Engagement, Activity and Physical Health (EAP) Practitioner

Job summary
Greyfriars Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is seeking a highly motivated and committed band 4 Engagement, Activity and Physical Health Practitioner. Greyfriars PICU is a 10 bedded mixed PICU, providing care for people with severe and enduring mental health needs. The ideal candidate for this post will be seeking an opportunity to make a real difference to people's lives, with excellent communication skills and a passion for helping those experiencing mental health difficulties.

The successful candidate for this role will have the opportunity to work amongst the highly successful Engagement Activity and Physical Health (EAP) team on Greyfriars. With the objective of promoting and applying the agenda of Engagement, Activity and Physical Health to people who are currently receiving care on Greyfriars PICU. The main focus of this role is to promote the principles of recovery and promote social inclusion. The role will also rely on an individual who can educate, facilitate and motivate adults with wide ranging mental health problems to enable them to live more healthily.

Main duties of the job
The post-holder will be responsible for the day to day provision, co-ordination and review of engagement, activity and physical health monitoring for patients being nursed within Greyfriars PICU. This will involve running specialist activities/sessions and taking part in the provision of health and well-being sessions for patients.

The candidate must hold level 2 functional skills Maths and English

We provide a service to our patients 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, so we are looking for flexible people who would like to work on this rewarding service to cover shifts throughout the week at varying times of the day.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About us
We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Details
Date posted: 21 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 4
Salary: £28,392 to £31,157 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 327-26-846
Job locations: Greyfriars PICU, Wotton Lawn Hospital, Horton Road, Gloucester, GL1 3WL, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• To assess the activity abilities and interests of up to 10 patients with severe and enduring mental illness.
• To plan and implement a programme of activity with patients on the PICU based on the Engagement, Activity & Physical Health agenda.
• To liaise effectively with Named Nurses and Multi-disciplinary Teams to ensure an individualised care package for each patient.
• To work with patients within Greyfriars Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit and contribute to assessment, planning and intervention processes.
• To attend and participate in identified training and the staff appraisal process.

We provide a Multi-professional preceptorship programme that is aligned to the National Preceptorship Framework for Nursing and have been awarded the Interim quality mark from NHS England. Our programme is provided to all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners. In addition to the programme we also offer all preceptees the opportunity of enrolling and completing the level 7 (Masters) 15 credit validated module Preceptorship for Healthcare (AP7026).

Newly qualified Social Workers are offered the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment programme (ASYE) which is similar to a preceptorship programme.

To support compliance with UK immigration requirements, all applicants who require a visa to work in the UK must disclose their visa history in full. This includes current and previous sponsors, dates of sponsorship, visa category, and any changes of employment. If you are on a Graduate or Dependant Visa, please disclose the expiry date on your application. Incomplete information may mean we are unable to consider your application. The Trust is required to work in line with the Governments UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit - https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Completion of the care certificate, or willingness to work towards this.

Desirable

• NVQ level 3 in health and social care.

Length and / or nature of experience
Essential

• Experience of working with people with severe and enduring mental health problems in an acute mental health setting.
• Experience of working with people detained under the Mental Health Act.
• Basic understanding of the biopsychosocial model of care.

Desirable

• Experience of working with people with substance misuse issues and/or a dual diagnosis.
• Experience of working in the community with patients who have mental illness diagnoses.
• Experience of working with people who have physical health conditions.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details
Employer name: Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Greyfriars PICU, Wotton Lawn Hospital, Horton Road, Gloucester, GL1 3WL, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
EAP team lead, Jonathon Atkinson, jonathon.atkinson1@nhs.net, 03004214728