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Job summary

Main area
Mental health
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract
Fixed term: 1 year (This post is a training post for one year, with an agreement that the relevant team will then employ them in a substantive role following training.)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
354-AN-21042
Employer
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Langley Green Hospital
Town
Crawley
Salary
£28,392 - £31,157 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
15/10/2026 08:00

Employer heading

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust logo

Trainee Mental Health Wellbeing Practitioner

NHS AfC: Band 4

Come and join us

We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.

At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.

We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.

We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.

Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page.

We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.

Job overview

We are excited to announce that we have been awarded funding from Health Education England to offer the opportunity to come and train with us at Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT) as a Mental Health
Wellbeing Practitioner (MHWP). Sussex Partnership is a mental health trust, offering care across Sussex to adults, older adults and children with mental health problems. The MHWP posts are new national roles based in
our community mental health teams and our emotional wellbeing services (EWS). Those successful in the posts will be trained to offer psychologically-informed interventions to people in our community mental health teams, alongside our multi-disciplinary colleagues. Your will be part of our psychology and psychological therapies team, receiving high quality supervision and continued professional development and support. If you are successful in this post you will receive NHS funded training at Sussex University, and a salary with us at Sussex Partnership for the placement element of your training. The years training will then equip you to apply for qualified MHWP posts within our trust.

Please note, you cannot train or apply for another NHS England training (including clinical psychology training) within two years of taking on an MHWP role

Main duties of the job

There has been recent national recognition that MHWP posts can play a key role in the provision of psychological therapies in our community mental health teams. These are multi disciplinary teams that work with people in the community and you will be providing intensive short term therapeutic interventions within the context of the wider team.
We will be offering a centralised recruitment process where candidates who are successfully shortlisted will be invited to a single interview.

Being a Car Driver would be advantageous.

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we have received enough applicants.

Working for our organisation

Sussex Partnership is a fantastic Trust to work for and psychology is highly valued. Our teams are welcoming and enthusiastic about providing the best possible care for people who access our services. Sussex is a beautiful county with good transport links, vibrant urban communities, rural areas and tourist attractions, including the Coast and the South Downs. The Trust has recently been rated by the CQC as Good overall and Outstanding for care.

Supervision and wider professional support will be offered to all successful candidates. A specialised induction programme is also available and successful applicants will also be able to attend training that is offering at the Trust.

Interview date Tuesday 13th October - location TBC

 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This is a training role within adult community mental health services. The post-holder will be enrolled in a graduate certificate or postgraduate certificate training delivering the national curriculum for Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners. The post-holder will attend all elements of the programme of study and progress successfully through assessments of competence and attainment. In the remaining part of the week they will work as a trainee in the service, under close supervision and regular course assessment of practice competence. They will work within the limits of their experience and assessed competence for their stage of training:
• To work alongside service users, families, carers and multi-disciplinary team members to co-ordinate care, supporting collaborative decision-making about care and treatment.
• To deliver a set of wellbeing-focused psychologically-informed interventions, aligned to cognitive-behavioural principles, based on the best evidence available, that address problems often experienced by people with severe mental health problems.

In your supporting statement, please answer the following question: "what is your understanding of Trauma informed Care and how it related to secondary mental health care". 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Batchelors degree at 2:2 in any subject for entry to Postgraduate route

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Experience of work interacting with the public
  • Experience working as part of a team
  • Experience of analysing and communicating complex information verbally and in writing

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyDisability confident leaderDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - BronzeCare quality commission - GoodArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardStep into healthPride In Veterans

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

Due to high numbers of applications this vacancy may close before the advertised closing date. We will not be able to accept late applications to this post.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Alex Kydd
Job title
Consultant Clinical psychologist
Email address
[email protected]
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