Trac proudly powers the recruitment for
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
About
We provide NHS care and treatment for people living in south east England. Our mental health services provide care and treatment for people with conditions such as psychosis, depression, anxiety, dementia and personality disorder. Our vision is to provide outstanding care and treatment you can be confident in.
Contact
- Address
- Swandean
- Arundel Road
- Worthing
- West Sussex
- BN13 3EP
- Contact Number
- 01903 843000
Trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner
Closed for applications on:
Vacancy status: Closed
Closed for applications on:
Key details
Location
- Site
- Swandean Old HQ,
- Address
- Arundel Road
- Town
- Worthing, Haywards Heath and Hastings
- Postcode
- BN13 3EP
- Major / Minor Region
- West Sussex
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (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 (one day a week will be at University as part of the MHWP training)
Salary
- Salary
- £27,485 - £30,162 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 4)
Specialty
- Main area
- Mental Health
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 neighbourhood mental health teams. Those successful in the posts will be trained to offer psychologically-informed interventions to people in our NMHTs alongside our multi-disciplinary colleagues. You will be part of our psychological professions 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
It is hoped the interviews will be held on 17th and 24th Nov 2025
Advert
There has been recent national recognition that MHWP posts can play a key role in the provision of psychological therapies in our NMHTs. 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. There are 3 posts which will be located in different teams in Mid Sussex, Worthing and Hastings. Two posts are in the Dementia and Older People's Mental health (Worthing and Haywards heath) part of the service and the Hastings post is Specialist adult. These teams work with a range of presenting mental health issues. You will all be interviewed as one cohort, but it will be possible to express a preference for a placement location at interview stage. We will be offering a centralised recruitment process where candidates who are successfully shortlisted will be invited to a single interview. Successful candidates will then be offered a post based on their preferences.
Working for our organisation
Sussex Partnership is a fantastic Trust to work for and the psychological professions are 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 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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This is a training role within the NMHTs. 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.
SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.
Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.
SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.
If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.
In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.
Protect Yourself from Recruitment Fraud
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust does not charge any fees for job applications, recruitment processes, sponsorship arrangements or employment offers.
All vacancies, applications and recruitment communications are managed through the Trust's official careers website and published contact details.
These are the only authorised channels for applying for roles, receiving recruitment communications and verifying job offers.
Further information relating to our vacancies and recruitment process can be found at - https://careers.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Undergraduate Bachelor’s Degree at 2:2 higher OR A-Level or equivalent ability
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience working as part of a team
- Communication and Experience of analysing and communicating complex information verbally and in writing
- Experience of work interacting with the public
- Able to establish and maintain empathic, supportive relationships with people in significant distress or who are cognitively impaired, their families and carers
- Able to assist in planning and delivering psychologically-informed interventions to meet people’s health and wellbeing needs
- Demonstrate support for the values and beliefs of the Trust working in a trauma informed way, promoting social inclusion and challenging stigma.
Desirable criteria
- Lived Experience of MH/Caring/Neuro-disabilities
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Tina Lee
- Job title
- Psychological Professions lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07825 780 626
No longer accepting applications
Sorry, this vacancy is no longer accepting applications.
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