Senior Community Mental Health Practitioner

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About Us

EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:

• We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
• We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.

EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.
Our vision and values

Our Vision

"To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care".

Our Purpose

"We care for people every day. What we do together, matters".

Our Values

• We Care
• We Learn
• We Empower

Our strategic objectives

• We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
• We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
• We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
• We will help our communities to thrive.

Our services

• Mental Health Services
• Community Health Services
• Learning Disabilities Services
• Social Care

Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory.

Job overview

PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY

You will work as a member of the nursing team in providing high quality, evidence-based, holistic nursing care to patients in line with your professional code of conduct and Trust policies. You will access, plan, implement and evaluate packages of care based upon individual service user needs, as per NICE guidance. You will also undertake and maintain service users' Self Directed Support assessments.

As required by your manager, you will have responsibility for the day to day supervision and management of lower banded staff within your professional group and team locality. This will include the management of these staff in line with agreed Trust HR processes.

You will be expected to work collaboratively with key partner organisations, service users, carers, clinicians and other practitioners within the multi-disciplinary team in delivering services; providing a 5-day a week day service.

In delivering your duties you are expected to display behaviours that are aligned with the Trust values and in accordance with the NHS Constitution at all times.

Main duties of the job

Core Clinical Function

• Provide and oversee the management and care of service users.
• Produce accurate and timely documentation, conduct and manage the maintenance of accurate and timely documentation/records on all service users in line with your professional code of conduct and Trust policy.

• Oversee the conduct/contribute to the assessment process, as well as the observation and ongoing assessment, providing accurate and timely feedback.
• Conduct risk assessment of the individual and of the potential hazards in the service user's environment.

• Attend multi-disciplinary meetings i.e. referral/review/business.
• Report and document incidents as required.
• Conduct and oversee physical health care checks and act upon the findings.
• Act as a care coordinator/and or key worker.
• Responsible for administration of medications, assessment of side effects, review concordance and clinical effectiveness of medication regime in line with Trust policy including
• Safe transportation and storage of medicines, checking receipt storage of medicines in medicine cupboard.
• Provide education around the medication prescribed, side effects, actions and aids to compliance.
• Provide education and support to develop service users understanding of mental illness and training package for staff.

Working for our organisation

EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;

• Season Ticket Loans
• NHS discounts for staff
• Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
• Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
• The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
• Day One Flexible Employer

The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment

Join our Staff bank

What is Staff Bank?

Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.

All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.

If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Core Non-Clinical Function

• Take part in service development and review.
• Ensure the service meets the agreed performance/contractual targets and adheres to local and government initiatives.
• Work closely with and assist Clinical Manager/professional lead with development and implementation of team operational policies.
• Deliver training where appropriate for other professionals.
• Promote the Nursing Strategy with the Trust.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES

In addition to the above duties you will also be expected to perform the below key activities in line with your job role;

- Complete mandatory training in line with Trust policy and procedures

- To participate in the staff appraisal process and to undertake for any staff you manage

- To keep yourself updated on all matters relating to Trust policy

- To provide management supervision where appropriate

Person specification

Travel

Essential criteria

• Have a valid UK driving licence

Desirable criteria

• Have a car for work purposes

Experience

Essential criteria

• Post qualification experience.

Desirable criteria

• Experience working in community mental health

Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered 'suitable alternative employment' to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Important Professional References

Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.

Equal Opportunities Employer

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email epunft.recruitment.adverts@nhs.net and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Covid Vaccination

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.

If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing epunft.cv19hr@nhs.net.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 624.5KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 344.6KB)
• Why Join The NHS Pension Scheme (PDF, 91.3KB)
• EPUT Pledge - Step into Health (PDF, 211.0KB)
• Candidate Privacy Policy (PDF, 336.6KB)
• Right to Work Information (PDF, 293.6KB)
• Employer Recognition Scheme - Gold Award (PDF, 27.7KB)
• Trust Vision and Values (PDF, 168.9KB)
• Values of the NHS Pension (PDF, 151.3KB)
• EPUT Staff Benefits (PDF, 89.3KB)