Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 7 Team Lead to join our newly established Assertive Outreach Team (AOT) in Hillingdon.

This is a key leadership role within a transformational model of care, designed to support individuals with severe mental illness who are at risk of disengagement and require intensive, proactive community-based support.

This is a high-impact, community-focused role, where you will lead a team delivering care directly to patients in their homes and local communities, ensuring no one is lost to follow-up.

The Assertive Outreach Team (AOT) role is fundamentally a patient-facing position, focused on engaging and managing individuals who are often reluctant to engage with services. Given the nature of this work, requiring proactive outreach, direct contact, and consistent face-to-face intervention, the role is not suitable for remote or hybrid working arrangements.

Main duties of the job

• Provide clinical and operational leadership to a multidisciplinary outreach team
• Ensure delivery of high-intensity, assertive engagement, including home visits and community-based care
• Lead on risk management, safety planning and complex clinical decision-making for a high-risk cohort
• Deliver and embed a model based on persistent engagement, no discharge due to non-attendance, proactive flexible contact with patients
• Provide line management, supervision and support to team members
• Oversee team performance, caseloads and quality of care delivery
• Work collaboratively with CMHT/CMHH, Crisis Teams, inpatient services and partner agencies to ensure coordinated care pathways
• Going out to patients
• Maintaining engagement when others disengage
• Providing practical support that prevents crisis
• Not clinic based

About us
The Team is committed to delivering safe, compassionate and high-quality care across all services.

The Assertive Outreach Team is a new and developing service, offering:

• The opportunity to shape and lead a new model of care
• A strong focus on patient safety, engagement and outcomes
• A supportive multidisciplinary environment with clear leadership oversight
• Opportunities for professional development within a growing Trust-wide model

Job responsibilities
Essential:

• Registered mental health professional (e.g. RMN, OT, Social Worker)
• Experience working with complex mental health needs and high-risk patients
• Experience of clinical leadership, supervision and team management
• Strong skills in risk assessment, care planning and crisis management
• Experience of community-based or outreach working
• Driving licence and access to a vehicle for work

Desirable:

• Experience in assertive outreach, crisis or urgent care services
• Experience of service development or transformation

Person Specification
Education & Qualifications
Essential

• Registered professional qualification (e.g. RMN, OT, Social Worker or equivalent)
• Current professional registration (NMC, HCPC, Social Work England)
• Evidence of post-registration training relevant to mental health / community services

Desirable

• Leadership or management qualification or training
• Training in Psychosocial Interventions Other relevant training, e.g. psychosocial interventions
• Counselling qualification
• Venepuncture qualification
• ECG application qualification

Experience
Essential

• Significant experience working with individuals with complex mental health needs and high risk
• Experience of working with disengaged or hard-to-engage service users in a community setting
• Experience of risk assessment, safety planning and crisis management
• Experience of leading or supervising staff within a clinical team
• Experience of operational management (e.g. rota management, performance, workload oversight)
• Experience of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency working

Desirable

• Experience of service development or mobilisation of new models of care
• Experience in assertive outreach, crisis services or urgent care settings

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).