Mental Health Practitioner(UK Visa Sponsorship)

Job Description

About the Role

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting a Mental Health Practitioner to work within a Prison Mental Health In-Reach Team at HMP Swaleside. This is a challenging yet highly rewarding role where you will deliver specialist mental healthcare to people in custody, supporting recovery, reducing risk, and improving long-term outcomes.

You will work as part of a skilled multidisciplinary team (MDT), providing assessment, treatment, care coordination, and psychological interventions to individuals with mental health needs, learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental conditions, and trauma-related presentations.

What You Will Do

In this role, you will work in a psychologically informed and recovery-focused way, helping service users achieve their agreed goals while ensuring continuity of care both within custody and upon release.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Clinical Care & Interventions
• Undertaking comprehensive mental health assessments, screening, and triage
• Managing a complex and varied caseload
• Delivering evidence-based psychological and psychosocial interventions
• Developing and reviewing individualised care and risk management plans
• Providing one-to-one and group-based therapeutic work
• Supporting alternatives to inpatient admission and facilitating early discharge

Care Coordination & Partnership Working

• Working closely with community mental health teams (CMHTs) to ensure continuity of care
• Supporting “through-the-gate” transitions on release
• Using the Care Programme Approach (CPA) where appropriate
• Attending and contributing to MDT meetings and complex case discussions

Leadership & Professional Contribution

• Providing clinical leadership and supervision within the team
• Acting as a specialist resource for colleagues and prison staff
• Contributing to training, consultation, and service improvement initiatives
• Preparing professional reports for MAPPA, probation, courts, and partner agencies

Health Promotion & Prevention

• Embedding health promotion and prevention into routine clinical practice
• Supporting service users with both mental and physical health needs
• Participating in screening, vaccination, and public health initiatives

Working for Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas is the largest NHS provider of prison healthcare in England, delivering services across Kent, South London, the South West, and beyond. Our teams work across prisons, secure hospitals, community clinics, and patients’ homes.

Our purpose is simple: to improve lives by providing outstanding care.
Our values guide everything we do:

• We’re Kind
• We’re Fair
• We Listen
• We Care
• Prison Locations Supported (Kent Cluster)
• HMP Swaleside (Category B)
• HMP Elmley (Category B/C)
• HMP Standford Hill (Category D)
• HMP Maidstone (Category C)
• HMP Rochester (Category C)
• HMP East Sutton Park (Category D)

Essential Qualifications

Applicants must have:

• A Degree or Diploma in a relevant health or social care profession (e.g. RMN, RLDN, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker)
• Current UK professional registration with the NMC or HCPC
• At least two years post-registration experience in adult mental health services

Desirable Qualifications & Experience

Post-registration training in areas such as:

• Learning disability
• Personality disorder
• Substance misuse / dual diagnosis
• Psychological therapies
• Experience working in a custodial or forensic setting
• Additional qualifications (e.g. CBT, AMHP, Non-Medical Prescribing, Thorn)

Skills & Knowledge

You should demonstrate:

• Strong commitment to continuing professional development (CPD)
• Ability to deliver therapeutic interventions including CBT, DBT-informed work, psychosocial and family interventions
• Understanding of recovery-oriented practice and secondary mental health services
• Experience conducting carers’ assessments
• Confidence managing risk in complex environments

Security Vetting & Pre-Employment Checks

• All applicants must be willing to undergo National Security Vetting to work in a prison setting.

You will be required to provide:

• Proof of right to work in the UK
• Valid photographic ID
• Proof of address
• Five years’ address history
• Additional requirements apply for applicants who have lived overseas, including overseas police certificates where applicable.

Safeguarding & DBS

• This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check
• Appointments are covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1975)