Early Intervention Practitioner

Job responsibilities

To provide specialist evidence-based interventions to young people aged between 14 and 35 years old experiencing psychosis.

To undertake initial assessment of those presenting with symptoms of psychosis

To undertake assessment of those with suspected psychosis and those identified as displaying an "at risk mental state"

To provide specific assessments and monitor symptoms, social functioning, medication side-effects, and family/carer needs

To provide care co-ordination as per the Navigo CPA policy to young people in the first three years of their journey through services.

To provide support in the Whise Clinic, (well-being clinical) and monitor physical health, i.e blood pressure, weight, complete GASS, side effect of medications, ECG, life style questionnaire.

Provide specialist psycho-educational/ behavioural family interventions to families dealing with early psychosis with a suitably qualified/experienced co-worker

Offer advice to a range of services within the wider community who may be a first place of contact for a young person with emerging mental health problems or their family e.g. schools, colleges, police, etc.

To promote the Early Interventions ethos in all interactions with professionals, service users, their family and the wider community

You will need to be an excellent communicator with good time keeping and a positive mental attitude. You must have a passion for recovery, to help people with psychosis and those at risk of developing psychosis. You will be exposed to challenging situations therefore it is important that you are able to self-reflect on your actions and attitudes and your own mental well-being and be able to manage your stress levels seeking support supervision on a regular basis.

To work in a collaborative client-centred manner with both young people and their families/carers

To manage caseloads and administration systems

To work jointly and collaboratively with other teams to ensure the maximum service flexibility in meeting the young persons' needs to support all staff members within the team approach for difficult to engage and complex service users

To ensure maintenance of appropriate professional registration

To ensure maintenance of acceptable standards of practice and regularly evaluate these within supervision

To attend mandatory training courses and ensure compliance with professional competencies as required by Navigo and regulatory body.

To ensure that your work conforms to national and local policies and the relevant codes of professional conduct

To participate in clinical supervision as per Navigo policy

Compile reports for the purpose of 117, CPA and Mental Health Act Tribunals etc. as required to complete the role of CPA Key Worker.

Maintain accurate and timely records on contacts with service users, their families and other agencies on the Electronic Patient Record (EPR).

Plan and organise own clinical diary.

Organise information gained from service users, notes and appropriate others to include in formulation of service user presenting problems

Understand and closely follow the EIP Operational Policy and other Navigo Policies.

Be able to analyse organised information to form clinical opinions and develop service user case formulation using a cognitive model of psychosis.

Be critical in your approach to information to help develop an understanding of the whys in a situation to support a holistic and compassionate approach to service users.

Communicate complex clinical and non-clinical information in a non-judgemental and understandable way to a variety of stakeholders, service users and other agencies.

Ensure that confidentiality is maintained within the boundaries of relevant codes of professional conduct and legal responsibilities

Be approachable and a great active listener so you encourage engagement of young people with yourself and the service.

Be self-aware of own communication style and adjust as needed for individual service user needs.

Attend meetings such as ward reviews, 117 meetings or case conferences as needed for your allocated service users, standing in for the team members as needed and for allocated lead roles.

Use a variety of communication methods such as face to face, telephone, video conferencing or emails to stay in touch with staff, other agencies and service users.

Project confidence within your sphere of practice to inspire those around you including service users

To liaise with the multi-disciplinary team members to ensure appropriate use of the specialist service

To liaise closely with the appropriate community mental health service and Primary care to ensure effective continuity of care for the service users and carers when transferred or discharged from the team.

Promote the organisations missions and values.

Comply with the terms and conditions of the contract of employment, Navigo's Statement of Values and code of conduct

Knowledge

Essential

• You must:
• Have Passion for working with young people and their families.
• Understand the impact that stigma has on people and be how to minimise its impact on service users and their family
• Have good knowledge and understanding of medication and its role in Early Interventions
• Good care planning knowledge
• Assessing and managing risk - completing risk assessments

Desirable

• Have excellent knowledge of Early Interventions philosophy of care and be passionate about working with this service user group

Qualifications

Essential

• Registration with NMC, professional body.
• Evidence of continuing professional practice development

Desirable

• Experience in working in Early Interventions
• Experience of working with Young People
• Family Interventions Qualification
• PSI Qualification
• Phlebotomy training
• Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental State Training
• Behaviour Family Therapy Training

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Skills/abilities
• Be able to communicate complex and highly sensitive information effectively, to a wide range of people
• Demonstrate good risk assessment skills
• Utilise objective measures competently
• Have good information technology skills
• Be able to engage with vulnerable people and work effectively in highly distressing and challenging circumstances
• Be able to work flexibly and co-operatively as part of a Multi-Disciplinary Team
• Be able to use own initiative and make decisions independently
• Be committed to continual quality and service improvement
• Be able to reflect and critically appraise own performance and accept and respond positively to feedback from supervision
• Have confidence in administration of Anti-psychotic medication in the form of injection

Desirable

• Presentation skills
• Provide effective teaching, training and clinical supervision

Experience

Essential

• Must have experience in:
• Working with people with severe and enduring mental health problems in a clinical setting.
• Delivering a range of interventions
• Working in multi-disciplinary team settings

Desirable

• Experience of working with First Episode Psychosis and ARMS
• Experience of delivering complex care
• Experience in delivering clinical supervision
• Experience of providing assessment of physical health care in Mental Health

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).