Mental Health Primary Care Practitioner

Mental Health Primary Care Practitioner - Hammersmith & Fulham

Band 7

An exciting opportunity for qualified nurses, OT’s, social workers and Clinical/Counselling psychologists to work at the heart of primary care delivering mental health support in conjunction with mental health services.

West London NHS Trust is transforming our community mental health services as an early implementer nationally. As part of this, we are rolling out a new and integrated place based model of community and primary mental health care services in line with the ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan. We are aiming to work with Primary Care by developing enhanced relationships with our local Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and GP practices and this bridging role will be key in ensuring that individuals have access to high quality mental health support throughout the pathway. Through this work, an exciting opportunity has arisen for a new and innovative role of integrated Mental Health Practitioners within each Primary Care Network working across primary care and the mental health trust. A total of 4 full-time roles have been created in Hammersmith & Fulham each working with one Primary Care Network.

**The remit of this role holder will be to**:

- Work with patients within Primary Care whose needs cannot be met by the IAPT service;
- Help the patient identify their needs and make shared decisions about self-management;
- Offer brief evidence-based interventions where appropriate (where these needs cannot be facilitated by IAPT);
- Liaise and work with other Primary Care colleagues within the PCN to address patients’ needs;
- Make onward referrals to local MINT or other treatment teams where a multi-disciplinary mental health approach is indicated, e.g. patients with complex needs or who may require a period of specialist mental health care to help them to address more acute mental health needs;
- Provide consultation, triage, and advice to GPs and other PCN colleagues about options for mental health treatment (supported by the local MINT team, who will also provide specialist supervision);
- Support the development of confidence within the PCN around addressing mental health needs through attendance of key meetings and delivery of identified training and support to other PCN practitioners;
- Act as a bridging role between the PCN and the local MINT team

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.

Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.

We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.

We’re rated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.

We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness

H&F Primary Care Networks (PCN), H&F GP Consortium and West London NHS Trust’s Mental Health services are working through an innovative collaborative approach to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people of H&F. Through this work, an exciting opportunity has arisen for Mental Health Practitioners to work in our developing integrated teams. A total of 4 WTE roles have been created to drive delivery of place-based integrated mental health care and embed specialist mental health skills in the Primary Care within Hammersmith & Fulham.

As a Mental Health Practitioner in these roles, you will be an integral part of a wider team of PCN care professionals working under the mentorship of a GP and receiving clinical support through the Trust’s MINT Service. You will work alongside Paramedics, Clinical Pharmacists, Link Workers, Physician Associates as well as the wider Mental Health teams allowing you the flexibility to bring in colleagues as needed to support your caseload.