An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 3 Mental Health Support Worker to join the St Ives/St Neots Older People’s Community Mental Health Team. The successful candidate will be embedded within St Ives/St Neots OPMH, covering Huntingdon and the surrounding villages.
The Mental health team’s key objectives are to support patients and their carers living with functional and organic mental illness such as depression and dementia, in the community. You’ll work within a dynamic multidisciplinary team, delivering recovery‑focused care under the guidance of registered practitioners. As a support worker, you will work closely with the care coordinators to implement care plans, manage risk, prevent hospital admissions and work with carers to prevent carer burnout and care placement breakdown. We’re looking for someone motivated, proactive, and aligned with CPFT values.
The successful candidate will bring not only experience of supporting people living with mental illness but an ability to be imaginative, innovative, and highly motivated to make a difference. We offer excellent development opportunities, including structured training, clinical supervision, role‑specific competencies, apprenticeships, mentoring, and shadowing. With clear career pathways and regular appraisals, we’ll support you to grow and progress.
The post holder will work within St Ives, Huntingdon, St Neots, and the surrounding geographical areas.
The team is an Older People’s Mental Health Team for older adults, and the post holder will be required to work in a variety of locations, such as nursing and residential homes, as well as patients’ own homes. Some cross‑team work may also be required depending on service needs.
The support worker will work within the multidisciplinary community team, holding a supervised caseload. The post holder will take an active role in delivering care and support to patients with functional mental illnesses, such as depression and psychosis, and organic illnesses such as dementia. They will manage delegated tasks for a number of service users under the supervision of a registered mental health practitioner.
The post holder will support clinical staff in the management and delivery of clinical practice and will provide a high standard of care in line with NICE guidance and other statutory and organisational frameworks.
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.
Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk
Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities
Assist in the delivery of a high standard of person-centred care to service users, promoting their dignity and equality.
Assist OPMH Care Coordinators in the devising and carrying out of individual care plans.
Plan and prioritise own visits to delegated patients, (and ensure these are documented on SystmOne)
Ensuring that all duties are carried out to the highest possible standard and are in accordance with current quality initiatives.
Record interventions correctly and in line with legislation, policy and procedure using SystmOne and have a proficient standard of IT.
Assist service users to maintain personal care if required.
Take appropriate action to manage any urgent risks, summoning assistance when necessary.
Report actual or potential problems to the Team Manager / Clinical Lead Mental Health Practitioner or care coordinator.
Establish and maintain professionally collaborative relationships with nursing / residential homes, JET, ICT and other professional groups.
Assist carers (either paid or unpaid) to maintain their contribution to the service user’s care.
Support and assist the team in assessing and managing identified risks in the service user’s home environment, in relation to the physical environment and risks posed by equipment and people.
Promote patient independence and self-management.
Raise and report any safeguarding issues to the multidisciplinary team and safeguarding lead.
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