Community practitioner

Employer: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

Type: NHS Site Monkton Hall Town Jarrow

Job title: Community Practitioner – Band 6

Salary: £39,959 – £48,117 per annum

Closing date: 26/06/2026 23:59

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Community Practitioner to join our new Intensive Support Team (IST) working alongside the Community Autism and Learning Disability (Needs Led) Service.

The expectation of the Intensive Support Team will be to:

• support people who present with behaviours that challenge the system,
• work with people with complex mental health presentation who are not able to be supported within community mental health teams due to their needs related to their learning disabilities and/or autism, and
• work with the person in their own residence, reducing/preventing the need for the use of restrictive practices, inpatient services and out-of-area/residential placements.
• provide support 7 days per week with core hours of 8am to 8pm with flexibility to deliver care outside of these hours, depending on service user need.

The service will be integrated at a local level across all relevant services and will provide psychological and psychiatric person‑centred interventions for people accessing either the specialist learning disabilities team or the enhanced primary care service.

The team is intrinsically linked with the dynamic support register and offers support over the 7-day period, aiming to proactively target people with autism and/or learning disability who are most at risk of unplanned mental health admissions due to mental illness or behavioural presentation.

Main duties of the job

To provide urgent and planned support, act on early warning signs, deliver evidence‑based interventions and support families/carers.

Key role in planning transitions between different settings, while advocating for a person’s rights and ensuring they are actively involved in the decision making.

This is a full‑time Band 6 post. Applicants should have at least 12 months post‑qualification experience in their registered field, preferably within the field of Autism or Learning Disability.

Working with this client group you will need to be adaptable, work well under pressure, possess strong decision‑making skills, and maintain a positive attitude and approach. The candidate will hold excellent communication skills and demonstrate an understanding of the complexities involved in this specialist area of learning disability, mental health and autism.

The successful candidate will be joining a skilled integrated multidisciplinary team working with adults, families/carers and other care providers.

The service is supportive to its staff, offering learning and training opportunities, clinical supervision and a supportive, collaborative team culture.

The post holder must meet the mobility and geographical requirements of the post, which require travel to community premises and across the sites as needed.

Requirements

Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all external applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay.

Person specification

Qualifications and Education

• Professional Qualification and current Professional Registration as a First Level Registered Nurse (RNMH, RMN, RNLD) or equivalent as an AHP, Social Worker or Clinical Psychologist
• Evidence of post‑registration training in clinical/psychological interventions/skills relevant to the post
• Proven track record of post‑registration clinical experience relevant to the post
• Up‑to‑date knowledge/experience of relevant legislation
• Knowledge of evidence‑based treatments for psychosis and non‑psychosis

Knoowledge and Experience

• 12 to 24 month Band 5 qualified nurse experience, dependent upon service need
• Awareness and understanding of professional accountability, NMC standards and other local and national initiatives
• Understanding and experience of managing complex caseloads

Skills

• Proven ability to carry out and provide comprehensive written assessments and care planning with individuals with complex mental health needs
• Risk Assessment and Risk Management / Safety Planning skills
• Demonstrate an understanding of effective & appropriate treatment options including a range of evidence‑based clinical approaches as identified in NICE Guidance
• Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to adapt work under pressure within a changing environment
• Experience of working within a community mental health setting
• Knowledge of other services which link to community services including voluntary and statutory agencies

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment. Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.