Casual Approved Mental Health Professional - Emergency Duty Service

Are you ready to make a meaningful difference through out-of-hours emergency mental health and social care support, helping to safeguard children and vulnerable adults across Berkshire?

Join Bracknell Forest Council (host of the Berkshire Emergency Duty Service) as a Relief Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) on a casual basis, stepping in at critical moments to deliver high-quality interventions and respond to Mental Health Act (MHA) assessment requests when they matter most.

At Bracknell Forest, we pride ourselves on being a council which is stable and well-managed where our staff can thrive in a supportive environment. We understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

About you...

You will join a team that genuinely values your expertise. It is a fast-paced, rewarding environment where you can take real ownership of the high-quality work you deliver, backed by strong organisational support.

You will bring confident, up-to-date knowledge of the Mental Health Act (MHA), social care legislation and relevant Codes of Practice, and be a qualified AMHP registered with the appropriate professional body (for example Social Work England, HCPC or NMC). You will be able to commit to a minimum of two shifts per month (subject to availability, ideally including overnight cover), and you will thrive working flexibly across multi-disciplinary and inter-agency settings, applying a strong social perspective when supporting people with mental health disorders.

You are comfortable using IT systems, produce clear, high-quality reports and communicate with impact - able to analyse complex information and translate it into effective risk management. You will also be skilled at organising and managing your workload, making sound, appropriate decisions under pressure and when needed, be able to confidently challenge, whether this is members of the public or partner professionals.

Above all, you will be committed to upholding professional values and doing the right thing for the people we support.

About the team...

Berkshire EDS is considered as attentive and effective in safeguarding the children and vulnerable adults of Berkshire, with positive feedback from both Ofsted and CQC.

We are a specialist team of Approved Mental Health Professionals, Senior Adults and Children’s Social Workers, Adult Safeguarding Care Coordinators and Call Screening Officers. Based on partnership with our health colleagues, the police and other stakeholders, we work with service users across all age groups to assist those experiencing a social care and/or mental health crisis.

Our key obligation is to provide professional support in the out of hours to promote the welfare of service users within our statutory accountabilities and wider policies. The AMHP role involves triaging incoming work, responding to assessment requests under the MHA and prioritising support interventions efficiently.

Our AMHPs provide an excellent responsive service out of hours to people in need of mental health support who require assessment under the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983. AMHPs also ensure that the legal rights of service users are protected.

The AMHP role is a challenging one, but you will have excellent support from the management team as well as expert guidance on hand whenever you need it. You will also have learning opportunities and space to share your ideas about how we can continue to maintain our excellent service delivery.

Key responsibilities…

As a Casual Approved Mental Health Professional, you will

manage and prioritise social care requirements for out of hours cases

deliver an emergency service for assessment and action when adults and children are referred as being at immediate risk

be the key person for expert advice and quality interventions

actively participate in reflective practice groups session

provide unique out of hours emergency social care and homelessness support for the whole of Berkshire

contribute to the development of policies and procedures relating to the work of an AMHP, adult and children social care and participate on relevant multi agency working parties when required

deliver an emergency service for assessment and action when adults and children are referred as being at immediate risk

Interview date

Interviews will be held week commencing 1st June 2026.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact

Shelli Read, Emergency Duty Service Business Manager or Lisa Holmes, AMHP Lead, on 01344 355050 (please note this phone number is only available between 9am-5pm).

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Please note that this particular role is on casual basis and therefore does not meet the minimum requirements for sponsorship under current UK Visas and Immigration regulations. As such, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position.

No agencies please.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

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.