Primary Mental Health Practitioner

Due to positive & transformative changes, we now have an exciting and unique opportunity for the right person to work within Watergate Primary Care Network (PCN) as a Primary Mental Health Practitioner. You will be working alongside an established team of mental health colleagues based within the PCN, along with traditional community mental health teams and community organisations you will work primarily with General Practice and primary mental health workers in the GP hub.

Watergate Primary Care Network (PCN) represents approximately 48,000 patients and encompasses 3 friendly GP practices in Mid Cornwall. These 3 practices are Narrowcliff, Newquay Health Centre and Petroc Group Practice, and between us we have 6 GP surgeries, sited from Newquay all the way up to Padstow. The PCN vision focuses on expanding its multidisciplinary team for the benefit of the patients. We already have a team of paramedics, pharmacists, social prescribers, and physiotherapists working across the PCN.

We are in a great part of the country covering an area along the coast from Newquay though to Padstow, venturing inland to the market towns of St Columb & Wadebridge. Cornwall, if you are not familiar with it, is a great place to come and work, with great beaches and beautiful countryside. It offers the seaside, small towns, and rural communities, and alongside that we offer a good life/work balance with flexible working arrangements.

The post holder will be based and embedded within a Primary Care Network (PCN) working with GPs, practice nurses and other Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) workers e.g., social prescribers, health and wellbeing coaches, care co-ordinators, as part of the primary care Multidisciplinary Team (MDT). They will work with primary care GPs to manage the mental health needs of their population at the point
of contact. This includes those with lower-level support requirements that can be met within primary care, working with the Primary Care.

The role will act as interface between primary care and wider mental health services and:
- To provide rapid and responsive assessment, signposting and brief treatment to individuals referred to the service by several routes including self-referrals and General Practitioners.
- To provide support to Primary Care staff in the local management of patients with common mental health problems.
- To ensure that people are quickly and efficiently supported to access the most appropriate treatment for their mental health difficulty

We’re an NHS community and mental health provider Trust based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We deliver community and hospital-based care to improve people’s physical and mental health. We also provide specialist support to people with dementia or a learning disability.

We are a people organisation and people matter to us. As part of the team, you'll help support the health and wellbeing of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the UK.

Over 4,000 people make up the Trust. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, plus admin and support staff.

We work in people's homes, in community clinics and bases. Some staff work from one of our 13 community hospitals. Our aspiration is to have great people, provide great care, be a great place to work and a great partner.

Just over 532,000 people live here. A third of people who live in Cornwall are supported by acute hospital services in Devon. As a result, we also work closely with our partners in Devon. In the summer, and during other holidays lots of people choose to visit the area. This increases the numbers of people who use our services.

To view a detailed job description and person specification including the main responsibilities of this role please see ‘supporting documents’.