Job summary
Crisis Line Practitioner, Band 6 Permanent, Full Time - 37.5 hours per week
Oxleas Crisis line provides a 24/7 open access telephone line for the residents of Bexley, Bromley, and Greenwich who are experiencing a mental health crisis.Crisis Line will be the first point of contact for the caller. The call will be screened and triaged to provide an appropriate crisis response . This may include call backs, advice, information, support, onward referrals to community services including Voluntary Sector Organisations as well as face-to-face assessments in the community to assess current risks and needs for home treatment team or inpatient admission.
The role also includes 72 hour follow up calls to Oxleas service users who have been discharged from a mental health inpatient admission, which is part of a National CQUIN.
We are looking for creative individuals interested in developing services with excellent skills in telephone assessmentand crisis resolution to support and advise callers, looking at alternatives to attendance at A&E.
We are a small supportive team with good supervision and support structures for our staff. Induction and training will be provided to successfully appointed candidates.
Oxleas NHS Trust operates a Probationary Period, further details are available on request.
Main duties of the job
The service's key elements are to:
Triage all calls from police, ambulance service, 111, residents and carers who are experiencing a mental health crisis over the phone.
To manage requests for HTT, gatekeeping and inpatient admissions across the trust from internal and external staff.
With support from the team and senior staff, make rapid decisions about appropriate onward care ie face to face assessment or follow up appointments, signpost to GP's or voluntary and charity organisations and follow these decisions up - arranging assessments, making onward referrals and sending information about local services.
To deliver crisis interventions over the phone or in person, including assessments.
The post-holder responsibilities include:
- Answer and triage all calls coming through the Crisis Hub
- Transferring calls to the appropriate place
- Signposting callers
- Opening RIO accounts and document calls appropriately
- Offer call backs
- Escalating and discussion of cases to Home Treatment team colleagues, CAT car and Senior staff
- Shift coordinator
- Supervision of junior staff
- Completing 72hr follow up
- Networking and maintaining healthy relationships within Oxleas teams including business office, stakeholders, primary care services, secondary services and voluntary and charity organisations.
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes. We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people. Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We're Kind
- We're Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Job description
Job responsibilities
The service is a direct access point to mental health services over twenty four hours for those experiencing mental health crisis, to provide an alternative to attendance at Accident and Emergency and prevent the need for admission.
The service will accept calls / referrals from people who are experiencing mental health crisis, including current service users / carers, as well as referrals from NHS111 to facilitate warm transfer to mental health of patients who are high risk. It will work with London Ambulance Service to accept referrals of patients in mental health crisis who do not require emergency physical healthcare interventions.
- The role of the service will be to divert patients away from unnecessary A+E attendance / admission or to support admission if unavoidable and provide assertive telephone triage assessments, support and signposting to service users and carers.
- Based on triage assessment and risk stratification, the service will offer face to face assessment appointments to service users and signpost according to need and risk.
- The service will liaise with the Mental Health Liaison Teams based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Greenwich and Green Parks House, Bromley and work with Duty Senior Nurses to facilitate admission if unavoidable.
- They will also provide advice and signposting to other professionals
Oxleas Crisis Line service is an improved service from the Urgent advice line. The team started in 2018 and has evolved into a more resourceful team through the crisis services enhancement projects.
Crisis Line is a point of contact for callers within the Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich areas as well as out of areas. The team aim to engage the caller over the phone, de-escalate crisis situations, signpost to other services and offer a pathway into the mental health or crisis pathway depending on the person's needs. Crisis line will aim to avoid unnecessary attendance to A&E department when safe to do so.
Crisis Line team consist of call handlers and nursing practitioners and work in collaboration with the Crisis Home Treatment and Resolution team. Important relationships include Police, London Ambulance Service, NHS 111, GPs, family and carers, service users and the community mental health teams.
The team operates a buddy system for supervision of staff. There is a good structure in place to provide supervision, case discussion, protected time and reflective practice. The team come together every 2-3months for Teams Day with the aim to review what is working well and how can we improve the service looking at learning from feedback and serious incidents.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The service is a direct access point to mental health services over twenty four hours for those experiencing mental health crisis, to provide an alternative to attendance at Accident and Emergency and prevent the need for admission.
The service will accept calls / referrals from people who are experiencing mental health crisis, including current service users / carers, as well as referrals from NHS111 to facilitate warm transfer to mental health of patients who are high risk. It will work with London Ambulance Service to accept referrals of patients in mental health crisis who do not require emergency physical healthcare interventions.
- The role of the service will be to divert patients away from unnecessary A+E attendance / admission or to support admission if unavoidable and provide assertive telephone triage assessments, support and signposting to service users and carers.
- Based on triage assessment and risk stratification, the service will offer face to face assessment appointments to service users and signpost according to need and risk.
- The service will liaise with the Mental Health Liaison Teams based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Greenwich and Green Parks House, Bromley and work with Duty Senior Nurses to facilitate admission if unavoidable.
- They will also provide advice and signposting to other professionals
Oxleas Crisis Line service is an improved service from the Urgent advice line. The team started in 2018 and has evolved into a more resourceful team through the crisis services enhancement projects.
Crisis Line is a point of contact for callers within the Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich areas as well as out of areas. The team aim to engage the caller over the phone, de-escalate crisis situations, signpost to other services and offer a pathway into the mental health or crisis pathway depending on the person's needs. Crisis line will aim to avoid unnecessary attendance to A&E department when safe to do so.
Crisis Line team consist of call handlers and nursing practitioners and work in collaboration with the Crisis Home Treatment and Resolution team. Important relationships include Police, London Ambulance Service, NHS 111, GPs, family and carers, service users and the community mental health teams.
The team operates a buddy system for supervision of staff. There is a good structure in place to provide supervision, case discussion, protected time and reflective practice. The team come together every 2-3months for Teams Day with the aim to review what is working well and how can we improve the service looking at learning from feedback and serious incidents.
Person Specification
Qualification
Essential
- Registered Mental Nurse Diploma or degree or relevant professional qualification
- Active registration
Desirable
- Teaching / Assessment / Mentorship qualification
Experience
Essential
- At least 2 years post registration experience in acute mental health setting
- Experience in carrying out mental health assessment.
- Experience in risk assessment / management
Skills
Essential
- Competence in taking a history taking and mental state examination
- Competence in the assessment of risk.
- Competence in independently formulating management plans for individuals assessed.
Knowledge
Essential
- Specialist knowledge of issues relating to self-harm and the ability to competently assess the mental health and risk of individuals referred following acts of self-harm.
- Specialist knowledge of mental health disorders as well as their relationship to physical disorders
Person Specification
Qualification
Essential
- Registered Mental Nurse Diploma or degree or relevant professional qualification
- Active registration
Desirable
- Teaching / Assessment / Mentorship qualification
Experience
Essential
- At least 2 years post registration experience in acute mental health setting
- Experience in carrying out mental health assessment.
- Experience in risk assessment / management
Skills
Essential
- Competence in taking a history taking and mental state examination
- Competence in the assessment of risk.
- Competence in independently formulating management plans for individuals assessed.
Knowledge
Essential
- Specialist knowledge of issues relating to self-harm and the ability to competently assess the mental health and risk of individuals referred following acts of self-harm.
- Specialist knowledge of mental health disorders as well as their relationship to physical disorders
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
