Specialist Mental Health Nurse

The closing date is 19th Oct 2025

Job summary

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Mental Health Nurse to work at Swanwick Lodge Secure Children's Home which cares for up to 10 young people who are held under section 25 of the Children's Act, on welfare placements. The home is owned and run by Hampshire County Council, who deliver the care and education for the young people in the home. Young people typically stay for around 6 months, but this can vary based on their individual needs.

The post holder will join an engaging, friendly and supportive team that is a valued resource within the home. The health and wellbeing team is commissioned separately to the care and education elements in the home, but we work together very closely with our integrated colleagues to understand and meet the needs of the young people. As part of integrated working our delivery is scaffolded by the SECURE STAIRS framework and a central part of our role is to offer wellbeing support to the wider team including the delivery of training and a variety of reflective spaces. This is to promote a system wide, trauma informed approach to the understanding of the young people we are working with.

The post holder will need to have experience in child and adolescent mental health and have sound clinical knowledge and demonstrate managerial and leadership abilities.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

To provide highly specialist nursing/psychological assessment for young people who access Swanwick Lodge and offering therapy for those young people with identified needs, ensuring competent practice within professional guidelines. Psychological intervention will be offered mainly on a group basis according to the young person's needs but will also include individual therapy.

Delivery of group therapy and contribution to the development of the group programme will constitute the main emphasis for this post.

To communicate with young people in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, including formulations of the young person's difficulties and the basis for treatment recommendations.

To communicate with referrers and other clinical staff, a specialist psychological formulation of the young person's difficulties, in addition to making recommendations for their future care and treatment.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of young people whose problems are managed by psychologically based care plans. Referral allocation and monitoring and caseload management are agreed within the service.

To foster multidisciplinary and (where appropriate) multi-agency care of people with mental health needs, including the management and communication of complex information and concepts regarding the young people and their treatment.

About us

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a newly established organisation, bringing together expertise from across mental health, learning disabilities, community, and physical health services. We are dedicated to delivering compassionate, high-quality, and accessible care to the diverse communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. With over 13,000 dedicated staff working across more than 300 sites, we place patients and staff at the centre of everything we do. Our goal is to create an integrated healthcare system that improves accessibility and ensures more consistent care for patients. By working together, we aim to improve patient outcomes, drive innovation, and meet the unique needs of the populations we serve. Our Trust unites services from Southern Health, Solent NHS Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trusts community and mental health teams, as well as Hampshire CAMHS, originally part of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This transformation enables us to deliver more seamless care across the region, ensuring that patients receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. Join us as we embark on this exciting journey to shape the future of healthcare across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We are deeply committed to our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence, and offer outstanding opportunities for career development, training, and collaborative working.

Job description

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

If you're interested in applying for this role, we'd encourage you to get in touch using the contact information at the bottom of this advert with any questions or if you would like to arrange an informal visit.

Person specification
Qualifications
Essential

Registration with NMC as a mental health nurse, and extensive post registration experience at Band 6.

Advanced post-registration training, continuing professional development and supervised practice in psychological therapies.

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 Professional Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

For help with your application, contact:

Lucinda Chown

Pay scheme

Agenda for Change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£ to £ Yearly

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-Time

Reference number

348-CFS-9326

Job locations

Beech Hurst

Weyhill Road

Andover

Hampshire

SP10 3AJ

---