Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Overview

Job Summary We are looking for a band 6 senior mental health practitioner to join the Teignbridge OPMH team based in Newton Abbot. The post holder will deliver high quality comprehensive mental health services. The role involves managing a defined caseload with a focus on providing expert assessment and treatment for people with complex mental health difficulties and their carers. This will include recovery co-ordination (design and co-ordination of treatment packages that are personalised and evaluated).

The liaison with a wide range of statutory and non-statutory agencies is central to this role.

• Contribute to the teams engagement with a wide range of stakeholders including staff, service users, their carers and other statutory and voluntary sector agencies.
• Impart highly complex and sensitive information to patients and families/carers re assessment, care planning, treatment and review.
• Work with multi-disciplinary teams to ensure the provision of consistent, well-coordinated care.
• Coordinate with primary care teams regarding client care.
• Engage external agencies involved in the provision of care (e.g., voluntary and private sector, police, social services, housing, employment).
• Engage service user/carer groups and liaise with a wide range of other professionals and agencies.
• Contribute to the safe and effective day-to-day operations of the service, including handling clinical inquiries.
• Provide and receive information that may be contentious, sensitive or highly complex to and from individuals and their families/carers, where there may be barriers to understanding.
• Provide a high standard of written and verbal communication aligned with professional documentation standards.
• Participate in and chair clinical meetings, including professional meetings and clinical risk meetings.
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate in an empathic and reassuring manner, making information understandable for service users and carers in line with practice standards and operational policies.

About Devon Partnership Trust We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We strive to promote good mental health & wellbeing, using our expertise and partnerships to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people s recovery. We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do.

We recruit based on qualifications & experience and on behaviours that underpin our core values, including commitment to quality of care, improving lives, respect, dignity & compassion. We aim to be an inclusive employer; applications from all sections of the community are welcome. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Date posted: 06 February 2026. Pay scheme:
Agenda for change. Band:
Band
6. Salary: £38,682 to £46,580 a year.

Contract:

Fixed term. Duration: 12 months. Working pattern:
Full-time, Flexible working. Reference number: C Job locations:
Devon Partnership NHS Trust, Collett Way, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 4PH
.

Job responsibilities

• Undertake complex risk assessments and develop a formulation of risk to inform risk management plans considering a range of options.
• Undertake and re-evaluate complex bio-psycho-social assessments to develop personalised care packages in line with evidence-based practice and payment by results.
• Continuously re-evaluate individuals  needs and clinical risk, using clinical judgement to formulate the most appropriate clinical plan.
• Organise and facilitate complex meetings (professional and risk meetings).
• Manage own workload to meet the needs of individuals using the service, considering wider team needs.
• Plan and organise care packages and ensure reviews are conducted within required time frames (e.g., Section 117).
• Plan workload for junior colleagues to ensure high-quality and cost-efficient care, prioritising when needed.
• Ensure caseload is well managed and care/treatment aligns with practice standards and recovery co-ordination (CPA and non-CPA).
• Understand social factors impacting mental health; develop and deliver care packages including assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation.
• Ensure interventions have clear outcomes and source resources to meet needs; deliver using a recovery and strengths approach with service users and carers central.
• Deliver care in line with evidence-based practice, using engagement and therapeutic skills appropriate to the clinical situation.
• Triaging individuals and signposting to appropriate services.
• Provide specialist advice to referrers/other multi-disciplinary staff regarding care.
• Enable communication and engagement of individuals and carers to ensure they have a voice in services; engage advocacy if needed.
• Ensure…