Rough Sleeper Mental Health Practitioner | Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
| Posting date: | 21 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £47,810 - £54,710 per annum |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 20 February 2026 |
| Location: | Canterbury, CT1 3HH |
| Company: | Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7751099/380-WK0332-A |
Summary
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.
• 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.
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.
The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).
We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.
Please see the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities of the role.
This advert closes on Wednesday 4 Feb 2026
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.