Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Salary: Up to £45,000 per annum

Part Time/Full Time: up to 40 hours per week

Location: Lufton College, Yeovil

Would you like to be part of a rapidly developing service committed to improving the lives of children and young people and their families? An exciting opportunity has arisen at Lufton College, Yeovil and we are now recruiting for a dedicated passionate individual to join our clinical team as the Senior Mental Health Practitioner. This is a new role at the college to support students' mental and emotional health.

Main Duties of the Job

We are looking for a creative, dynamic and enthusiastic individual to work collaboratively within our wellbeing clinical team which consists of a Consultant Psychiatrist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Holistic therapist, School Nurse, and Integrated Therapy assistants. The role will require you to draw upon your knowledge of working with complex young people and adults, to support the emotional and mental health needs of our learners through either direct or indirect therapeutic interventions and by sharing your knowledge, experience, and expertise through workshops and training for our care and education team.

About Us

Cambian Lufton College is rated Good in all areas from Ofsted in 2024. The college is an independent provider of specialist further education and residential care in the South West, and part of the Care-Tec group. We offer day and residential placements for young people aged 16 to 25 years, and typically support students who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, moderate to severe learning disabilities, and a range of behaviour, emotional and complex needs (including medical). Students will have an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) reflecting their learning disability and assessed support needs. The College is registered with both the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted that undertake regular and rigorous inspections in addition to our own internal quality assurance processes.

Job Responsibilities

The post holder will:

1. Provide mental health triage, including basic assessments and clinical interventions based on NICE guidance within the college to support students.
2. Review and meet EHCP statemented needs of students.
3. Support the psychiatrist with the management of students presenting with emotional or mental health problems.
4. Support students presenting in crisis, modelling good practice and providing short-term interventions, where possible, share this practice with care and education teams to promote self-management.
5. Be the link role between the care, education, and wellbeing teams with external agencies for mental and emotional wellbeing.
6. Co-facilitate groups for students in promoting good mental and emotional health.
7. Manage your own caseload in conjunction with the requirements of the team, and wide care and education provision.
8. Attend multi-disciplinary and multi-agency meetings for our young people, where appropriate.
9. Contribute to reports for young people's progress at annual review and interim reviews.
10. There may be an opportunity to supervise other Mental Health Practitioners, Healthcare Students, and Assistants.

The successful candidate must be confident, able to work autonomously, have a passion to work with young people, and have a strong working knowledge in supporting complex mental health. You will have proven knowledge in risk assessment/management strategies and be an effective verbal and written communicator.

Minimum Requirements

• Senior Mental Health Practitioner or registered with the NMC (RMN/RLDN) or HCPC.
• Minimum 2 years experience RMN / RNLD/ HCPC.
• Experience in CAMHS (community or inpatient services) or education settings.
• Be person-centered and have a commitment to delivering high-quality evidence-based care.
• Good decision-making skills.
• Excellent organizational capacity.
• Effective communication skills.
• Be autonomous in practice.

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.