Senior Support Worker - Clinical Assessment Unit

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South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

About the location:

The Croydon area has excellent schools both in the state and private sectors. Mental health care for patients who attend CUH is delivered by the Croydon Mental Health Liaison service provided by South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). We are an ageless service along with the Older Adult Liaison Psychiatry service.

About the team:

The Croydon University Hospital Mental Health Assessment Unit is part of the Liaison Services and the Unit provides psychiatric assessments and treatment for people, aged 18 and above, to determine if they need mental health care and treatment. The service caters for people who live in the London Borough of Croydon and our aim is to ensure that people get the expertise they need to address their mental health problems. We provide a 24-hour service to Croydon University Hospital offering urgent assessment and intervention to patients, the team includes Nurses, Doctors, an Occupational Therapist and a Clinical Psychologist.

Main duties of the job

About this role

We have substantive vacancies for Band 4, Senior Support Workers - Clinical Assessment Unit

The post holders will support the nurses with conducting reviews on patients and observing patients to identify their needs, strengths, and challenges.

Providing emotional support, guidance, and encouragement to patients during their stay in the assessment unit.

Communicating effectively with patients, families, and healthcare professionals to ensure that everyone is aware of patient needs, progress, and concerns.

Provide person-centered support in a planned and coordinated manner.

We are looking for a forward-thinking, creative and responsive senior support worker who has a passion for people and family-centred care; you will be enthusiastic, creative, resilient and be able to respond to others in a flexible manner.

This varied role offers excellent opportunities to gain experience and skills in an Acute Hospital setting. Successful candidates will be expected to work a 24 hours shift, including weekends and Bank Holidays.

Working for our organisation

Benefits:

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

• Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
• Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
• Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
• Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
• NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Wellbeing events
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Childcare vouchers
• Staff restaurants

We look forward to receiving your application.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main roles and responsibilities include:
• Carry out reviews on low risk patients, while updating team leader, nurses and MDT
• Accurately documenting patient interactions, observations, and care plans in accordance with organizational policies and procedures.
• Educating patients about their condition, treatment options, and self-care strategies to promote recovery and independence.
• Supporting patients' families and caregivers by providing information, resources, and emotional support during the assessment process.
• Creating positive working relationships with local services and local activity providers for across the 4 boroughs covered by the Trust, as well as creating and compiling resources within the service.
• To attend and contribute to clinical team meetings and handovers across the Liaison and emergency department services.
• You will support senior team members with welcoming, conducting baseline observations following referrals, documenting admission entries and discharge notes

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• NVQ 3 Plus short courses to Diploma Level or Equivalent experience or NVQ Level 4 in healthcare

Desirable criteria

• Psychology degree or equivalent experience, or Evidence of continued academic development
• Completion of the Care Certificate

Experience

Essential criteria

• Extensive experience within a mental health care settings

Desirable criteria

• Substantial experience dealing with acute psychiatric /crises care

Knowledge / Skills

Essential criteria

• Able to demonstrate clinical competence
• Able to work with a wide variety of professionals and agencies
• Ability to work with carers and families and commitment to developing userfocused services
• Ability to motivate clients who are difficult to engage and co-ordinate the support with fellow staff members.

Desirable criteria

• Training in other specific interventions e.g. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Schema Therapy, Dialectic Behaviour Therapy. (A)/(I)
• Some understanding of the needs of people with mental illness and personality disorder
• Motivated to participate in required training and development.
• Ability to prioritise workload and carry out work efficiently and effectively

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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, 680.3KB)
• SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)