Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner

We have an exciting opportunity for a band 6 practitioner to work in Calderdale in a SWYT role in partnership with the Lower Valley Primary Care Network (PCN). These roles are now established in Calderdale and provide specialist mental health support in a local setting in primary care.

As a primary care practitioner, you will be responsible for conducting a mental health assessment with all people referred to him/her, determining what the individuals mental health needs are and the most appropriate service/ agency to meet those needs. You may engage in brief therapeutic work with the person referred, refer them to another service/agency or advise them of other sources of support that they could access.

You will build and maintain effective links with all disciplines within the PCNs (Primary Care Networks), and will work as an integrated part of the PCN MDT through the emerging Integrated Neighbourhood Health system.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.

Main duties of the job

Your approach should be driven by the underpinning philosophies of mental health promotion, empowerment and personal responsibility. This work will focus on the service users who are identified as requiring mental health support to access treatment and improve their wellbeing.

You will also provide easily accessed advice for the integrated care teams and support identification of the training needs of staff on mental health issues. As a mental health specialist, you will participate in providing training and supervision, as required, for staff within the PCN on mental health issues. You will also undertake a training, consultancy and support role within the team and for the wider integrated care workforce.

This role is part of the wider primary care mental health transformation process so will also involve feedback and input into the service improvement and development.

We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.