Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Early Years Practitioner (EYP) for Infant Mental Health

The closing date is 05 October 2025

Job summary

The specialised Health visiting team for Infant Mental Health is dedicated to supporting infants and their primary caregivers, including parents, foster carers, grandparents, and others assuming this role, during the crucial period of the infants first two years of life. The team offer direct support for parent-infant relationships and address the social, emotional, and mental health needs of infants. This service operates from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, for infants residing within the geographical area of Hampshire.

The team is committed to delivering sensitive, responsive, and appropriate care that is essential for the healthy development of infants. Their primary objective is to assist caregivers in addressing the infants social, emotional, mental health challenges, enhancing existing parenting skills, and fostering a strong parent-infant relationship. Services are provided through home visits or at alternative venues such as clinical settings or community spaces across Hampshire.

Main duties of the job

The successful post holder will be committed to delivering sensitive, responsive, and appropriate care that is essential for the healthy development of infants. Their primary objective is to assist caregivers in addressing the infants social, emotional, mental health challenges, enhancing existing parenting skills, and fostering a strong parent-infant relationship. Services are provided through home visits or at alternative venues such as clinical settings or community spaces across Hampshire.

The successful post holder will be part of a team that inter-professionally collaborate with the public health visiting service, which implements the Healthy Child Programme for infants and their families during the initial five years of life. The team will assist with inter-disciplinary named professionals/services to support family centred care.

About us

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a newly established organisation, bringing together expertise from across mental health, learning disabilities, community, and physical health services. We are dedicated to delivering compassionate, high-quality, and accessible care to the diverse communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

With over 13,000 dedicated staff working across more than 300 sites, we place patients and staff at the centre of everything we do. Our goal is to create an integrated healthcare system that improves accessibility and ensures more consistent care for patients. By working together, we aim to improve patient outcomes, drive innovation, and meet the unique needs of the populations we serve.

Our Trust unites services from Southern Health, Solent NHS Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trusts community and mental health teams, as well as Hampshire CAMHS, originally part of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This transformation enables us to deliver more seamless care across the region, ensuring that patients receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

Join us as we embark on this exciting journey to shape the future of healthcare across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We are deeply committed to our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence, and offer outstanding opportunities for career development, training, and collaborative working.

Date posted

22 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

348-CFS-9259

Job locations

Moorgreen Hospital

Botley Road, West End

Southampton

Hampshire

SO30 3JB

Tatchbury Mount

Calmore

Southampton

Hampshire

SO40 2RZ

Job description

Job responsibilities

The primary role of the Early Years Practitioner role involves clinical practice, visiting infants in their own homes or at alternative venues such as clinical settings or community spaces across Hampshire. The role includes working in partnership with internal and external colleagues and partners showing knowledge and understanding of the parent-infant relationship and contemporary issues which impact on child development, infant mental health, and wellbeing.

The role involves clinical decision to offer interventions that are evidence-based/informed approaches that promote infant-led play, enhance language development, improve infant-parent interactions, and foster the infant's developing attachment and the bonding process with parents.

*The role holder will work in partnership with team members and the health visiting service.

*The role holder will promote and enhance health and wellbeing of infants and their families through implementation of individualised health care plans and evaluation of care.

*The role holder will have a comprehensive understanding of infant-childhood development with an ability to apply this to practice and service delivery

*The role holder is to provide effective leadership of Band 4 CNN staff, that promotes high performance standards both individually and as a team, in the achievement of the Trust's objectives.

*The role holder should have clear understanding and an awareness of the Key Performance Indicators for the infant mental health service and will focus service delivery on their achievement.

*The role holder may complete delegated and contribute to components of the healthy child programme, monitoring quality and compliance and reporting risks by exception to the specialist infant mental health visitor lead.

*The role holder will provide a continuum of support according to need, improving outcomes for children by reducing health inequalities. To support the Early Help agenda to ensure early intervention.

*Work within Hampshire Safeguarding Children's Board and the Trusts policy and procedures.

*The role holder will be responsible for the quality and management of their RiO electronic patient records, RiO mobile and electronic diary.

Clinical Responsibilities:

*Provide infant mental health support to the infant in the community, always promoting and modelling a high standard of care. Adhering to NICE, local and national guidelines.

*Participate in the assessment of the infant's needs, planning, implementation, and evaluation of care.

*To maintain confidentiality and adhere to local polices at all times in line with Trust Policy.

*To ensure accurate and concise record keeping relating to both infants and parents as well as documenting interactions with external agencies where appropriate

*To recognise and promote all aspects of culture diversity, devising infant mental health care plans as guided by infant mental health visitor, that respond positively to ethnic awareness with sensitivity, where necessary

Enhancing the attachment and bonding process through following interventions/models/principles (*training provided where required)

*Transition to Parenthood- from antenatal preparation to postnatal period

*Help supporting families to understand infant's perspective (i.e., Keeping Infant in Mind)

*Playing and interaction

*Watch Me Play

*Parental Relationship Routine Enquiry

*Five to Thrive

*WellComm

*Modelling soothing and breathing techniques.

*Holistic sleep advice -- providing bespoke support.

*Infants' patterns and behaviours.

*Solihull parenting

*AiMH- Getting to know your baby

*Provide HCP health reviews

*'Ghosts in the Nursery' - Maternal / Parental foetal attachment.

*Supporting parents to make parenting choices, considering their childhood ACES, and lived experiences.

*Infant feeding.

*Health promotion in line with current HCP guidance i.e., ICON, Safer sleeping, and introduction to solids.

*Working with infants and toddlers up to two years.

Best Practice and Practical Infant Care

*Providing current advice and practical support on infant feeding, keeping in mind the individual needs of parent/ infant.

*Support parent with the infants physical and emotional needs.

*Working alongside current guidelines regarding sleep, settling, managing crying, keeping in mind, infants brain development and emotional needs.

*Role modelling- safe handling of infant.

*Observe, discuss, and support parents to be able to provide a safe and stimulating environment.

*Awareness of safeguarding protocol and escalating and recording as needed.

*To liaise regularly with other professionals involved in the infant's care.

*Provide advice and support as required on age-appropriate play and child development.

*Support families with typical infant issues, and provide signposting as needed

Supporting access to the wider community

*Lead and facilitate interventions to encourage infant-parent socialisation and signpost to local community assets i.e. local library and children centres.

*Signpost and support parents in attending parenting programmes and other age-appropriate play opportunities/funding.

Communication

*To aim to develop positive therapeutic relationships with service users, using warmth and empathy.

*To demonstrate skills and resourcefulness in communication where there are barriers to understanding such as utilising interpreting resources and cultural awareness/neurodiversity.

*To ensure accurate and concise clinical record keeping relating to both infants and parents, as well as documenting interactions with external agencies where appropriate.

*To provide written and verbal feedback relating to the care of the infant and general feedback relating to the infant's well-being at clinical meetings.

*To act at all times in safeguarding the integrity, confidentiality and availability of sensitive information relating to the infant and family.

*To always treat team colleagues with respect, creating a positive role model and team player

*Establishing communication networks with other professionals and agencies to ensure a comprehensive and consistent approach to client care is delivered.

*To provide and receive complex, sensitive, condition related or distressing/unwelcome information to service users and carers demonstrating empathy and reassurance.

*To attend and contribute to clinical and business meetings.

*To ensure effective organisational and planning skills including, time management and decision making

Safeguarding

*To liaise with other professionals on matters related to safeguarding issues.

*To maintain timely and accurate records in line with trust Policy.

*To provide information or attend conferences or court hearings as required and to give information relating to the specific cases. These will be within the context of the children Act 1989 and local Child Protection procedures.

*To attend regular monthly safeguarding supervisions and to complete mandatory training.

*To develop clinical knowledge in challenges relating to mental health difficulties presenting in the perinatal period. To understand the impact this may have with caring for one's infant.

*To be aware of and sensitive to the safeguarding needs of children and adults in their work, and knowledgeable both about potential indicators of abuse or neglect and about what to do if they had concerns about a child's or adult's welfare.

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.