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Work for us
About the Trust
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust was established in 1994 and now serves a local population of more than a million people across the boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth.
The Trust provides the full range of mental health and social care services for the local population including those with learning disabilities, children and adolescents, adults of working age and older people. In addition, we provide regional and national specialist services, including eating disorders, personality disorders, forensics and deaf services.
We have 150 clinical teams working from locations at more than 90 sites across our five boroughs, including the following hospitals: Springfield Hospital in Tooting, Queen Mary’s in Roehampton, Sutton and the Henderson Hospital both situated in Sutton, Tolworth Hospital in Surbiton, Barnes Hospital and Richmond Royal Hospital. There are 720 inpatient beds, although 80 per cent of the work is provided within 30 Community Mental Health Teams.
Working for the Trust
With about 2,700 staff, the Trust is a significant employer within the local community and aims to employ a truly representative and diverse workforce. Through our work on cultural diversity and awareness, as well as tackling racism, bullying and harassment, we are striving to create an environment which maximises the impact and effectiveness of all our staff.
We welcome applications from people who have experienced mental health problems. Our nationally renowned User Employment Project successfully supports people with mental health problems to work within our services. Approximately 20 per cent of recruits last year were people who had experienced a mental health problem. Charter for the Employment of People who have Experienced Mental Health Problems.
South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is an Improving Working Lives Practice Plus Employer. We recognise that a modern health service requires modern employment practices. Some of our achievements in obtaining this award include enhanced work/life balance opportunities, effective partnership working and communication networks, together with the Trust's commitment to improving the user and carer experience.
Users and carers
The Trust has a long tradition of working with its service users and carers and we seek to ensure that their priorities and input are reflected in the planning and delivery of our services.
Education and learning
We encourage all our staff to learn and develop, ensuring that they have access to appropriate development and training opportunities, which both enhance their skills and assist with career development.
We have close educational partnerships with St George’s, University of London and the Joint Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences between St George's, University of London and Kingston University. The Trust is also the leading local provider for post-registration training placements in mental health for psychiatry, psychology, nursing, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
Research and development
The Trust is a teaching and research body with a dedicated budget of more than £1 million to support research. Most of this research is in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Addictive Behaviour at St George’s, University of London. We contribute to more than 90 scientific publications each year.
The Trust recognises the importance of a research culture for improving and maintaining clinical services and has six professors and more than 20 senior lecturers on its staff. We provide in-service research training for all interested staff of any discipline and are thoroughly committed to multidisciplinary research.
Where are we?
The south west of London has something to offer for all ages and every lifestyle: from clubbing and pubbing to the tranquillity of Kew Gardens, the majesty of Hampton Court and the wide-open spaces of Richmond Park. It has art galleries, concert halls and theatres, comedy clubs or drama clubs scattered across region. Added to that is the bustle of London’s West End only a short bus or train-ride away.
If sport is important to you, there’s Wimbledon, Twickenham and Epsom, and if you’re not up to playing at these venues, there’s a huge choice of local sports centres and clubs to improve on your talents.
If you want to get away from it all, then a brief drive to the M25 can speed you to anywhere in the UK – or the local train network is even faster.
