Somerset Council
Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) (Adults)
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Closing date: 6 August 2026
Salary: Grade 9 ranging from £41,771 to £46,142 per annum
Transform lives, champion rights & support adults to achieve their full potential.
Location: Base can be flexible within offices across Somerset
Hours: Full time and part time hours available
As a 24-hour service, we operate a four-week rota pattern and can offer some flexibility to working hours with a variety of shifts available. The shift pattern cover weekends, nights and bank holidays however these are compensated for through salary enhancements.
We provide a strong training offer to all our AMHPs, further developing their skills and person-centred practice to better meet the needs of Somerset residents.
Role Purpose
Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) play a critical statutory role in responding to Mental Health Act (MHA) assessment requests across Somerset, ensuring that people experiencing mental health crisis receive timely, lawful and person-centred support.
Working within a supportive and friendly 24/7 AMHP service, you will coordinate and undertake Mental Health Act assessments, uphold individuals’ legal rights, and apply a social model approach to mental health practice. You will work closely with health, police, housing and social care partners to promote the least restrictive options, supporting people to remain in their communities wherever possible.
The role involves balancing complex and high-risk situations, liaising with individuals, carers and nearest relatives, and completing statutory documentation including tribunal reports, guardianship and Community Treatment Orders. AMHPs also contribute to innovative crisis-response approaches that help reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and reliance on police powers.
Outside standard hours, AMHPs support the wider Adult Social Care Out-of-Hours service, responding to urgent social care needs such as emergency housing.
Key Responsibilities
- Arrange, coordinate and undertake Mental Health Act assessments, ensuring statutory timescales are met
- Act as the Single Point of Access for Mental Health Act assessment requests on a rota basis
- Assess and manage significant risk, applying professional judgement and legal reasoning
- Arrange hospital admissions (voluntary and compulsory) and pursue alternatives to admission wherever possible
- Prepare and complete statutory documentation, including tribunal reports, guardianship, CTOs and court statements
- Liaise with individuals, carers, nearest relatives and partner agencies, managing differing views sensitively
- Work closely with CMHS, Home Treatment Teams, police, housing and voluntary sector partners
- Participate in a 24/7 rota, including lone working overnight and at weekends
- Contribute to out-of-hours Adult Social Care activity, including emergency housing provision
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What We’re Looking For – Essential Skills/Experience
We’re looking for skilled, resilient practitioners with strong legal literacy and a commitment to rights-based, least-restrictive practice. You will have:
- An Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) qualification
- Substantial experience within a mental health setting, with recent experience practising as an AMHP
- Strong working knowledge of the Mental Health Act, associated guidance and case law
- Knowledge of the Human Rights Act, Mental Capacity Act and Care Act
- Ability to apply legal reasoning and make robust, defensible professional decisions
- Experience coordinating multi-agency assessments and managing complex risk
- Excellent communication, documentation and decision-making skills
- Ability to work confidently both autonomously and within multidisciplinary teams
About the Team/Service
You’ll join Somerset’s centralised AMHP service, delivering a countywide response to Mental Health Act assessments through a 24-hour hub model.
The service works closely with NHS mental health services, police, housing and voluntary sector partners to provide compassionate, lawful and proportionate crisis responses. AMHPs are supported through regular supervision, ongoing legal and practice-based training, and opportunities to contribute to service development and innovation.
Additional Information
Please Note: We may consider offering Skilled Social Worker visa sponsorship to suitably qualified overseas social workers who are already residing in the UK. To be eligible, applicants must hold a recognised social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England. Sponsorship will be assessed as part of the recruitment process. This is only available to candidates currently living in the UK, as unfortunately we are unable to provide resettlement support.
Due to the nature of the role and the geographical area of the service across Somerset, which is a largely rural county, with limitations around public transport the ability to be able to travel to any location is essential. Therefore, applicants must have full access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes.
We recognise and welcome applications from disabled individuals who may require reasonable adjustments to meet this requirement, and we’re happy to discuss this from the first point of contact with the recruitment team.
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For an informal chat about the role, you can contact amhpmanagers@somerset.gov.uk
Please note we reserve the right to close this advert early if we have received a sufficient number of applications, so don’t delay, apply today!
A full job description can be found here: Approved Mental Health Professional - Job Description - AG1232
Person Specification
| Criteria | Essential | Desirable |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge of the Human Rights Act, Mental Capacity Act, Children Act, Care Act and associated codes of practice. | X | |
| Knowledge the Mental Health Act, associated guidance and current case law. | X | |
| Ability to apply legal reasoning and use professional legal expertise and advice appropriately | X | |
| Ability to provide professional opinion, giving rationale and knowledge base | X | |
| Awareness of broader adult social care responsibilities | X | |
| Understanding of legal rights of individuals and nearest relatives, including tribunal and court processes. | X | |
| Substantial practise within a mental health setting | X | |
| Recent Experience as a practising AMHP | X | |
| Familiarity with working alongside police, NHS, housing and social care teams to coordinate care. | X | |
| Experienced in producing clear, lawful, and defensible documentation for legal and clinical purposes | X | |
| Experience acting as a Social Supervisor | X | |
| Evidence of professional development | X | |
| Social work qualification or other relevant professional qualification | X | |
| AMHP qualification | X | |
| Registration with the relevant professional body, i.e. Social Work England | X | |
| Skilled in assessing and managing complex mental health crises, including suicide risk and safeguarding concerns. | X | |
| Ability to work as part of a team with good interpersonal skills. | X | |
| Positive, committed, adaptable, throughout and confident approach | X | |
| Ability to work to deadlines and to motivate others to work effectively and demonstrate a duty of care. | X | |
| Committed to diversity in service delivery and employment. | X | |
| Innovative and creative approach to service development and value. | X | |
| Sound analysis and decision-making in dealing with complex service delivery and/or policy development matters. | X | |
| Access to / use of a vehicle | X | |
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