Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust
Community Practitioner
The closing date is 23 April 2026
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, dependant on service user need.
The service will be integrated at a local level across all relevant services and 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 and aims 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. You will be required to have at least 12 months post qualification experience in your registered field, preferably within the field of Autism or Learning Disability.
Working with this client group you will be adaptable and work well under pressure with strong decision-making skills and 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 / autism.
The successful candidate will be joining a skilled integrated multi-disciplinary 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 will need to meet the mobility and geographical requirements of the post which require travel to community premises and across the sites as needed.
About us
We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.
Job responsibilities
This post is currently based within our South Tyneside team based at Bedewell Unit, Monkton Hall. However this team is expanding and may need to move to larger premises in the future. This is to strengthen our patient offer and to strengthen our workforce provision.
Geographical area is South Tyneside and there is an expectation that the post holder will need to be able to facilitate community appointments and access other CNTW and STSFT sites.
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 caseload
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.
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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