Mental Health Practitioner

Job summary
Base: Avondale, Royal Preston Hospital or Bickerstaffe house, Ormskirk District General Hospital, there are positions available at either base.

Come and join our Initial Response Service team. This is an exciting time to be part of the crisis pathway and support people with mental health to ensure they access the most appropriate support at the right time. The new service offers:

• A single referral point for GPs and other professionals
• A 24-hour telephone advice and support for people who use services and carers to be able to self-refer. We offer mental health triages/assessments over the phone or face to face.
• More responsive crisis services with improved experiences for people who use services, carers and professional.
• We work together as a team, we support one another in everything that we do. As we are a 24 hour service we are open to flexible working patterns if needed.
• IRS is the front door to services and anyone from GP, professionals, can call and the clinicians have the capacity to respond within hours giving great customer service which gives great job satisfaction for the clinicians.

Main duties of the job
There has never been a more exciting time to join our Trust. You will be part of delivering a significant transformation to the way services are accessed and delivered. We are looking for experienced Band 6 Nurses, Social Workers or Occupational Therapists to join our expanding team.

Our aim is to provide people with mental health issues access to the support they need at the right time, with positive outcomes. We help people with a wide range of mental health disorders to ensure that they get the right support at the right time.

The service is 24/7 but as Triage Practitioner you will be working a shift patterns within our teams based in Preston based at Royal Preston Hospital and will include referral screening, triaging, signposting and supporting the call handlers and administrators team, who provide information and support over the telephone.

Shift times and days are negotiable and can be discussed at interview.

We are looking for people who are dedicated to promoting recovery, and who can inspire people experiencing mental health and their families that recovery is possible for everyone.

About us
LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well

Details
Date posted: 21 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum (subject to confirmation)
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 351-CEN2678-MS
Job locations: Avondale, Royal Preston Hospital or Bickerstaffe house, Ormskirk District General Hospital, Ormskirk, L39 2AZ, United Kingdom

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Recognised Core Mental Health Professional Qualification (e.g. RMN/Dip SW/OT)

Desirable

• ENB 998 or equivalent teaching/supervision qualification

Knowledge
Essential

• Detailed knowledge of the impact of risk and protective factors that affect people with mental health problems
• In-depth knowledge of diversity and anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice.
• Knowledge of medication prescribed for management of mental health issues

Experience
Essential

• Experience of post qualification clinical work with service users experiencing a range of mental health problems
• Experience of delivering evidence based interventions in a time-limited framework
• Evidence of assessment across a broad range of mental health problems
• Evidence of continuing professional development

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust
Employer's website: https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Recruiting Manager, Charlene Carroll, Charlene.Carroll@lscft.nhs.uk

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