Rough Sleeper Mental Health Practitioner
The closing date is 19 November 2025
Job summary
Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust has an exciting opportunity for an experienced mental health professional to come and work with the new East Kent Mental Health Rough Sleepers Service.
The team work closely with the borough councils to enhance the homelessness services for vulnerable rough sleepers and those at risk of sleeping on the streets. The project provides the opportunity to tackle the ongoing needs of vulnerable rough sleepers who have fallen out of services, or who will not engage with traditional pathways of support and housing, often with chaotic lives and a history of offending, drug and alcohol use and being excluded from mainstream services.
With estimates ranging from 40%-80% of the rough sleeping population living with mental illness, it is a major contributory factor to people not being able to find or maintain a home. As rough sleepers average age of death is 43, we cannot let this need go unmet.
Main duties of the job
- Carry out regular outreach alongside homelessness staff to identify unmet mental health needs and make appropriate referrals.
- Visit vulnerable people in our supported accommodation, housing first flats, or general needs accommodation, to assess if they have the right level and type of support around their mental health needs.
- Identify where people need to be fast tracked into primary care services.
- Advise colleagues across the Mental Health Rough Sleeper Service and to our housing related support services regarding good practice.
- Take part in two monthly rough sleeper counts in the early hours of the morning.
- Attend operational groups and panels to agree best use of housing resources available to meet the needs of rough sleepers.
About us
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.
Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.
Details
Date posted
05 November 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 7
Salary
£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time
Reference number
380-WK0332
Job locations
Laurel House, Canterbury
Old Dover Road
Canterbury
CT1 3HH
Employer details
Employer name
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
Address
Laurel House, Canterbury
Old Dover Road
Canterbury
CT1 3HH
Employer's website
https://www.kentmedwaymentalhealth.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)
Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Supporting documents
Privacy notice
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)