Mental health practitioner

Job Title: Mental health practitioner

Location: London

Salary: £ 25.53 per hour (35hrs of working)

Position Type: Till christmas

Work mode: Onsite

JOB PURPOSE

The Student Mental Health Practitioner works with student services staff and other healthcare professionals to deliver a range of high-quality mental health and wellbeing services within a higher education setting. The role provides rapid triage, informal clinical assessments, and ongoing caseload support to students presenting with emotional and mental health needs, including potentially vulnerable adults.

The postholder will work in conjunction with internal colleagues and external agencies and healthcare professionals, in the delivery of a range of high-quality services to students within a higher education setting with an emphasis on:

• Delivering workshops and training to inform university staff of relevant policies and procedures including working with/signposting and referring to Student Support;
• Designing and delivering groups and workshops to students on a range of specified emotional/mental health issues, while working with other external training providers;
• Offering a triage service to assess students with emotional and mental health needs, and other potentially vulnerable adults, and refer as appropriate to relevant internal services and external health agencies and statutory services;
• Offering mental health support, as and when required, to a case load awaiting referrals to, and treatment from, appropriate health agencies and statutory services;
• Liaising and proactive outreach with community services, health providers and other external health agencies and statutory services;
• Work as part of a team to ensure appropriate evidence-based risk assessments are undertaken, and to feed into relevant fitness to study procedures as required;
• To liaise and work with disabled students, to ensure a seamless transition between Wellbeing to the Disability and Dyslexia Team where appropriate;
• Seeking opportunities for partnerships to improve service provision to students and support the monitoring of their effectiveness and progression;
• Contributing to the evaluation, and monitoring, of service provision to students in the area of mental health and wellbeing.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide informal assessments of the emotional and mental health needs of students presenting to the service, offering high-quality clinical advice, guidance, and support while facilitating suitable internal and external referrals.
• Manage an active personal caseload of students requiring frequent or ongoing mental health support, and regularly attend, document, and report on clinical case management matters.
• To actively seek supervision for all aspects of post, recognising personal and professional boundaries and limitations
• Respond to student mental health crises, providing sensitive, timely, and appropriate risk intervention, and drawing on external emergency and statutory services in close collaboration with the wider support team.
• Deliver information, training, and policy workshops to university staff to enhance awareness of emotional health issues, support academic retention/progression, and establish positive liaison networks across academic schools and departments.
• Take a proactive lead on coordinating care transitions for students, including participating in Care Programme reviews, inpatient discharge planning, GP surgery consultations, and Accident and Emergency follow-ups.
• Contribute to delivering the Student Services' Health Gain goals, implementing campaigns, educational workshops, and prevention activities to improve student resilience and community health.
• Liaise directly with NHS primary/secondary care, GP surgeries, community agencies, and statutory health providers to establish effective, collaborative referral networks and outreach pathways.
• Maintain and collate accurate, confidential, and comprehensive student records in compliance with the Data Protection Act, professional standards, and University clinical record-keeping protocols.
• To work in accordance with relevant legal and ethical requirements e.g. Mental Health Act, NICE guidelines, Equality Act, Health and Safety at Work Act and appropriate codes of professional conduct and practise (e.g. NMC, NASW, BACP, UKCP, HCPC, BPS, etc.);

Randstad Business Support is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.