Referral Navigator – Physical Health & Rehabilitation Psychology: Sponsorship Available

Job summary

The Physical Health & Rehabilitation Psychology Referral Navigator will assist with co-ordinating and ensuring the successful day to day management of all referrals in the NCIC PHRP Referral Pathway for Adults.

The post holder will be working across the service, to complete appropriate clinical triage, to respond to referrers, identify problems with patient flow and to ensure patients are moved smoothly through the pathways on EMIS (electronic patient record).

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Physical Health and Rehabilitation Team.

Main duties of the job

To work efficiently and autonomously whilst also working with the clinical team to ensure the best level of care and service is provided.

The post holder will be responsible for reporting regularly to supervisors and senior management ensuring transparent findings, contribute to strategy and improvement plans.

To implement and maintain ongoing collection and reporting of accurate and timely data, to monitor the care of patients moving through the PHRP pathway.

To ensure validation of pathway waiting times on a regular and frequent basis (weekly, monthly, annually).

To lead and participate in service and pathway audit and service evaluation looking to highlight any potential service improvement needs.

To offer practical support to multi-disciplinary teams to take forward service change and improvements to benefit staff and patients.

Part of the role will also involve offering brief screening calls to patients. You will also support clinicians to move patients to the correct pathway and out of the service, and will liaise, on behalf of clinicians if necessary, with GPs, referrers, other statutory and non-statutory services in the Trust to ensure clients are signposted to the best service.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or equivalent professional qualification, e.g., nursing qualification
• Core mental health qualification, degree level or equivalent in mental health nursing, social work or similar

Desirable

• Further qualification or equivalent experience appropriate to seniority of this position required at this level.

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Experience of clinical work within the NHS with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of managing change.
• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Experience using computers for databases or data- analysis and reporting structures.

Desirable

• To have worked as part of a team within a statutory or voluntary care setting.
• Experience in conducting research projects or service related audit.
• Experience of delivering training.
• Experience of group work.
• Experience of working within a variety of mental health settings i.e. Adult Mental Health Teams and/or an IAPT service.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Experience of EMIS and other healthcare related systems.

Skills and Aptitudes

Essential

• Ability to work reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive. The patients we deal with often have a history pf abuse, trauma, loss and complex psychological needs; the post holder will need to contact patients and discuss relevant history.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, cares and colleagues.
• Good communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work across a number of different settings.
• Ability to work with people from different backgrounds and of different ages.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• An ability and confidence to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• An ability to interact effectively with clients, family members, /paid carers.
• Ability to undertake psychologically informed research projects under supervision.
• Good organisational and time management skills and the ability to plan and prioritise own workload.
• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
• Ability to undertake travel across a wide geographical area.
• Ability and willingness to work outside office hours when required by the role.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour

Desirable

• Ability to communicate sensitive information to others.
• Ability to organise and prioritise workload and time.
• Received training (either formal of through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
• An awareness of own strengths and limitations.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups.

Other Requirements

Essential

• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the relevant professional body.
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently.
• Able to work in the UK.
• A positive approach to working with adults with psychological difficulties and long-term physical health conditions.
• Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults mental health difficulties
• Awareness of own strengths and limitations.
• Ability and willingness to work flexibly across all service locations in Cumbria as appropriate and required by the service.
• Ability to travel to any PHRP locations independent of Public transport.

Closing Date: 27 September 2026