Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner

The team works with patients in primary care, providing prompt access to mental health expertise at the right level to prevent further deterioration or escalation in need. The people we work with are typically unable to access IAPT services, but may not meet the thresholds for secondary care services. The service also delivers evidence-based groupwork in our Wellbeing College, in collaboration with our partners at Southdown.

Please note, the Adult Wellbeing Service is actively involved with Community Transformation workstreams that are redesigning community mental health services across Sussex. The Adult Wellbeing Service is considering how it best aligns and works with Primary Care Networks (PCN's) and Adult Secondary Mental Health Services, to provide improved local neighbourhood care.

You will be part of our established Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner Service, responsible for providing assessment (both routine and priority), support planning, signposting and brief treatment including group work to individuals referred to the service by a number of routes including self-referrals and by General Practitioners. The Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner (PCMHP) role ensures that people referred to the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service are quickly and efficiently able to access the most appropriate treatment for their mental health difficulty.

Please note that we require applicants to have a core profession (Social Work, Occupational Therapist, Nursing) in order to be considered for the role.

Based in the community and located primarily within SPFT venues and GP Practices, you will be providing care and support to people with a range of mental health conditions appropriate for treatment within the Primary Care sector. You will be liaising closely with GPs, Secondary Mental Health Colleagues (including the Mental Health Rapid Response Service) and with other parts of the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service.

Commuting or relocating

If you need to relocate we know this can be a massive decision for you and your family. You can rest assured that we will support you every step of the way with our relocation package and golden hello scheme.

Who we are

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist NHS mental health and learning disability services in south east England. People receive care, treatment and support from us in hospital, at home and from a range of community services. Our services are rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission and ‘outstanding’ for caring.

At the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service we also offer an IAPT Service at Step 2 and Step 3, as well as our Children and Young People's Service.

The Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service is a supportive working environment and that gives the opportunity for staff to flourish. We actively encourage staff input when developing elements of the service and some of our most effective innovations have come as a result of this staff involvement approach. In addition, you will have access to full psychological support via our internal wellbeing team and excellent supervision programmes with opportunities for on-going training and development.

We are looking for self-motivated, energetic, and creative clinicians. You will have substantial, relevant mental health experience, and up to date professional registration from a core mental health profession (i.e. nursing, OT, social work).

This role will be important to the transformation of community mental health services in Brighton and Hove, and will help to ensure that gaps in service between GPs, the voluntary sector, and secondary tier services can be bridged. We are therefore looking for practitioners who can build partnerships, and can work flexibly, adaptively, and creatively in growing and developing these locally focussed teams.

You will require excellent clinical skills in assessment, risk assessment and support planning as well as strong communication skills. An ability to be flexible in care delivery is also required as assessments are delivered both face-to-face and digitally. You must be able to demonstrate a desire and ability to meet changing service demands in an ever developing primary care landscape. You will be required to work autonomously with elements of lone working but with strong support in place from your team leader, PCMHP colleagues and other colleagues within the service. The ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, such as GPs, secondary services and non-statutory organisations is vital.