Building on the ‘The NHS Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (FYFVfMH)’ and ‘Stepping Forward to 2020/2021, The Mental Health Workforce Plan for England’, Health Education England in collaboration with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust are offering funding packages to NHS and NHS Commissioned Providers of Mental Health services interested in transforming their workforce through the role of a ‘Trainee Assistant Practitioner'.
‘The Assistant Practitioner’ is a 2 year Higher Apprenticeship, with 1 day on training release at University. Therefore, the funding model will look to draw from the Organisation’s apprenticeship Levy supplemented by a training grant provided by HEE. In the case of Non-Levy paying organisations, HEE will provide a funding package. Please see the attached letter for further details.
This intake is available for 2020/2021 across the North of England starting in Spring 2021 with a limited number of places. Training providers will be available across the North in each of the STP areas.
Candidates can be recruited internally or externally, however they will need to meet the HEI entry requirements. Please see the attached fact sheet.
To submit an Expression of Interest please complete the form in the attached Link.
Please note that the application deadline is Friday 11th September 2020 COP.
For further details please do not hesitate to contact Kay Helliwell on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
On the 23rd October 2020, the North West Psychological Professions Network (NWPPN) were delighted to co-host with the South West PPN (SWPPN) tduring a workshop to explore the opportunities for applying the role of Assistant Practitioner (Mental Health) in Medical Specialisms.
The NWPPN and SWPPN joined forces to run a stakeholder event to bring together stakeholders and showcase important workforce development work within the regions to deploy the role of Assistant Practitioner (AP) across mental health and medical specialisms.
The workshop aimed to:
- To examine the case for a specialist psychological support role employed within medical specialisms.
- To showcase research undertaken to evaluate the impact of a specialist support role within a Head & Neck Specialist Services in the South West of England.
- To explain the role of the Assistant Practitioner and the outline the competencies that underpin the foundation degree training programme and the Apprenticeship Standard
- To bring to together clinical, educational and workforce development stakeholders to explore opportunities for future development of the role of Assistant Practitioner (Mental Health) in Medical Specialisms.
Access the agenda and recordings on our PPN Youtube 'New Support Roles for Mental Health Workshop' playlist.
Presentations from the day
Audit of Enhanced Recovery with Integrated Care Assessment in Head and Neck Cancer Surgery
Mr Andrew S McLennan, BChD MBChB FDSRCPS FRCS(OMFS), Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, Royal Devon & Exeter NHSFT
Opportunities for psychological support in kidney medicine
Dr Alexander Hamilton, MBBS BSc (Hons) MRCP (Nephrology) PhD, Specialty Training Registrar in Renal Medicine at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Lecturer in Renal Medicine, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol
Professor Paul Farrand, Clinical Education, Development and Research (CEDAR) Psychology, University of Exeter
Putting the pieces in place - what do we need to make it happen?
Rachel Wylie, Education Commissioning Manager, South West Region - Health Education England
Assistant Practitioners (APs) Mental Health Workforce Development Project in the North of England
Kay Helliwell, Project Team Manager, Assistant Practitioners for Mental Health North of England, Health Education England North & Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
The Assistant Practitioner (Mental Health) Training Programme & the Apprenticeship Levy
Lindsay Robinson, Senior Lecturer & Academic Lead for Apprenticeships, University of CentralLindsay Robinson, Senior Lecturer & Academic Lead for Apprenticeships, University of CentralLancashire
Laura Smith, Workforce Development Manager, British Psychological Society
 ApplicationRecruitment Timeline.pdf | [ ] | 156 kB |
| APs for Mental Health Fact Sheet.pdf | [ ] | 262 kB |
| APs for Mental Health Presentation.pdf | [ ] | 867 kB |
| Assistant Practitioners for Mental Health Spring 2021.pdf | [ ] | 301 kB |
| Selection Criteria.pdf | [ ] | 213 kB |