Closing date: 19 November 2026

Job summary
Mental Health Support Team (MHST) Band 6 Mental Health Practitioner

We are an expanding service and already have established MHST teams. This post is for maternity leave cover, fixed term contract in an existing team based in Kettering, Sudborough House

We are looking for Mental Health Practitioners. We would expect previous, significant experience at Band 5 or equivalent working within emotional/mental health and experience of working with children and young people and their families or relevant transferable skills.

We would require a core professional qualification relevant to mental health and children and young people e.g. nursing with specialism in mental health or learning disability nursing, children's nursing, Occupational Therapy, Social Work or CWP/EMHP/PWP with accreditation with BABCP or BACP

Do you have a passion for Early Intervention?

Are you interested in working with children and young people at an early intervention stage to support their emotional/mental health and wellbeing?

Do you enjoy working within a team, sharing your knowledge of how to support children and young people with colleagues inside and outside of the NHS? Are you keen to develop your clinical skills and offer evidence-based interventions? Are you able to support and supervise junior colleagues? We have more senior roles within MHST, therefore can offer career progression too.

If the answer is yes, we welcome your application.

Main duties of the job
This role is to work as a senior member in an exciting service which has been set up during 2021 and is expanding across Northamptonshire; the Mental Health Support Team (MHST). MHST's are working within schools, ensuring children and young people receive faster access to earlier mental health support. You will be one of the senior clinical members of the team adding to the number of teams in a growing early intervention mental health service. You will be expected to hold a clinical caseload, offer supervision to junior staff, be involved with the Whole School Approach and when necessary and appropriate deputise for the Band 7 Clinical Lead within your team.

In this role you will support and provide a high-quality service to children and young people (and their families) experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. This will be done through the supervision of junior staff, providing consultations within schools and through direct delivery of evidence-based interventions to support the recovery of children and young people referred to the service. This work will be in accordance with clinical governance processes and professional standards.

About us
NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools. We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning to improve the care and safety of our patients and staff, which focuses on people who enable our Trust to be 'outstanding' by supporting opportunity, innovation, development and growth.

Details
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year pa pro rata
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 270-TH511-CH

Person specification
Qualifications and training

• Essential: Core professional qualification relevant to mental health and children and young people e.g. nursing with specialism in mental health or learning disability nursing, children's nursing, Occupational Therapy, Social Work or CWP/EMHP/PWP with accreditation with BABCP or BACP
• Essential: significant experience of children's MH or relevant transferable skills
• Essential: CPD
• Essential: evidence of clinical development
• Desirable: Low intensity supervision or other relevant supervision qualification
• Desirable: CBT approach experience

Experience and knowledge

• Essential: safeguarding of children
• Essential: risk assessment and safety planning
• Essential: understanding to use of ROMs
• Essential: ability to facilitate workshops/group work or transferable skills
• Desirable: community working
• Desirable: working in education settings
• Desirable: whole school approach experience
• Desirable: additional therapeutic approach (other than CBT)

Skills and abilities

• Essential: to understand children and young people's additional needs
• Essential: multi-agency working
• Essential: to engage with children, young people and families
• Essential: ability to formulate and care plan/interventions offered/excellent clinical decision making
• Essential: standard keyboard and IT skills
• Essential: ability to prioritise and manage own caseload
• Desirable: mentor/buddy experience
• Desirable: ability to understand early intervention services in relation to national legislations and drivers
• Desirable: ability to use S1
• Desirable: ability to use MS Teams or other remote platforms

Disclosure and Barring Service check
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.

UK registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Contact: MHST clinical and service lead Rebecca Stevenson, Rebecca.stevenson@nhft.nhs.uk, 07857655557

Apply through our website.