Specialist Mental Health Nurse

Go back Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 08 March 2026

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Mental Health Nurse to work at Swanwick Lodge Secure Children's Home which cares for up to 10 young people who are held under section 25 of the Children’s Act, on welfare placements. The home is owned and run by Hampshire County Council, who deliver the care and education for the young people in the home.

Young people typically stay for around 6 months, but this can vary based on their individual needs.

The post holder will join an engaging, friendly and supportive team that is a valued resource within the home. The health and wellbeing team is commissioned separately to the care and education elements in the home, but we work together very closely with our integrated colleagues to understand and meet the needs of the young people. As part of integrated working our delivery is scaffolded by the SECURE STAIRS framework and a central part of our role is to offer wellbeing support to the wider team including the delivery of training, a variety of reflective spaces, and supporting the integrated team to engage in formulations for the young people.

This is to promote a system wide, trauma informed approach to the understanding of the young people we are working with.

The post holder will need to have experience in child and adolescent mental health and have sound clinical knowledge and demonstrate managerial and leadership abilities.

The post holder will work as part of the multi‑disciplinary health and wellbeing team and will be responsible for completing mental health nursing assessments and interventions for a small caseload of young people with complex needs, as well as working with external agencies to make sure the young people’s mental health needs are addressed. They will also offer the young people group education sessions on how to support and promote their mental and emotional health.

You will have opportunity to work with the other Specialist Mental Health Nurses (or similar roles) both within the Trust and across the Secure Accommodation Network to benefit from peer support and have the chance to attend local and national networking events.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides joined‑up mental and physical healthcare for around two million people across our communities. With over 13,000 staff working in the community and local hospitals, we deliver care at every stage of life, helping people live their best and healthiest lives.

Our mental health services include community‑based support and early intervention in psychosis (EIP) for both adults and young people, alongside a network of specialist inpatient wards covering forensic, learning disability, eating disorder and older person’s care.

We deliver extensive physical health services too, from urgent community response teams helping frail and older patients remain safely at home, to hospitals at home teams providing acute‑level care in familiar surroundings. Our neurological services offer rehabilitation and treatment for conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Head Injury, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. Across Hampshire, our community hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation as a step down from acute care, and our dedicated teams also staff Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Portsmouth, offering expert, compassionate support.

Everything we do is underpinned by our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially…