Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner (ARRS Scheme)

‘ARRS’ stands for ‘Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme’, which in practice means that Primary Care Networks (small groups of GP surgeries) can combine resources with the NHS Trust to fund specialist positions like this.

Day-to-Day this means that the successful applicant will be employed by the Trust (BHFT), but based within GP surgeries, seeing primary care patients and working on primary care systems, but with a specific mental health focus.

That being so, patients coming into primary care with mental health difficulties – rather than having a 10-minute appointment with a GP – will have a 15-30 minute appointment with a senior Mental Health Practitioner (Nurse, Social Worker or Occupational Therapist).

Being employed by the Trust and very much plugged into the wider Mental Health service structure, the idea is that patients can quickly and seamlessly step-up to specialist secondary mental health services when needed, and also step back down to primary care.

Although the successful applicant won’t be doing 40 appointments per day like a GP does, these are still very busy roles in fast-paced environments. Most ARRS Mental Health practitioners see 14 patients on a normal day. Equally, there is no caseload, nor CPAs, nor funding applications for packages of care, nor management responsibilities – so the ancillary tasks that come with secondary care roles are certainly less.

As above, day-to-day the successful applicant will be physically based within GP surgeries. Each Primary Care Network (PCN) has about 4 GP surgeries, and ARRS workers usually spend a day in all the surgeries on rotation.

Your clinics, like GPs’ clinics, are populated by Surgery receptionists. Appointments are split between initial appointments (generally 30 mins) and follow-ups (15 mins). Key tasks involve mental state examinations, liaising with secondary services and Talking Therapies, making onward referrals.

If you’re a Non-Medical Prescriber and/or have an ‘Advanced History Taking’ qualification, that would be ideal (but is not necessary). Respectively these would enable you to initiate first-line pharmacological treatments for Anxiety and Depression (the most common presentations in primary care; and ascribe formal diagnoses.

Most applicants don’t have these qualifications, which is absolutely fine, but it means a little bit more GP contact/oversight is required when it comes to initiating and monitoring treatments in Primary Care.

You’ll have access to all the same training and CPD materials and opportunities as any other clinician involved in the trust, and your line manager and clinical supervisor will be based within BHFT.

The 3 “must haves” for you to be considered for this role:

The ARRS project has been running for about two years now, and it’s been an enormous success – patients are happy with the service, GP colleagues are happy as mental health needs are dealt with in primary carer more efficiently – and the ARRS Mental Health Practitioners who like the role really like it, but equally it’s not for everyone. If you really enjoy patient contact and fast-paced work, this would suit you down to the ground, but obviously with that comes less flexibility around things like home-working, working hours, managing your own diary etc.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

Please note the PayScale currently in use is Agenda for Change 2023/2024. We will update the 2024/2025 PayScale once confirmed. Interviews are due to be held on 22 October 2024.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Polite Tshuma on 07890610570 or email: [email protected] who’ll be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.