking for a qualified Community Mental Health Lead Practitioner to join their dedicated team in Bognor Regis. This role involves maintaining patient safety, providing clinical advice, and working collaboratively with a multi-disciplinary team to support clients experiencing mental health difficulties. Candidates should have relevant qualifications, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to professional development within the NHS framework. This position offers a competitive salary and opportunities for career growth.

Benefits

£2,000 Golden Hello or Relocation Incentive

Professional development opportunities

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Significant post qualifying experience in mental health care.
• Experience working alongside people with complex health problems.
• Experience of supervising staff.

Responsibilities

• Maintain patient safety by collaborating with care team.
• Provide clinical advice on complex issues.
• Undertake urgent assessments and risk evaluations.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Ability to travel independently

Experience supporting service users with mental health problems

Positive and inclusive attitude

Experience in clinical assessments

Education

Registered Nurse / health professional with current registration

Completion of Mentorship Course/ENB / professional equivalent

Evidence of continuous professional development

Job description

Main area Community Mental Health Lead Practitioner Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 354-AC-21253

Employer Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Bognor Neighbourhood Mental Health Team Town Bognor Regis Salary £38,682 - £46,580 per annum / pro rata for part time Salary period Yearly Closing 08/02/2026 08:00

Community Mental Health Lead Practitioner

NHS AfC: Band 6

Come and join us

We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.

At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.

We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.

We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.

We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.

Job overview

Qualified Nurse/OT/Social Worker

The Bognor Neighbourhood Mental Health Team are looking for a qualified and experienced Mental Health Practitioner (Mental Health Nurse, Occupational Therapist & Social Worker) who has a keen interest in working in a supportive multi-disciplinary setting with patients experiencing mental health difficulties.

The usual hours of work are Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm.

Due to the nature of the role it is essential that applicants are able to travel independently across the locality and have access to a suitable vehicle for business purposes.

You will be joining a warm, friendly, highly supportive team of dedicated colleagues who work together to offer the best possible service to the people we see.

This post offers the Trust's £2,000 Golden Hello or Relocation Incentive for Band 6 Nurses & Practitioners, (pro rata and subject to terms and conditions; please see attached Protocol Document for full details).

Main duties of the job

• To maintain patient safety, in collaboration with patients, carers and other team members
• Responsible for recognising the potential for or signs of patient harm, abuse or neglect and taking all reasonable steps to protect the patient.
• Provides clinical advice on complex issues to other members of the clinical team and staff from other disciplines.
• Undertakes urgent and priority assessments withrisk assessments.
• Responsible for decision making and coordination in a crisis situation.
• Take responsibility for the management of complex people who present to the team when their Care Coordinator / Lead Professional is absent from work and the person requires an urgent response.
• Working to support the team where Intensive Home-Based Treatment is required.
• To liaise with other services eg: Police; A & E as required.
• Responsible for participating in the setting of quality standards and offering a consistent approach to people open within the team.
• Support the team to deliver a range of interventions in accordance with the agreed plan of care.
• Maintain an effective reporting system by observing and reporting verbally and in writing on patient conditions.
• Support members of the team with other specialist assessments, as required for example, application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005; Knowledge of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, s42 Care Act regarding Safeguarding Adults and Making Safeguarding Personal.
• To maintain professional standards of care at all time

Working for our organisation

The NHS is changing and with more emphasis on community-based care there's never been a better time to join us. Over the next three years, community mental health services are going to be undergoing a real transformation and you could be part of these exciting developments. Our community mental health teams will become part of a much more integrated network of services and our mental health clinicians will be central in driving the changes, in close partnership with our primary and third sector colleagues.

We recognise that working in mental health can be stressful so we prioritise staff welfare, providing regular supervision, reflective practice, mentoring, and any other support that our clinicians need to ensure their wellbeing.

If you are a band 5 or newly qualified nurse with previous mental health experience who has a desire to develop into a community mental health nurse role, please contact us as we would be delighted to talk about any development opportunities.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact (Service Manager) if you want to know more about the role.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Excellent communication skills are needed in the role in regard to communicating with all stakeholders including service users, carers, third sector providers, internal and external agencies and services.

Ideally, we would prefer someone who has experience of supporting service users with mental health problems (and we positively encourage applicants with lived experience). An inclusive and positive attitude is essential. If your current role includes duty work, that will be an advantage in your application. We always provide a robust induction and the wellbeing of our team is always thought about. Supervision, appraisal and training are all highly valued and prioritized.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse / health professional with current registration appropriate to the job role
• Completion of Mentorship Course/ENB / professional equivalent
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Knowledge/Experience

• Significant post qualifying experience in the relevant care group (mental health or neurodevelopmental)
• Experience of working alongside people with complex health problems in the designated care group
• Experience of supervising staff
• Experience of providing a range of clinical interventions to people in the designated care group with a variety of health problems
• Experience of working consultatively with professionals
• Experience of conducting clinical assessments including risk assessments
• Experience of partnership working within and across various statutory and non statutory teams and agencies
• Experience of working within the CPA process
• Understanding of clinical governance
• Previous experience of working in the community

SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.

Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.

SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.

If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.

In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

For an informal discussion about the role please do not hesitate to contact Hannah Ryan on the details above.