PWP Guide
Welcome to Mindler’s growing team of PWPs. We can’t wait to watch our patients’ engagement and recovery rates continue to improve alongside your contribution.
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This handbook provides all the information you need to understand our policies and practices. Please familiarise yourself with its contents, alongside the information we provide in your Assignment Schedule. This guide will be updated regularly. The most up to date version will be available on The Hub, our bespoke resource platform.
How Umbrella.co.uk and Mindler work together
Mindler has partnered with Umbrella.co.uk to give you the reassurance and benefits of being employed, whilst being able to work in a flexible way.
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Being employed by an umbrella company is one of the easiest ways to get paid when you are freelancing. Instead of setting up their own limited company or being enrolled in an agency PAYE system, tens of thousands of freelancers use umbrella companies. Doing so allows them to work flexibly without the hassle and expense of setting up as self-employed and handling their own tax and accountancy.
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Umbrella.co.uk is one of the largest umbrella companies in the UK. They have earned a reputation for compliance, reliability, and efficiency, helping over 50,000 contractors and freelancers in many different industries make the most of their income while staying compliant with legislation. Umbrella.co.uk is an Accredited Member of the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA).
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How it works:
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You treat your patients remotely and flexibly
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Umbrella.co.uk collects your pay from Mindler
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You receive your pay from Umbrella.co.uk after any employment costs, income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) deductions have been paid to HMRC on your behalf
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Your own indemnity insurance is covered through your contract with Umbrella.co.uk, saving you money and hassle
Please note: if you would like to add your work with us to your Linked In profile, the best way is connecting yourself to the ‘Mindler Affiliate Network’ page. Please do not link to the main ‘Mindler’ page as this will misleadingly count you as one of our permanent employees, which could lead to issues with your main employer or HMRC.
Your first 12-weeks
During your first 12-weeks with Mindler, we require you to work towards a minimum of 15 patients on your caseload. We will support you to build up to this gradually over the first couple of weeks after taking on your first patient. We would encourage PWP’s to stick with the minimum caseload during the 12 week period and not increasing beyond 15. This is so that you can get used to working with typed therapy. We know it is a new method of delivering therapy for most PWPs, and so over the first three months we will be on hand to support you in whatever way you need. When you have been with us for 12-weeks, you will have a one to one meeting with your allocated case management supervisor to discuss your caseload. If further support is needed, we may extend this review period.
Ongoing quality control
We expect clinicians working with us to follow disorder specific protocols to deliver evidence-based, low-intensity CBT interventions. We provide a system of ongoing monitoring and support aids to help you. These include clinical skills, dedicated case management systems, and The Hub (our custom-built, low-intensity resources platform). We also follow a clear process when things do not go as well as we would like.
Quality concern process
As part of our quality control procedure, Mindler regularly audits clinical work. If you are not meeting expectations, your Supervisor will work with you. Please be aware we may stop allocating cases to you until we are confident that you understand how to meet our standards.
When concerns are identified with the quality and consistency of a Clinician’s work, we follow the following process.
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- Where we identify a significant issue within a Clinician’s work, or significant problems following Mindler processes and procedures, and/or a breach of the professional code of conduct, we inform Umbrella.co.uk to no longer assign that Clinician’s services to Mindler.
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Where we identify a rectifiable problem in a Clinician’s work, we will discuss such concerns with that Clinician’s Clinical Supervisor and devise a joint plan. We invite the Clinician to continue treatment with all remaining patients before completing a further follow-up quality review. This ensures we can provide a period of enhanced support while the Clinician works to rectify the identified concern(s). During this time, we expect the concerns identified will be remedied to the required standards and the Clinician will show consistency with this. If a further concern of a similar nature occurs in the following 12-month period, we may request that Umbrella.co.uk no longer assigns that Clinician’s services to us. Equally, if the concern(s) have not been successfully remedied at the point of the follow-up quality review, we inform Umbrella.co.uk that we no longer wish to engage that Clinician’s services.
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If the Clinician decides not to take forward the development opportunity to remedy concerns raised, we notify Umbrella.co.uk so that the Clinician is no longer assigned to Mindler work. At this point, we conduct a review of all active cases and reassign them to another Clinician to ensure there are no delays in patients’ continuing treatments.
**All decisions relating to the Clinicians’ assignments are overseen and approved by the Clinical Director. No recourse or appeal can be made. **
Routine audits
To ensure our patients continue to receive the best possible care, we routinely audit all Clinicians’ clinical work. This includes routinely using standard supervision to review your session transcripts and collaboratively discussing assessments and treatment plans. Our aim is to ensure you are adhering to the Low-Intensity CBT model and are aware of any actions you can take to improve your patient engagement and recovery scores.
MDS Questionnaires & Clinical Outcomes Guide
​Outcome measures are an integral part of our daily practice. While collecting data at every contact can sometimes feel transactional, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and ADSM measures remain essential tools for informing care.
This guide breaks down why we use the measures, how to frame them effectively with patients, how outcome metrics are calculated, and how to navigate treatment endings to achieve high-quality clinical outcomes.
​How do I receive patients?
Please set your availability on your iaptus diary, you will need to include New Patient assessment sessions (1hr) as well as your availability for treatment sessions moving forward. Patients will be able to book straight into your New Patient slots and this is how patients will be allocated to PWP’s. Please note the minimum caseload is 15 unless there are significant mitigating circumstances. If significant mitigating circumstances do prevent you from taking on a caseload of 15 or more, please speak to your supervisor.
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Please see our Guide to Setting up Availability for New Patient Slots and Follow Up/ Treatment Slots.
Caseload expectations
To hold the required caseload with Mindler, you need to organise your time efficiently so that you can work with a minimum of 15 Mindler patients each fortnight, including assessment and treatment appointments.
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Holding a caseload of at least 15 patients at any one time will enable you to achieve this minimum weekly commitment of six hours direct clinical contact. These hours will be made up of 60-minute assessments and 45-minute treatment sessions. You will have a steady flow of new patients regularly joining your caseload. You are expected to ensure the timely discharge of patients once therapy has been completed, or to organise an onward referral/step up. You must offer a mix of video and typed appointments.
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If you move to offer fortnightly treatment sessions to patients, as most PWPs do, you will work on a fortnightly rota, as per NICE guidelines. This means you can see another patient for treatment during the weeks in between.
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This weekly six hours 15 patients' caseload is a minimum requirement. Most PWPs want to do much more work with us and do. If you are unable to consistently offer sufficient availability to meet these minimum requirements, then it may not be possible to continue to work together.
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Whilst Mindler will always try to maximise the time you mark as available, due to the flexible nature of our treatment, we cannot guarantee to always be able to. Mindler patients often have appointments at different times from face-to-face services, typically during evenings or weekends. Please arrange appointments at mutually suitable times for you and your patients.
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Please note that we cannot guarantee that you will receive the number of patients you have set your capacity to.
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Do speak to your Supervisor if you require any further support in how to manage an effective caseload with Mindler.
Treating patients in the area you work in
As a Clinician working with Mindler you cannot contractually treat patients via Mindler if you are already working in the geographical area the patient is from (e.g., if you currently work for iCope in Islington as well as with Mindler then you cannot treat a patient from Islington with us).
If you are allocated an Mindler patient in the geographical area you work in, please email therapist@mindler.co.uk asking us to reassign the patient. If you change your employer or the geographic area you work in, please inform your supervisor.
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If you have any questions, please email therapist@mindler.co.uk.
DNA, Aborted sessions and Cancelled Late Payment information
Mindler shares the burden of DNAs and late cancellations with our PWP network.
On the first two occasions a patient does not attend a confirmed appointment or cancels late, you will be paid 50% for the sessions plus 17.5% holiday pay. Mindler will bear the other 50%. In total, a maximum of two of these in any combination will be paid for an episode of care. Subsequent DNAs/late cancellations will be unpaid.
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For example, if a patient DNAs or late cancels an appointment, and then they DNA or late cancel a subsequent appointment, followed by another late cancellation or DNA, then the following is paid:
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First DNA/late cancellation: Paid at 50% of session rate
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Second DNA/late cancellation: Paid at 50% of session rate
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Third DNA/late cancellation: No payments are made.
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Late cancellations are defined as when a session is cancelled by a patient within 48 hours of the scheduled appointment time. This also includes when patients attend an arranged appointment but only for a very short time, to inform the clinician that they can't attend/continue, require a different type of input, etc. Please record these situations as Late Cancellation on the clinical contact.
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If your patient DNA's or cancel's late please log this on the iaptus clinical contact, under attendance.
If our therapy platform or the patient’s internet goes down for any reason, these aborted sessions will be paid for as below:
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Payments for aborted sessions:
Clinician issue, no session completed - No pay
Patient's internet - Full hourly rate
Mindler site issue - Full hourly rate
Please contact accounts@mindler.co.uk if you have questions regarding this.
Payment information
We pay you a rate per session, to include the associated administration and supervision time, via Umbrella.co.uk. PWP’s will offer an hour long appointment for assessment of new patients, treatment sessions after this will be 45 minute long. Mindler reserves the right to vary the rates payable to our PWP network at any time by giving written notice of the changes.
Our current PWP hourly rate is £27.
A 45-min session rate is £20.25
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Appointments in iaptus are cross referenced to the time in session in the therapy room to determine length of session for payment.
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For example, if a 60-minute appointment was booked in, but the Therapy room is showing 32-46 minutes undertaken, then payments are reduced to 45 minutes.
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DNAs will be paid at half the normal session rate, e.g., £13.50 for a one-hour session or £10.13 for a 45-minute session (a maximum of two DNAs will be paid for an episode of care).
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Umbrella.co.uk will pay you on our behalf at the end of the current calendar month for the relevant services provided by you in the previous month. For example, work completed for Mindler in January will be paid at the end of February.
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Please email accounts@mindler.co.uk with questions and/or refer to your information pack from Umbrella.
Holiday/ Sickness and extended leave
Holiday:
If you are planning to take leave, please:
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Update your absence dates on iaptus
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Block any availability on iaptus
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Pause your work with current patients and let them know how long you will be away for and ensure that the patient has the relevant interventions in place to maintain overall wellbeing during this time.
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Email your Clinical Supervisor to let them know and discuss any cases that cannot wait until your return.
If you intend to take a holiday of two weeks or more, we would be grateful if you do not take on any new patients in the two weeks preceding this and ensure that a risk management plan is in place with all patients. If you have a risk concern, please raise a supervision task, and ensure it is reviewed with plenty of time before you go on leave.
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Sickness:
If you are unwell, please, where possible, notify your patients and let them know you will be in touch to rebook. If you feel too unwell or are unable to get online and need us to contact your patients on your behalf, please email therapist@mindler.co.uk with your case reference numbers and we will let your patients know.
Extended Leave:
We understand that sometimes things happen in life that mean you need to take a break from work. If you would like to take a break from working with Mindler with the possibility of returning, we are happy to support you.
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Please inform your Case management Supervisor and email therapist@mindler.co.uk to let us know the time period you plan on being away so we can discuss how to safely end your caseload.
We understand that sometimes life events mean you need to take a break from work. If you would like to take a break from working with Mindler, with the possibility of returning, we are happy to support you.
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A break of up to 8 weeks allows you to remain in the Mindler network. Please inform your Clinical Supervisor and email therapist@mindler.co.uk to let us know the period you plan to be away so we can discuss how to safely end your caseload.
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If your break extends beyond 8 weeks, you will be placed on a priority waiting list. You can return to practice once we are accepting returners and subject to service demand.
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Please stay in touch with us and let us know when you are hoping to return. Provided your certifications and insurance remain up to date, we will support your return when capacity allows.
If you take a break of 12 months or more, you will be required to reapply and complete the onboarding and validation process before resuming work with Mindler. This is in line with best practice.
If you want to stop working with us
If you decide that working with Mindler is not for you, please let us know by emailing therapist@mindler.co.uk and your Case Management Supervisor six weeks in advance of when you wish to leave. This gives us enough time to safely allocate patients to an alternative Clinician.
It is best practice to complete treatment with any active patients on your caseload and action any outstanding admin tasks. If you are unable to do this, it is vital to discuss how to ensure the safe ending of your caseload with your Supervisor.
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This is separate to your arrangements with Umbrella.co.uk
Remaining Active
There may be times when you are unable to remain active as an ‘Active Affiliate’.
‘Remaining Active’, or being an 'Active Affiliate', is defined as a PWP who:
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Holds a caseload of 15 patients
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Treats Mindler patients for at least one full calendar month every quarter
Dropping down your caseload below 15 or completing no sessions in a three-month period will result in you becoming inactive. Inactive Affiliates will lose their access to the Therapy Platform and The Hub and will also be 'off-boarded' by Umbrella.co.uk.
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Of course, you may choose to become inactive from time to time (if you wish to take an extended break for instance), which is absolutely fine. Please note that Inactive Affiliates will need to be backfilled by Active Affiliates to ensure that we are able to service our contracts. This means that when you do choose to re-activate, we will only be able to bring you back online when we have enough patients for you.
Working from abroad
We receive a lot of requests from Clinicians to work from abroad. Since leaving the EU, changes in the BABCP accreditation criteria and GDPR data transfer regulations mean there is a set of regulatory requirements Clinicians need meet to work abroad.
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We capture these below. More information can be found in our Clinician’s Manual.
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As an Affiliate working with patients, you are not able to treat patients unless it is in one of the European Economic area (EEA) or other approved countries listed below. If you are unsure of the data protection status of the country, please contact us at therapist@mindler.co.uk.
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More information can also be found in the Clinician’s Manual.
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You need to remain accredited with an accrediting body. The BACP have changed their expectations with this so please check the current guidance. It is your responsibility to ensure you have enough UK-based clinical hours to remain accredited.
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If you are working from abroad, you need to be confident that you can manage the risk of a patient from the country they are based in. Calling an ambulance, for example, is more difficult from abroad. Please ensure you know what to do and how to manage this. Your Supervisor can provide you with some helpful information, but it is your responsibility to respond to the needs of your patients.
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Any Clinician working with Mindler needs to provide a DBS check at the time of application and while continuing to work with us. You need a UK address and ID to verify that address to apply for a UK-based DBS.
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If you are planning on working from abroad, it is also important to let Mindler and your Supervisor know so we can support you with any concerns or needs you may have.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please reach out to the team on therapist@mindler.co.uk