Senior Mental Health Placements Manager
| Posting date: | 02 October 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £64,156.00 to £71,148.00 per year |
| Additional salary information: | £64156.00 - £71148.00 a year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 14 October 2025 |
| Location: | Southwark, SE5 8AZ |
| Company: | NHS Jobs |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | C9334-25-0987 |
Summary
Strategic Leadership and Coordination - Oversee all placement activity, ensuring high-quality, cost-effective, and needs-led services including ensuring proactive panel processes are in place to ensure clients are in the most appropriate setting - Act as the key point of contact for mental health placement queries, escalations, and commissioning challenges. - Lead and manage the Mental Health Placement capacity (reviewing capacity) across boroughs, including supervision, development, and performance management. - Ensure placement reviewing capacity is deployed as per agreed prioritization matrix, in a timely way, making impact for clients as well as on quality and financial envelope Placement Oversight and Case Management - Demonstrate strong project management skills to oversee placement planning, timelines, and inter-agency coordination. - Coordinate the end-to-end placement process, from referral to review, for adults with complex mental health needs. - Ensure all paperwork submitted to the panel is thoroughly checked for accuracy and completeness before circulation. - Verify commissioning responsibility for each case, ensuring the individual is a Health client for the right borough in line with Responsible Commissioner Guidance. - Maintain a strong understanding of the Mental Health Act, Care Act, and related commissioning frameworks. - Ensure all panel meetings are accurately minuted, with clear action points recorded and followed up by the allocated care coordinator. - Liaise regularly with care coordinators to ensure that any key changes to placements are captured, recorded, and escalated to the panel as required. - Review due diligence data for providers and work proactively to ensure that any outstanding client reviews or cases are scheduled and incorporated into upcoming panel agendas. - Contribute to placement review panels, safeguarding processes, and MDT meetings. - Ensure placements comply with legal, clinical, and commissioning frameworks (e.g. Mental Health Act, Care Act, CHC). Quality Assurance and Governance - Develop and maintain robust placement pathways, protocols, and risk assessment tools. - Monitor provider performance, undertake placement audits, and meet quality standards. - Work collaboratively with contracts and commissioning teams to raise concerns and co-design service improvements. Finance and Commissioning Interface - Provide reports on spend, trends, and outcomes to senior leadership and commissioning groups. - Lead negotiations with providers and support care coordinators to ensure cost of placement reflects the care plan Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Working - Build strong working relationships with clinical teams, local authorities, housing providers, and third-sector organisations. - Represent the Trust in regional planning groups and integrated care forums. - Facilitate collaborative discharge planning, step-down arrangements, and prevention of delayed transfers of care.