SPOA Mental Health Practitioner

Job overview

Access to Wellbeing Single Point of Access Mental Health service have an exciting opportunity for a Band 6 Community Mental Health Practitioner to join the newly formed team.

To work as a qualified practitioner in the Access Wellbeing Single Point of Access which provides a referral and access point for professionals into Access Wellbeing.

To provide specialist screening and triage via a telephone service, as part of the wider multi- disciplinary care team.

To complete face to face urgent mental health assessments as required.

To provide specialist advice to others in relation to referrals and potential treatment pathways or interventions.

Provide supervision, mentorship, training and clinical support to other professionals and the VCSE Sector as required.

To provide a high-quality person-centred approach to care delivery which always considers people’s safety, privacy and dignity.

Please note that the post will not be based at Kings Park Hospital. The role will be located at the designated Single Point of Access (SPOA) site, which will be confirmed in due course.

Main duties of the job

The role involves screening, assessing, and providing specialist mental health care through the single point of access, including telephone-based and occasional face-to-face assessments, risk management, signposting, and autonomous clinical decision-making. It requires maintaining advanced, evidence-based clinical expertise, effective communication of complex and sensitive information, and active involvement in quality improvement through audit, evaluation, and complaint handling.

There are leadership expectations: modelling Trust values, supporting change, and contributing to service development. The post provides guidance, supervision, and training to junior staff, promotes effective multidisciplinary teamwork, and maintains high standards of documentation and data reporting.

Responsibilities also include efficient use of resources, participation in audits and research activity, contributing to policy development, and upholding professional codes of practice. The role demands strong IT competence, continuous professional development, and the ability to challenge poor practice.

Environmental demands include prolonged desk-based work, sustained concentration, exposure to distressing information, and the need for expert judgement when advising on acute situations.

Applications from candidates that require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are unfortunately ineligible to apply for this position.

Detailed job description and main 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.

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 [email protected]

We understand that using AI can be a useful and supportive tool when completing your application.  However, we have also seen an increase in the over-reliance of AI tools which is negatively impacting applications as they remove candidate’s individuality, and it becomes much harder to get a sense of who you are and your authentic experience.  If you do use AI, it should be used to enhance your application and not to create your supporting statement in its entirety.  If we suspect you have used AI to create your supporting statement and this does not match your experience, we may withdraw your application.

Employment in this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which the Trust will cover the cost of.  Applicants who subscribe to the DBS update service are able to present a valid DBS certificate instead of requiring a new check.