Job overview

Voluntary role of Mental Health Act Associate.

 Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) are seeking to recruit to the voluntary post of Mental Health Act Associate to work at various locations across AWP.

***This post is not open to anyone who has a substantive position within AWP***

Main duties of the job

Mental Health Act Associates are lay members of the community who are trained to hear Reviews of Detention of unrestricted patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (Section 23 of The Mental Health Act 1983).   

The Role of the Associate is to be a member of a panel at Review Hearings either face to face or remotely, on average half a day per month. You will have the ability to listen and interpret information from professional staff, patients and relatives, question the views of professionals and patients in a structured and supportive manner.

Training to carry out the role will be given, certain skills are required for the role such as an interest in mental health issues, good listening skills, fast reading skills, ability to enable patients to express their views, wishes, feelings, needs, and opinions, ability to balance the facts gained against agreed criteria for discharge from detention etc.

 A session fee is payable plus travel expenses.

For a copy of the role description and application form please contact: - Wendy Moore on 0117 354 6030 or email [email protected]

Working for our organisation

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care. 

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.  

AWP is committed to support and create a positive research and evidence-based environment and culture, which can have a beneficial impact on everyone who works for the organisation and the care we provide to those who use our services.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.