Overview
Band 7 Senior Mental Health Practitioner at Defence Primary Healthcare (DPHC), part of the Ministry of Defence – Defence Medical Services. The post is for 32 hours per week and involves working within a multi-disciplinary team to provide a specialised/occupational mental health service to Service personnel and others within the Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) and network as required. The role is based at Hightown Barracks, Wrexham.
Please note the closing date: 10 August 2026.
Main duties of the job
The Senior Mental Health Practitioner will work within a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to provide a specialised/occupational mental health service for all Service and entitled personnel within the Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) and network as required.
Responsibilities include:
- Deliver a high-quality mental health service for patients referred to the DCMH for assessment and treatment of mental health presentations.
- Provide a wide range of clinical work within your qualifications, while extending your capabilities as appropriate.
- Act as a clinical resource, liaise with Medical Officers/General Practitioners (MO/GP), and advise the chain of command on mental health matters, including administrative management of personnel with mental health difficulties and mental health promotion.
- Work flexibly within 32 hours per week, with core service hours 8am–5pm.
- Support delivery across a network, being flexible about where and how care is provided.
- Provide training in assessment and formulation and other CBT-based practices to the team.
- Deputise for the team manager and take delegated professional management of the team as required.
Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for the full list of duties.
About us
Our success depends on people: Regular and reserve military personnel, civil servants and contractors, all working as one. Civil servants support strategy, policy, ministerial decision-making and parliamentary processes across 650 sites worldwide.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to attracting and retaining people from diverse backgrounds and enabling flexible working. We offer maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and 13 weeks unpaid, and paternity leave of 2 weeks full pay.
In return, you can expect a department that supports learning and development and recognises expertise and contribution both individually and as part of a team.
If you want to do more, see more, go further or be better, there are roles across many professions. Let’s explore your future together.
Job responsibilities
Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Provide timely and high-quality mental health assessment and treatment for patients referred to the DCMH.
- Carry out a range of clinical tasks appropriate to your qualifications while challenging your capabilities.
- Act as a clinical resource, liaise with MO/GP, and advise the chain of command on mental health matters and mental health promotion.
- Work flexibly within 32 hours per week, with core hours 8am–5pm.
- Be flexible about where and how care is delivered within a networked service.
- Provide training in assessment, formulation and CBT-based practices to the team.
- Deputise for the team manager and provide professional management as required.
For the full list of duties, refer to the Job Description and Person Specification.
Selection Process
At application stage you will be assessed against your CV. Please demonstrate the required skills, knowledge, experience, qualifications and memberships in the CV section of the application form, and provide evidence of how you meet the criteria in the Job Description. You may include examples of tasks or skills demonstrated.
Artificial intelligence may be used to support your application, but all statements must be truthful and based on your own experience. Plagiarism or misrepresentation may lead to withdrawal of the application. See candidate guidance for more information.
At interview you will be assessed against technical skills and a short case study, provided 10 minutes before the interview. The interview will include direct questions and clinical scenario-based questions. See National Health Knowledge and Skills Framework references for context.
Further Information
Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is non-contractual; office-based employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their time in the office, subject to capacity and workplace adjustments. You may request information about how this works in your team from the Vacancy Holder. Defence Business Services cannot respond to questions about working arrangements.
The sift will be completed within 10 working days of the vacancy closing date. Interviews will be scheduled as required. There will be no reimbursement for interview travel expenses. All new MoD employees are subject to a 6-month probation period. Access to the NHS pension scheme is available to the successful candidate.
If offered the role, you will need to provide evidence of immunity to Hepatitis B; vaccination serology levels will be required. The post does not offer relocation expenses. Sponsorship for a skilled worker visa is not available for this role.
This vacancy is part of the A Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
There may be occasions where not all candidates can be interviewed due to high volume or other factors.
For reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process, contact the provided resourcing email.
The MOD requires candidates who are successful at interview to declare outside interests, and discussions will occur before a formal offer. The MOD adopts a zero-tolerance policy for unacceptable behaviours. Pre-employment checks will be carried out. A smoke-free working environment is in place.
Person Specification
Experience
- An interest in working with the military.
- Experience of clinical leadership.
Provide a CV
- Please copy and paste your full CV as your response to this question; uploading a CV may not be possible.
- Refer to the essential criteria where applicable; insufficient information may affect shortlisting.
- Please use double spacing where possible.
Behavior Statement
- Have you been dismissed for gross misconduct in the past five years, or would have been dismissed had you continued in that role?
- Please respond Yes or No as appropriate.
- Please provide your membership registration number and be registered with the relevant professional body prior to applying.
- Failure to provide a valid membership number may affect progress.
Qualifications
- Experience of leading quality improvement programmes and/or service development.
- Qualifications in other psychological therapies (e.g., EMDR, IPT, DIT).
Registrations and Memberships
- Registered Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker or Occupational Therapist with postgraduate training and NICE-recognised CBT.
- Postgraduate Diploma in High Intensity CBT from a BABCP-accredited provider.
- Significant experience as a psychological therapy practitioner in a stepped-care service with required competences.
- Registered with a professional body (e.g., HCPC) and BABCP accreditation.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and requires submission for DBS where applicable.
Salary information: £47,810 to £54,710 per year, pro rata with pay award pending.
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