Mental Health Practitioner

Job responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

The post holder will deliver high quality comprehensive mental health services. The role involves managing a defined caseload with a focus on providing expert assessment and treatment for people with complex mental health difficulties and their carers. This will include recovery co-ordination (design and co-ordination of treatment packages).

The post holder will contribute to the clinical leadership of the team, providing supervision for other members and participating in team and service development, and evaluation.

Duties and responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

Contribute to the teams engagement with a wide range of stakeholders including staff, service users, their carers and other statutory and voluntary sector agencies.

Impart highly complex and sensitive information to:

Patients and families/carers re assessment, care planning, treatment and review

Multi-disciplinary teams to ensure the provision of consistent well-coordinated care

Primary care teams regarding client care

External agencies also involved in the provision of care e.g.: voluntary and private sector, police, social services, housing, employment etc.

Service user/carer groups

Liaise with a wide range of other professionals and agencies.

Contribute to the safe and effective day to day operations of the service including the handling of clinical enquires.

Provide and receive information some of which may be contentious, sensitive and highly complex to and from individuals and their families/carers, where there may be barriers to understanding.

Provide high standards of written and verbal communication that is clear and in line with professional documentation standards

Participate in and chair clinical meetings, this will include CPA and non-CPA reviews, professional meetings, and clinical risk meetings.

Demonstrate the ability to communicate in a way that is empathic and reassuring whilst employing negotiating techniques to gain co-operation from highly complex individuals.

Communicate information in a way that makes it relevant and understandable for service users and carers, working in line with practice standards and operational policies.

Facilitate fair access to social care services and promote social inclusion regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability

Analytical and judgement skills

Undertake complex risk assessments and develop a formulation of risk which will lead to the development of risk management plans which have taken into consideration a range of possible options.

Undertake and continuously re-evaluate complex bio-psycho-social assessments and develop a working formulation and diagnosis which will lead to the development of personalised care packages in line with evidence based and payment by results.

Ensure the continuous re-evaluation of individuals needs and clinical risk situations and use clinical judgement to formulate the most appropriate clinical plan.

Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance, professional and ethical issues

Ability to maintain professional boundaries

Planning and Organisational Skills

Organise and facilitate complex meetings, these will include: CPA and non-CPA professional and risk meetings.

Responsible for managing their own workload to ensure the needs to the individuals who use our services are met taking the wider needs of the team into consideration.

Ensure that interventions are planned in an integrated and co-ordinated manner particularly where dependent on other external agencies.

Plan and organise individuals packages of care and ensure that reviews are held within the required time frames, for example Section 117, Funding Panels and CPA.

Plan own workload and the workload of junior colleagues to ensure that care is provided in the most high quality and cost efficient manner, prioritise and make adjustments as appropriate

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

Ensure that caseload is well managed and that care and treatment is provided in line with practice standards and recovery co-ordination (CPA and non-CPA).

Understand social factors that impact upon mental health.

Develop and deliver care packages including assessing, planning, intervention and evaluation.

Ensure that all interventions have clear outcomes and that these are taken into consideration when sourcing the resources to best meet the individuals needs.

Deliver services using a recovery and strengths approach where the needs of the individual and their carers are held as central and their involvement is proactively encouraged.

Deliver care in line with evidence based practice and employ engagement and therapeutic skills that are appropriate to the clinical situation presented.

Responsibility for triaging individuals and signposting to the most appropriate services.

Provide specialist advice to referrers/other multi-disciplinary staff in relation to the care of individuals.

Enable communication and engagement of individuals and their carers to ensure that they have a voice about the services they receive and how these are developed. This may include engagement of advocacy services.

Ensure that appropriate action is taken to safeguarding adults and children. This may include providing and receiving highly complex and sensitive information in relation to safeguarding adult and children work, co-ordinating and chairing safeguarding meetings and implementing relevant care plans.

Ensure that assessment and treatment plans are holistic, outcome focused and take into account the physical health and social needs of the individual, including input of significant others.

Ensure the monitoring and review of mental health medication taking into consideration interactions with physical health needs.

Ensuring timely and accurate documentation of all clinical activity in line with professional guidance and best practice.

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

Participate in programmes of audit and research within the team as agreed by the Directorate and implement the findings.

Contribute to clinical governance arrangements in order to ensure the quality of the service provided; this will include ensuring performance targets are met to provide high quality care.

Involvement in the development of local systems and process that ensure the implementation of Trust policies.

Ensure participation in the teams compliance with CQC standards through the participation in provider compliance assessment tools.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

Ensure care is provided in the most cost-effective and high quality manner and identify unmet needs.

Order/monitor and maintain any stock requirements in liaison with the Team Manager.

Undertake management of petty cash transactions as per Livewell Policy.

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

Provision of day to day and clinical supervision as allocated by line manager (this will include participation in the appraisal process)

Demonstrate and role model excellent clinical leadership skills.

Assist with the induction of new staff, students and staff training as appropriate.

Ensure that core training is maintained and that the training and development opportunities in line with the teams Workforce Plan are participated in to meet professional requirements.

When tasks are delegated, ensure that the person you have delegated these tasks to is appropriately skilled to do so.

There is a requirement to support learners on a regular basis which includes the achievement and updating of profession specific training to the required standard to fulfil this role.

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

Ensure information resources are used to maintain knowledge and promote a continuous improvement culture.

Ensure information is shared with key stakeholders and other agencies in a secure manner.

Responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records.

Carry out administrative duties in relation to service provision.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB

The post holder will need to travel to engage with people in their own residence or hospital settings whilst planning discharge. They may need to sit for prolonged periods to compile complex reports.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR ALL POSTS

The post holder is required to comply with all relevant policies and procedures pertinent to their post. Current versions can be found on the intranet or via your manager. The areas listed below are those Livewell Southwest currently places particular emphasis on. Failure to follow correct policies and procedures may result in disciplinary action.

Risk Management

In accordance with the Risk Management Strategy, employees will participate, whenever required, with the risk management process. They will support line managers by attending mandatory and statutory training, completing incident/accident forms for every adverse event or near miss that occurs, report all defects and complaints, and communicate any dangerous situation to individuals potentially at risk.

Skills & Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge
• An understanding of the Mental Health Act/ Mental Health Capacity Act requirements
• Awareness of community structures and social care management responsibilities
• Understanding of recovery principles in Mental Health
• Awareness of legal restraints impacting on the rehabilitation of those suffering mental illness specifically psychosis.
• Good working knowledge of health legislation and current practice including CPA and risk assessment and management.
• Skills
• Computer Literacy
• Training and presentation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Group work skills
• Ability to assess and develop plans to manage risk.
• Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance, professional and ethical issues
• Skilled in assessing, planning and evaluating nursing interventions.
• A problem-solving approach to professional practice.
• Previously participated in audit and quality assurance programmes. Familiarity of basic research methodology.
• Demonstrate an ability and awareness to maintain personal/ professional boundaries.
• Able to plan creatively to maximise effectiveness of care plans, including complex multi-agency care plans
• Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent self-management skills and ability to set own priorities
• Ability to take initiative and develop new ideas
• Leadership skills
• Able to plan prioritise, manage and oversee a clinical caseload
• Ability to organise and respond efficiently to complex information
• Ability to plan services according to needs
• Knowledge of ordering, storing and administering required medications
• Knowledge of possible side effects of medication

Desirable

• Knowledge
• Understanding of recovery principles in Mental Health. Practice.
• Knowledge and understanding of application of an evidence-base in practice.
• Skills
• Trained in HCR-20 risk assessment skills or willingness to undertake this training

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications
• Qualified professional registration and current professional registration.
• Evidence of Post Graduate Courses, on-going training and development in theory and practice in mental health nursing
• IT Skills
• Mentorship Training (willingness to obtain qualifications in this area).

Desirable

• Qualifications
• Commitment to CPD and developing own potential

Experience

Essential

• Established and relevant mental health experience.
• Experience of managing an extensive and complex caseload of clients with a range of complex mental health problems.
• Working within a community mental health setting in either the statutory or voluntary sector.
• Clinical supervision for qualified and/or support staff
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.
• Understanding of current issues within Acute mental health services, clinical governance issues, practice education and implications for nursing.
• Application of health and safety and risk management policies
• Awareness of the implications of long-term institutional care and why early intervention is important.
• Understanding of team dynamics
• Application of HR management policies

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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