Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
NELFT is the largest provider of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in England. The MHST deliver evidence-based individual and group interventions in educational settings for children experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties aged 5 to 18 years old. The teams also have a strong focus on whole school approaches to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people.
The MHSTs build on the support already in place from school counsellors, nurses, educational psychologists and the voluntary sector to support those with mild to moderate mental health issues in school and will help children and young people with more severe needs to access the right support and provide a link to the CAMHS services.
The post-holder will be a graduate Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)/Children Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) qualification and will be fully registered with the appropriate professional or regulatory body ( HCPC, NMC, BPS, BABCP). They will have extensive clinical experience working with Children and Young People (CYP) with emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties.
We are a friendly team of professionals who come from multidisciplinary backgrounds. We recognise the needs for a healthy work life balance, and we will consider flexible working applications in line with the trust policies and process. We encourage Continual Professional Development (CPD) and are keen to support our staff to grow and progress.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be responsible for delivering interventions within MHSTs in and round schools and colleges whilst receiving clinical supervision.
1. Act as an autonomous, registered (where appropriate) practitioner who is legally and professionally accountable for own unsupervised actions guided by the professional code of conduct and Trust guidelines and protocols.
2. Initiate referrals to other health professional specialist services and agencies.
3. To provide expert emotional wellbeing and mental health support as part of plans to transform CYPs mental health through the NHS Long- Term Plan.
4. To undertake school based and community-based assessments, risk assessments, care plans and to deliver a range of early interventions to CYP with a range of emotional and behavioural difficulties.
5. Responsible, and accountable, for service delivery to clients/patients, via NICE compliant pathways and in accordance with the crisis care concordat.
6. Provide leadership and to promote initiative, creativity and motivation in the MHSTs.
7. To routinely measure clinical outcomes and deliver evidence-based interventions.
8. To communicate complex patient related information facilitating positive outcomes and ensuring collaborative working.
9. To support peers and team leader and be an effective team member whilst working on their own initiative. They will have a commitment to collaborative working and actively support and liaise with other health and social care professionals and agencies.
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind. We are respectful. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Base
The Mid Essex MHST have a nominal base of Stapleford House in Chelmsford.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful candidate will be supported to undertake a 2-year Senior Wellbeing Practitioner course with University College London and Anna Freud Centre. This role will require candidates to undertake working within a clinical role along with studying/training and supervising.
As agile workers team members will be required to travel to various NELFT offices, educational settings across the MHST's and to the Anna Freud Centre in London for face-to-face training days.
Please see person specification and job description for full details or click on the link or browse the attached documents to find out more about the SWP course:
PG Dip Senior Wellbeing Practitioner
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Other
Essential criteria
10. Capacity to work alone, Involving colleagues and manager as relevant
Desirable criteria
11. To be able to travel efficiently throughout the area.
Qualifications
Essential criteria
12. Successful completion of EMHP/CWP Qualification and having been offered a place on or currently undertaking or completed the SWP PgDip course.
Expereince
Essential criteria
13. Experience of the delivery of CBT- or systemically-informed therapeutic interventions to children, young people, or their families, including as a trainee
14. Experience of working with moderate presentations and neurodivergence.
15. At least 1 year as a registered practitioner delivering low intensity CBT-informed interventions
Desirable criteria
16. 2 years post qualification experience in children’s mental health services
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
17. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
18. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
19. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
20. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.