Senior Practitioner
Job overview
Oxleas MHST is excited to announce that we are recruiting Band 6 MHST Senior Practitioners to join our award-winning teams in Bexley & Greenwich. These posts are open to registered mental health nurses, occupational therapists and social workers. Mental Health Support Teams work with children, young people and families across schools in Bexley & Greenwich .
We seek to appoint enthusiastic and dynamic individuals with a passion for early intervention and prevention. Candidates should have worked previously in mental health clinical settings and ideally have some CAMHS and supervision experience.
Mental Health Support Teams are part of an exciting National initiative, working in collaboration with education settings, to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
There is a focus on early intervention, improving access and supporting the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing within schools. Oxleas MHST work within a Thrive framework alongside education colleagues and community partners,
Please note we welcome applicants who have not completed the EMHP supervision course.
There will be an expectation that successful candidates, who have not completed the course, commence the fully funded one year supervision course at Kings College London from January 2027.
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The MHST Senior Practitioner role supports the delivery of evidence-based 1:1 and group interventions for children and young people presenting with mild to moderate mental health need.
The role requires joint working and close liaison with education colleagues to support the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing within school settings, facilitating appropriate signposting to other services as required. The post holders will actively contribute to the delivery and development of a quality MHST service within Oxleas.
The MHST Senior Practitioners, together with MHST Lead practitioners, offer support and supervision to the MHST workforce and it is an expectation of the role that the post holders have completed, or are willing to complete, the required Education Mental Health Practitioner supervision course in order to appropriately support the EMHP workforce.
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
· To be trained and confident in the use of CYP IAPT principles, evidence-based interventions and routine outcome measures.
· To be trained and deliver supervision to Education Mental Health Practitioners.
· To manage a defined caseload of children and young people presenting with mild to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties in schools
If you would like to find out more about this National initiative, Oxleas MHST teams and the MHST Senior Practitioner role we would be more than happy to facilitate discussion via telephone or MS Teams call or facilitate a visit to our service.
For further enquiries please contact: John Rea, Bexley MHST Team Manager ([email protected]) or Linda Adedayo, Greenwich MHST Team Manager ([email protected])
· To co-ordinate and deliver individualised interventions for children, young people and families and evaluate these programmes, ensuring high standards of practice in accordance with service remit, national guidelines and trust policy.
- To actively promote and contribute to the Whole School Approach to developing and maintaining emotional health and well-being within education settings
- To be able to assess and manage risk in children and young people and to do this on an on-going basis.
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme - Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.
If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.
We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.
If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.
We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct. Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.