Job overview
Are you a qualified Mental Health Nurse or Occupational Therapist with a passion for mental health?
Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where you can make a real difference to individuals in crisis?
We are seeking Senior Mental Health Practitioners to join our dedicated and highly motivated team, providing essential mental health support to those in urgent need.
We are keen to hear from enthusiastic, compassionate professionals with experience in mental health care, whether working with children or adults. You should be confident in assessing individuals in distress and providing immediate support.
Working Arrangements
1. The service operates seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, with options for long or short shifts, including days and nights .
2. Flexible working options are available – please contact us to discuss your requirements.
3. While the role is based in Bicester, we are currently trialling a hybrid working model, allowing some remote shifts once established in the team.
What We Offer
4. The opportunity to work in a progressive, multi-agency environment .
5. Comprehensive training and ongoing professional development.
6. Regular high-quality supervision to support your practice.
7. A chance to be part of an innovative and compassionate team making a real difference in people’s lives.
Main duties of the job
As a Senior Mental Health Practitioner, you will:
8. Triage callers, offering expert self-care advice and referring them to the most appropriate services.
9. Provide brief mental health assessments, ensuring individuals receive timely and effective support.
10. Offer clinical supervision to colleagues, fostering a collaborative and supportive working environment.
11. Work closely with emergency services, including Thames Valley Police and South Central Ambulance Service, to provide expert mental health advice during 999 calls.
12. Liaise with community teams, charities, and IAPT services to deliver integrated care across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
This role operates under the Urgent Care Pathway provided by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Working for our organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible.
Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
13. Excellent opportunities for career progression
14. Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
15. 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
16. NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
17. Competitive pension scheme
18. Lease car scheme
19. Cycle to work scheme
20. Employee Assistance Programme
21. Mental Health First Aiders
22. Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists may apply)
23. Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We hope that the advert has given you a clear understanding of the skills we are seeking and the opportunity at hand. You will need to use the “supporting statement” element of your application form to demonstrate your suitability for this role and you should refer to the job description, person specification and the guidance notes attached to this role to help you tailor your application.
The essential and desirable criteria will be used to shortlist for interview, and you should ensure that you refer to these within your application to increase your chances of being selected for interview.
Person specification
Qualification
Essential criteria
24. Registered Professional (Mental Health nurse or OT)
Experience
Essential criteria
25. Experience of working with the acutely mentally ill in a variety of settings
26. Experience of working closely with other disciplines within a multi-disciplinary team
Knowledge
Essential criteria
27. Knowledge of MHA, MCA and other legal frameworks involved in the delivery of mental health care
28. Knowledge of National and local issues concerning mental health
29. Knowledge of safeguarding adults and children
Desirable criteria
30. Specialist levels of applied knowledge related to mental health care, e.g. physical health care, substance misuse, perinatal
31. All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
32. Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
33. We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.
34. Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
35. We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.
36. We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.
37. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
38. Oxford is a world-renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing