Senior Practitioner – Forensics

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Site 2 Health Close Town BILLERICAY Salary £49,387 - £56,515 annum + 5% High Cost Allowance Salary period Yearly Closing 26/10/2026 23:59

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.

Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.

We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.

You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.

The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.

We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.

We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.

We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.

Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Senior Forensic Practitioner to join the Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT). This Band 7 role provides clinical and operational leadership within a specialist forensic community service, working as part of a multidisciplinary team to support service users with complex social, forensic and rehabilitation needs.

You will hold a clinical caseload alongside your leadership responsibilities, and contribute to the management and coordination of the wider team caseload, providing clinical leadership and supporting effective multidisciplinary working.

SCFT is developing its service model to strengthen geographical working across Essex. This includes three geographical teams, shared clinical leadership and access to specialist resources across the service. The service is also introducing extended-hours working to increase planned clinical capacity and respond appropriately to changing patient need.

You will contribute positively to these developments and help implement new ways of working. This includes working flexibly with colleagues across the service, supporting effective primary and secondary working arrangements, and improving continuity of care, transition and discharge.

You will work closely with the Service Manager and the wider multidisciplinary team, providing clinical leadership, supporting staff and maintaining high standards of clinical practice and service delivery.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Forensic Practitioner in the Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT), you will provide clinical and operational leadership while holding a caseload of service users with complex needs.

You will manage and coordinate the team caseload, ensuring service users receive appropriate assessment, care planning, risk management and rehabilitation support. Drawing on a detailed understanding of their needs and risks, you will contribute to effective clinical decision-making and provide advice on complex clinical and forensic matters.

You will lead the multidisciplinary team, chairing MDT meetings where required.

You will help develop the SCFT service model, including the move to three geographical teams, stronger local working and shared clinical responsibility. You will support primary and secondary working arrangements to maintain continuity of care, effective cross-cover and good use of the wider team's skills. As the model evolves, you will also help develop extended-hours working, supporting planned clinical activity and timely responses to changing need and risk.

You will contribute to transition and discharge planning, working with inpatient services, community mental health services, local authorities and other partners to support appropriate movement through services.

You will also contribute to supervision, appraisal, staff development, service improvement, partnership working and the management of clinical risk.

Working for our organisation

Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you.

• Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential.
• Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks.
• If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.
• 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service.
• Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay.
• Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits.
• £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us
• Season ticket loans are interest‑free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.

Work that wraps around your needs

• Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT) provides specialist community forensic mental health support to service users with forensic histories and complex social, clinical and rehabilitation needs.

As Senior Forensic Practitioner, you will provide clinical and operational leadership within the team, working closely with the Service Manager and the wider multidisciplinary team to maintain standards of clinical practice and service delivery.

You will be responsible for managing and coordinating the team caseload and will maintain a detailed understanding of the service users being supported by the team. You will ensure that care planning, risk assessment, risk management and rehabilitation planning are carried out effectively and in accordance with relevant professional and Trust requirements.

You will hold a caseload of service users, including those with complex needs, and collaborate with other members of the team in their support and management. Caseload size and composition will be determined according to service requirements, patient need and the demands of the role.

You will provide clinical leadership within the multidisciplinary team and contribute to effective MDT decision‑making. This will include chairing MDT meetings where required, providing professional advice, supporting complex clinical decision‑making and ensuring that concerns relating to clinical risk are appropriately identified and managed.

You will work closely with colleagues across the Trust and with external agencies and statutory partners. Effective partnership working will be important in supporting service users with complex social, forensic and rehabilitation needs and in promoting effective transition an