Senior Mental Health Practitioner

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Job overview

The Access Team is a busy and fast-paced service that provides a single point of entry and first level gate keeping into mental health services in Stockport. We screen and triage all referrals into the service. We undertake telephone triages, urgent and routine face to face assessments and onward referral to the most appropriate service, getting people the right care, at the right time and by the right service.

Main duties of the job

You will undertake comprehensive assessments of the health and social care needs of individuals who are referred to the service, in addition to comprehensive risk assessments. You will also coordinate assessment clinics and prioritise appointments. No one day is the same and you will need a flexible, creative and supportive approach within the team.

Following assessment you will be responsible for identifying appropriate management plans, follow up care, referrals and fast tracking of patients into specialist services.

As a senior mental health practitioner you will offer support and guidance to junior members of staff on the team.

Working for our organisation

The Team operates from Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm

The Access Team works closely with Healthy Minds, The Transition Team and other internal and external providers; such as the Stockport Prevention Alliance, Open Door and the Safe Haven.

Staff are expected to participate in the overall development of the service, ensuring that the principles of Clinical Governance underpin all developments.

It is expected that you will deliver care in accordance with all Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust policies and procedures, the Mental Health Act and community care legislation.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main Duties & Responsibilities

• To participate in the duty worker rotation
• To participate in the triage process of new referrals to the service.
• To carry out thorough assessment of service users' current mental health problems and individual needs, including a risk assessment.
• To develop individualised packages of care for service users with mental health problems, including signposting where necessary, within the stepped care model (NICE, 2003), Fair Access to Care Services and the Care Programme Approach.
• To identify the need for protection in line with safeguarding children and the Protection of Vulnerable Adult Policy and to comply with statutory obligations.
• To liaise and negotiate with other professions, statutory and independent agencies to ensure the best possible service is provided to service users and carers and to appropriately signpost to other agencies.
• To assist service users to effectively manage their emotional distress, using psychological evidence-based interventions.
• To promote medication concordance through medication follow-up, where appropriate.
• To evaluate systematically and record, outcomes of mental health interventions, adapting care on the basis of these evaluations.
• To provide education and appropriate self-help resources to patients specific to individual needs.
• To keep and store up to date written records and follow appropriate Pennine Care policies.
• To participate in audit of the primary care mental health service if requested.
• To provide supervision/mentorship to the junior primary care mental health workers and students.
• To utilise managerial and clinical supervision to ensure that care and treatment are tailored to service users, family and community needs; that learning needs are identified and acted upon to ensure professional and personal development.
• To work with individuals from diverse backgrounds in a culturally sensitive manner.
• To participate in improving access and liaison activities within the Stockport Community.
• To improve liaison with Stockport GP's and other agencies.
• To attend and participate in regular departmental and governance meetings.
• To take a lead role in project and developmental work within the department.

Please see attached job description and person specification to support your application for this post. Please refer to the essential criteria in the person specification which will highlight the skills, knowledge and experience you will need to demonstrate in your application, by way of example, to give yourself the best opportunity to be shortlisted.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential criteria

• RMN/RNMH/Social Worker equivalent
• Completion of Preparation for Mentorship / Practice Teacher / Fieldwork Educator qualification or willingness to complete
• Evidence of on-going CPD

Desirable criteria

• Degree - or working towards completion.
• Non-medical prescribing qualification
• Formal teaching qualification.
• Further training in brief psychosocial interventions.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant post registration experience.
• Proven experience of working with clients with complex needs.
• Experience of working with individuals who present to mental health services in crisis and have symptoms of mental health illness
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Experience of providing supervision to junior staff

Desirable criteria

• Primary care mental health work experience
• Experienced in the use of outcome measures such as CORE, PHQ9 and GAD7
• Experience of working with a psychological model of care
• Experience of triaging referrals.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Understanding of current mental health legislation, Safe Guarding and Child Protection Legislation
• Awareness of NICE Guidance in the treatment of mental health problems and knowledge of treatments and interventions appropriate for individuals with mental health needs
• Understanding of confidentiality and data protection issues.
• Knowledge of psychosocial assessment and risk assessment/management processes

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

• Comprehensive mental health and risk assessment skills.
• Ability to construct effective packages of care and risk management plans
• Ability to deliver a range of evidence based interventions.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Comprehensive I.T Skills
• Ability to form productive working relationships with service users, carers and multi-disciplinary staff
• Good organisational and prioritisation skills.

Desirable criteria

• Skills in planning, delivery and evaluation of training
• Skills in the area of audit or research

A hints and tips document is attached below for guidance on completing your application form.

Sponsorship - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

What happens after your application has been received?

You will be informed about the progress of your application following shortlisting via email. Only applicants who clearly demonstrate the criteria listed in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview. Interview invites will be sent out via email.

What happens if I am offered the position after interview?

The hiring manager will make contact with you to verbally offer you the position. The hiring manager will then inform Recruitment of the decision and provide relevant paperwork. You will be sent a formal conditional offer via email.

What pre-employment checks will I need to complete?

By conducting pre-employment checks, the recruitment team will verify that you meet the pre-conditions of the role you have been offered. Pre-employment checks will be carried out according to NHS Employment Check Standards. The checks are:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to NHS will be required to provide HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years. This information will used to validate employment history and references as part of pre-employment checks.

If you are offer a position with is and you require sponsorship to support your right to work, we will review your eligibility in line with government guidance. If the role you have been offer is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not able to evidence your right to work, your conditional offer could be withdrawn.

What happens when pre-employment checks are complete?

Recruitment will liaise with you and the hiring manager to arrange a start date for your new position. You will then be booked on to a Trust Welcome Session and be sent your Pennine Care NHS Terms and Conditions.

Other important information

• We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and recognise the importance of ensuring our diverse service user population is reflected within our workforce. Unfortunately, we know that, at present, there is underrepresentation of our communities in our workforce. We welcome applications from people from diverse communities to help us grow, learn, be better and consider brilliant innovation diverse people bring.
• If you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria on the person specification for the post.
• If you require reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process please phone us on 0161 716 3181 at the earliest opportunity. We will support you to complete your application.
• Unfortunately we are not able to guarantee the transfer of lease cars, or cover the costs of early termination charges.
• We have a strict policy on unsolicited contact from recruitment agencies. Please do not contact our hiring managers directly.

We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date if a sufficient number of applications have been received. To ensure you application is considered, please submit at the earliest opportunity.

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, 120.5KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 112.2KB)
• Policy Statement on Recruitment of Ex-Offenders (PDF, 117.0KB)
• Applicant Information pack (PDF, 505.6KB)
• Hints and tips for your application (PDF, 128.7KB)