Job overview

Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) support children, young people and their families that have links to identified school settings. Each designated MHST will work in collaboration with schools and other agencies who cover a population of up to 7,000 children and young people. Trailblazer sites were established in Kent in 2019, with the service aim to cover 50% of the schools across Kent and Medway by 2026. It is expected that this will increase early access to services and offer greater preventative provision.  

We also work with our schools to support their development of a Whole School Approach (WSA) to emotional wellbeing and mental heath as well as their development of curriculum content to ensure pupils are taught about mental health in the classroom. 

Kent and Medway Mental Health Support Teams | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

We have vacancies in different parts of the county. 

• Ashford 
• Folkestone / Dover 
• Thanet 

You will be able to make your preference at interview

Kent Emotional Wellbeing Team and Medway Emotional Support Team

Information for school staff, families and professionals to find out more about the services the Kent and Medway Mental Health Support Teams provide.

 Kent Emotional Wellbeing Team and Medway Emotional Support Team | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

Main duties of the job

• Assessment and Treatment of Children and Young People under the MHST 3 Core functions (Targeted Intervention, Whole School Approach & Consultation and Liaison) 
• To work as part of a team with a set number of schools to deliver the core components of the service
• Active participation in local and county wide meetings and supervision forums

(Please see corresponding Job Description for more details) 

We hope successful candidates will come with a passion for participation and service development as we have a number of research and co-production projects we are working on. It is also the aspiration that successful candidates will be keen to develop their skills further to consider their exciting career prospects within MHST services.

Working for our organisation

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust.  All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment.  As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop-in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes.  The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

We also have an extensive local induction for all new staff which includes service welcome meeting, team meet and greet and shadowing opportunities across a range of settings.

Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

Flexible Working

We will consider part-time hours (30 hours plus) and flexible working pattern applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to promote a healthy work life balance.