The closing date is 19 July 2026

Job summary
We are pleased to offer a secondment opportunity for a Perinatal Practitioner to join the Dorset Perinatal Community Mental Health Service for a 14-month period.

We welcome applications from professionally registered clinicians across a range of disciplines, including Mental Health Nursing, Occupational Therapy, and Social Work.

The service provides specialist mental health support to women experiencing difficulties during the perinatal period. This role offers an excellent opportunity for professionals with a strong interest in perinatal mental health to develop their skills and gain valuable experience within our dedicated Perinatal Services.

We are a supportive, friendly, and motivated team who will warmly welcome you into our service. This role provides an excellent opportunity to further develop your skills and knowledge within a specialist service, alongside regular support and supervision within a high performing multidisciplinary team.

We are proud that our perinatal service has one of the highest staff retention rates in the South West and consistently attracts high calibre professionals.

The Community Perinatal Mental Health Team provides coverage across pan Dorset to ensure services are accessible to women and families throughout the county, with two main bases at Dorchester (Forston Clinic) and Bournemouth (Alumhurst Road).

This particular role will focus on providing care and support within the east locality of Dorset.

Main duties of the job
As a Perinatal Practitioner, you will join a dynamic and supportive team, delivering specialist care to women experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties during pregnancy and up to two years postnatally.

You will play a key role in providing high-quality, evidence-based care, including assessment, treatment, and ongoing monitoring of maternal mental health. The role offers the opportunity to deliver a range of therapeutic interventions across community settings, including one-to-one support and group work, to improve outcomes for women, babies, and their families.

Working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team, you will liaise closely with a wide network of professionals, including Community Mental Health Teams, Midwifery Services, Health Visitors, and Children's Social Care, ensuring coordinated and holistic care.

You will also contribute to the continued development of an innovative perinatal service, maintain accurate clinical records, and engage in regular supervision, training, and quality improvement initiatives.

This role is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, funded by the Trust.

This is a fixed term role and for those with current NHS service, the role will be offered on a secondment basis only. Please obtain permission to be released on a secondment before submitting an application.

About us
At Dorset HealthCare we're on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We're a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here - it's one of the reasons the CQC rated us 'outstanding' in 2019. It's also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you're looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do, and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities, and we celebrate diversity. We're an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you'll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don't know. And you'll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion, and expertise in all we do.

Job responsibilities
For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidates individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.

All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact dhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net

Person Specification
Qualification
Essential

• Professional registration as a Mental Health Nurse, Occupational Therapist or Social Worker
• Further post registration training

Desirable

• Qualification in psychosocial interventions
• Ability to act as mentor / placement educator
• Child protection training

Experience
Essential

• Experience of working with clients with severe and enduring mental illness
• Experience of taking responsibility for individual clients care
• Experience of undertaking comprehensive risk assessment
• Awareness and understanding of Child protection policies and procedures

Desirable

• Post qualifying experience of care co-ordinating
• experience of working with women with perinatal illness
• experience of working with Childrens Social care / Child protection cases

Managerial/supervisory experience
Essential

• Experience of managing/supervising other staff members

Personal qualities/attributes
Essential

• Highly developed communication skills
• Evidence of effective team working and the ability to work autonomously

Business travel
Essential

• Subject to the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act, able to travel around the catchment area in an appropriate and timely manner

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.