Specialist Senior Assistant Practitioner

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Thank you for your interest in the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT). This is an exciting time to join us and be part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:

• Collaborate at every level by living our values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
• Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
• Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
• Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
• Ensure that research, quality improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
• Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do

We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.

The North London Way to deliver: Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/

As a values-driven Trust, we recruit through our values. Our selection processes focus on behaviours, attitudes, and examples that reflect our organisational values and commitment to compassionate, high-quality care.

Job overview

Specialist Senior Assistant Practitioner

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join The North London NHS Foundation Trust in our multidisciplinary Focus Homeless Community Mental Health Team

The Focus Homeless Community Mental Health Team works intensively with people with provide specialist mental health support to people experiencing homelessness in Camden who have enduring mental health disorders. The service will improve access to assessments, treatment, and care planning while strengthening liaison with partner agencies across the Adult Homeless Pathway.

The service is looking for a Band 5 Specialist Senior Assistant Practitioner. The Focus Homeless Community Mental Health Team is a fast paced service that operates over 5 days of the week (Monday-Friday 09:00 - 17:00.

However, the mini outreach Team within Focus is flexible working.

No working on the Weekends or Bank Holidays

The service looks after rough sleepers and people within the homelessness pathway who have enduring mental health disorders. The service offer assessment and treatment service for mental health issues and support and assist homeless clients with substance misuse issues, housing and benefits.

For further information about this role please contact Katie Fathi

Focus Homeless Community Mental Health Team,

Team Manager on 07812 776 097 or email katie.fathi1@nhs.net

Main duties of the job

Clinical Responsibilities:

• Conduct individual assessments and interventions for clients experiencing a mental health deterioration.
• Provide specialist clinical care, including risk assessment, care planning, and evidence-based interventions.
• Offer expertise in homelessness intervention contributing to multidisciplinary team discussions and developing new protocols.
• Administer, review, and provide guidance on medication in consultation with staff.
• Maintain accurate records and ensure compliance with clinical governance and safeguarding policies.

Education, Training, and Development:

• Engage in professional development, supervision, and mandatory training.
• Support workforce planning and service development initiatives.
• Contribute to clinical governance, audits, and service evaluations to enhance care quality.

Communication and Collaboration:

• Work collaboratively within the multidisciplinary team and liaise with external agencies.
• Provide information, support, and education to clients, carers, and families.
• Ensure effective documentation and reporting.

Working for our organisation

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.

2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all

3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

4. We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.

Why NLFT?
• We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
• We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
• NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
• Excellent internal staff network

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information the role requirements and duties.

Service Purpose

To provide specialist mental health support to people experiencing homelessness in Camden who have enduring mental health disorders. The service will improve access to assessments, treatment, and care planning while strengthening liaison with partner agencies across the Adult Homeless Pathway.

2. Service Scope

Target Population

• Adults (18+) who are rough sleeping or within the Camden Adult Homeless Pathway.
• Individuals experiencing homelessness with enduring or severe mental health disorders.
• People requiring Mental Health Act assessments or crisis intervention.

Core Functions

• Mental Health Act support and contribution to statutory assessments.
• Mental health assessments and care planning for homeless individuals.
• Direct engagement with people rough sleeping, in hostels, and temporary accommodation.
• Liaison and consultation with homelessness services, outreach teams, and voluntary sector providers.
• Awareness raising and informal training to frontline homelessness workers.
• Seasonal capacity support during the winter period, when service demand peaks.

3. Service Delivery Model

• Location: Community-based, with delivery in hostels, day centres, outreach settings, and health/social care premises.
• Operating Hours: Standard working hours, with flexibility during winter and periods of high demand.
• Partnerships: Integrated working with Camden Adult Social Care, outreach providers, hostels, crisis teams, and voluntary sector organisations.
• Approach: Trauma-informed, person-centred, recovery-focused, and prevention-oriented.

4. Outcomes & Performance Indicators

Key Outcomes

• Improved access to timely mental health assessments and interventions.
• Reduced mental health crises, A&E attendances, and hospital admissions among the homeless population.
• Increased engagement with treatment and recovery services.
• Stronger collaboration between health, housing, and homelessness services.
• Enhanced service capacity and responsiveness during winter pressures.

Performance Indicators

• Number of Mental Health Act assessments supported.
• Number of mental health assessments completed within the homeless pathway.
• Reduction in repeat crisis presentations and A&E attendances.
• Partner agency feedback on liaison and support provided.
• Evidence of preventative interventions and successful engagement in care.

5. Governance & Reporting

• Line management provided by the Focus Homeless Community Mental Health Team Manager and in their absence by the Focus Homeless Community Mental Health Team Service Manager
• Regular reporting on activity, outcomes, and service user impact to Camden mental health commissioners.
• Quarterly review meetings with key stakeholders to monitor performance and identify improvements.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• HCPC registration
• Diploma or degree in occupational therapy

Desirable criteria

• preceptorship

Experience

Essential criteria

• Evidence of working in mental health
• Evidence of understanding of national policies and procedures relating to mental health
• Evidence of use of standardised assessment
• evidence of clear written communication skills

Desirable criteria

• evidence of supervising students or junior staff

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• evidence of understanding of models of practice
• evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable criteria

• training in models of practice or standardised assessments
• evidence of ability to apply research and theory into practice

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts, we reserve the right to close any vacancies before the stated closing date. Therefore, please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

In line with NHS protocols, only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We regret that it is not possible to contact all applicants for every vacancy. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume you have not been shortlisted for the next stage.

Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome. Please ensure you hold the correct right to work in the UK at the time of your application. Some roles may not be eligible for sponsorship, and we want to make sure you have all the information you need before applying. To avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration

References will be required to cover your last 3 years of employment/training. One has to be from your current or most recent employer and the others from your previous employer. The references should be from persons with management responsibility or HR.

Please note, in order to progress your application your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers - North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of North London NHS Foundation Trust. As part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a "selfie" using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating an inclusive, fair, and supportive workplace for all. We actively welcome applications from individuals who are under-represented within our workforce and are dedicated to eliminating discrimination in all its forms.

As a Disability Confident (Two Ticks) employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role and are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at improving efficiencies within the NHS both to make costs savings for NHS organisations but also to save you time when your employment transfers.

For further support on submitting an application please refer to the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit: https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.
Documents to download

• Job Description and person specification (PDF, 704.3KB)
• Functional Requirements (PDF, 536.5KB)
• A comprehensive guide for candidates (PDF, 875.7KB)