Clinical Lead - Specialist Community Forensic Team
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 7 Clinical Lead to join the Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT) within Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
The Specialist Community Forensic Team is an innovative, commissioned service working in line with the South West Provider Collaborative. The team supports individuals with complex forensic mental health needs who are detained in secure hospital settings, with a focus on reducing lengths of stay, preventing unnecessary admissions, and supporting safe, wellplanned transitions back into the community.
The advertised role sits within a closeworking, multidisciplinary team delivering highquality, psychologically informed and riskmanaged care. Many individuals supported by SCFT return to the community under restricted sections of the Mental Health Act and therefore require intensive MDT support both pre and postdischarge.
The Clinical Lead will be a qualified mental health professional (RMN or Occupational Therapist) and will have responsibility for clinical leadership, oversight of care and clinical governance for a defined caseload of patients currently detained in secure hospitals and approaching discharge consideration.
The role is based in Bridgwater, with reimbursed travel across Somerset and the wider South West region, including secure hospital settings.
Main duties of the job
* Provide strong clinical leadership and governance oversight within the Specialist Community Forensic Team.
* Maintain responsibility for the quality, safety and effectiveness of clinical care delivered across the SCFT caseload.
* Lead and support clinicians working with patients with complex forensic mental health needs.
* Oversee and review complex risk assessments and risk management plans, including safeguarding, MAPPA and Ministry of Justice requirements.
* Work in partnership with inpatient services, community teams and external agencies to support admission avoidance and proactive discharge planning.
* Deliver highquality clinical supervision, reflective practice and professional leadership to multidisciplinary staff.
* Contribute actively to service development, quality improvement and collaborative working across the South West Provider Collaborative.
About us
At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we’re committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:
* Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
* NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
* Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
* A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential
Additionally, you’ll gain access to our Blue Light Card, unlocking exclusive discounts on shopping, dining, and leisure activities, as well as NHS-specific perks to support you both inside and outside of work.
We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.
Why Somerset? Somerset offers the perfect blend of idyllic countryside, outstanding areas of natural beauty, and breathtaking coastlines, with vibrant cities like Bristol, Bath, and Exeter just a short drive away - and only two hours to London.
The region is home to excellent educational facilities, and with affordable housing compared to other parts of the country, it’s a great place to build both your career and your future.
Somerset truly has it all - the peaceful countryside and cosmopolitan city life, with something for everyone to enjoy.
Job responsibilities
The Clinical Lead will oversee the clinical care and governance of a defined caseload of patients within the Specialist Community Forensic Team. These patients are typically detained within secure hospital settings across the South West and are at various stages of discharge planning and transition back to the community.
Working closely with the Operational Service Manager and Team Manager, the post holder will provide expert clinical leadership to Band 6 and Band 3 practitioners and the wider MDT. This includes leading clinical meetings, ensuring high standards of assessment and documentation, and supporting staff to deliver safe, defensible and personcentred care.
You will monitor and review complex risk formulations and management plans, ensuring appropriate multiagency involvement and compliance with statutory responsibilities, including MAPPA and Ministry of Justice processes. A key element of the role is close collaboration with secure inpatient providers, community services, local authorities, probation services and independent sector partners to support admission avoidance, reduce delayed discharges and develop robust community placements.
The Clinical Lead will play an integral role in maintaining clinical governance standards, contributing to audit, service evaluation and quality improvement activity. You will also support workforce development through clinical supervision, reflective practice, training and professional development, acting as a positive role model for compassionate, inclusive and psychologically informed care.
This role requires a high level of autonomy, strong leadership skills and confidence in working across organisational and regional boundaries within a developing service.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Professional RMN Qualification
* or
* Professional Occupational Therapy qualification
* Educated to degree level or equivalent
* Professional qualification in clinical leadership
Experience
* Experienced mental health clinician with band 6 experience.
* Post qualification experience of working with severe mental illness
* Evidence of appropriate knowledge, training and experience.
Additional Criteria
* An understanding of major legislation relevant to the post, including (but not limited to) the Mental Health Act (1983), The Care Act (Oct 2014) and Continuing NHS Health Care and their application to practice.
* Ability to be able to travel around the County.
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.
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