Job summary
Are you an experienced mental health professional ready to lead an innovative service for women with complex needs?

We are seeking a compassionate Senior Practitioner to lead developing Intensive Service at HMP Eastwood Park. You will manage and supervise two team members, coordinate Mental Health Act transfers to and from hospital, case-manage women during admission, and support their safe return to prison. Through proactive assessment, relapse prevention and evidence-based interventions, you will help reduce delays and improve women's mental health outcomes.

Working with prison, probation, hospital, community and multidisciplinary colleagues, you will provide clinical leadership, supervision, risk management and safeguarding oversight. You will also shape pathways, strengthen governance and champion inclusive, trauma-informed care.

You must be a registered Mental Health Nurse or Social Worker with substantial post-registration experience, knowledge of the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and safeguarding, with skills in complex assessment, care planning, supervision and team management.

Help develop a new service and make a lasting difference. Flexibility, collaboration and excellent communication are essential. Prison security clearance is required, and travel may be necessary. Join AWP and bring our PRIDE values to life: Passion, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence.

Main duties of the job
We have been commissioned to develop and deliver, during the remainder of the contract period, a dedicated specialist team focused on improving the mental health pathway for women detained within HMP Eastwood Park who are either at risk of transfer or require transfer to hospital under Part III of the Mental Health Act. This is a significant and high-profile area of work, designed to address the complex needs of women within the criminal justice system and improve outcomes for some of the most vulnerable individuals in our careAs the Senior Practitioner, you will provide leadership and operational management to this specialist team, ensuring effective coordination of transfers to hospital and oversight of individual care pathways. You will case manage women throughout their admission, maintain close liaison with inpatient teams, and facilitate timely and appropriate remittance to prison once treatment goals have been achieved and individuals are clinically stable.A key element of the role will be the prevention of deterioration and relapse through proactive intervention, early identification of risk, and collaborative care planning. Working closely with prison staff, healthcare providers, and partner agencies, you will help reduce the need for hospital admissions wherever possible while ensuring that those requiring specialist treatment receive timely access to appropriate services.

About us
We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We aim to provide High Quality, Compassionate Care everywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy.

Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200miles, to more than 1.8million people.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Job responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day clinical leadership and oversight of the Intensive pathway. This will include ensuring we have the right processes in place that adhere to safe governance principles and policy.
• Offer clinical supervision and managerial supervision to the Intensive team and other members of the MDT as required
• Develop and disseminate packages of care which may include a variety of evidenced based interventions that work with women
• Hold a clinical caseloads appropriate, with adherence to professional registration as well as attending your own clinical supervision.
• Provide first-line support for staff in managing clinical risk and safeguarding concerns.
• Provide first line support for staff in managing clinical risk and safeguarding concerns ensuring appropriate escalation and multi -agency collaboration.
• Work closely with Team Managers to support effective triage, assessment and allocation of referrals.
• Contribute to the training and development of all staff to ensure they are equipped with the necessary knowledge, attitude and capabilities to operate effectively in an inclusive, value driven service.
• Work with the mental health workforce and our partners to identify people with complex needs and where they go to for the right help.
• Champion inclusion and accessibility, identifying and addressing health inequalities in service delivery.
• Build relationships across services to ensure joint delivery of care.
• Use the acquired skills, knowledge and abilities to deliver a service based within the police and court settings that builds on and reinforces but does not replace those initiatives that already exist within these environments.

Qualifications
Essential

• Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN) OR Registered Social worker (CQSW or DipSW)
• Significant evidence of post registration professional development

Desirable

• Leadership or management qualification

Knowledge
Essential

• Detailed and advanced knowledge of relevant legislation/ legal frameworks including Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and safeguarding.
• Demonstrates a highly developed understanding of the principles of recovery and the role of secondary mental health services in the delivery of care and able to show how this has been delivered in practice

Desirable

• Knowledge of joint planning and commissioning structures

Experience
Essential

• Substantial post registration experience gained working in front line services
• Experience of providing clinical supervision to colleagues
• Experience of mentoring and assessing students
• Experience of compiling complex written reports
• Significant experience of complex assessment, risk management and care planning in complex need

Skills
Essential

• Teaching and training Skills
• Highly developed communication skills both verbal and written with the ability to engage effectively with people at all levels even when a more assertive approach is needed.
• Excellent IT skills
• Networking skills

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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).