Job summary
The Life Rooms Service Lead with operational responsibility for the Community Access service portfolio.
An exciting opportunity has arisen within The Life Rooms for a Service Lead for our Community Access portfolio. Community Access Service Lead covers our Social Prescribing and Community Inclusion services.
We are looking for an experienced Band 8a Service Lead. The post is fixed term until end July 2026, covering a maternity leave. The post holder will be based at Walton Life Rooms with an expectation to travel across the geographical footprint of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Interviews planned for April 2025.
Main duties of the job
To act as the primary support to the Director of Social Health and Community Inclusion in delivering the strategic and operational vision for the Social Model of Health.
To manage The Life Rooms resources across the teams safely and effectively; ensuring the delivery of a coordinated and equitable high standard of services to service users, carers, and members of the publicin local communities.
To maintain close links with other professionals both internal and external to the Trust to maintain a high quality of service delivery and ensure the integration of the Social Model of Health within local and community divisions, across primary and secondary care and into other public services such as housing, education and the VCSE for example.
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Provide professional advice, expertise, and strategic and operational leadership to staff.
- Oversee the effective planning and delivery of support through a diverse range of services.
- Be directly accountable to the Director of Social Health and Community Inclusion for service delivery including the safety and governance arrangements, quality improvement projects and evaluation outcomes.
- Identify, establish, and maintain partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the highest quality services are delivered to meet identified need, to ensure that the Social Model of Health is embedded within communities and aligned to integrated wellness services.
- Oversee direct reports to ensure that service user risk is managed appropriately and that risk management plans are of a high quality.
- Lead in setting standards for quality Life Rooms services based on sound local and national research findings to ensure that Life Rooms teams maintain high standards.
- Oversee a programme of systematic monitoring, development, and evaluation of services to ensure effective operational management and delivery.
- Develop and build relationships with clinical teams within Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
- Act as the point of reference of best practice in all matters related to the Life Rooms portfolio and Social Model of Health.
- Assure The Life Rooms Senior Leadership Team of the delivery and benefits of the service.
Due to the sensitive information likely tobe to be discussed the successful candidate will also be required to understand the need for confidentiality and discretion. We would also expect the candidates to be able to demonstrate robust and supportive leadership skills.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Provide professional advice, expertise, and strategic and operational leadership to staff.
- Oversee the effective planning and delivery of support through a diverse range of services.
- Be directly accountable to the Director of Social Health and Community Inclusion for service delivery including the safety and governance arrangements, quality improvement projects and evaluation outcomes.
- Identify, establish, and maintain partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the highest quality services are delivered to meet identified need, to ensure that the Social Model of Health is embedded within communities and aligned to integrated wellness services.
- Oversee direct reports to ensure that service user risk is managed appropriately and that risk management plans are of a high quality.
- Lead in setting standards for quality Life Rooms services based on sound local and national research findings to ensure that Life Rooms teams maintain high standards.
- Oversee a programme of systematic monitoring, development, and evaluation of services to ensure effective operational management and delivery.
- Develop and build relationships with clinical teams within Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
- Act as the point of reference of best practice in all matters related to the Life Rooms portfolio and Social Model of Health.
- Assure The Life Rooms Senior Leadership Team of the delivery and benefits of the service.
Due to the sensitive information likely tobe to be discussed the successful candidate will also be required to understand the need for confidentiality and discretion. We would also expect the candidates to be able to demonstrate robust and supportive leadership skills.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Current clinical professional registration in a relevant mental health/learning disability/addictions discipline or a relevant Public Health/Health and Wellbeing qualification at an equivalent level.
- Educated to Masters level or currently undertaking a Masters level degree
- Significant post registration experience within mental health services
- Evidence of post registration study / continuing professional development
knowledge / experience
Essential
- Significant experience of leadership and management at a senior level within clinical care/community setting
- Experience of project management
- Proven clinical experience including the management of clinical governance and risk
- Proven experience of designing and developing innovative socially inclusive services
- Proven experience of strategic planning resulting in innovative change management processes across clinical systems
- Proven experience of at least 5 years of recovery, rehabilitation, or prevention services
- Proven up-to-date knowledge in the concepts of mentorship, preceptorship and supervision and ability to provide education and supervision to qualified and unqualified staff
- Proven knowledge of developments in community care and of health legislation
- Proven experience in side by side
- Ability to understand local, regional, and national population need and relating sources of data and information to inform the design and delivery of services
- Knowledge of national policy and strategy relating to health inequalities, population health, prevention, and recovery and how this applies to the Trust's prevention strategy
- Understand the Trusts prevention strategy and how The Life Rooms social model of health contributes to this
- Evidence of experience working with adults in a variety of health care settings
- Ability to lead the process of standard setting and audit
- Computer literate
Desirable
- Evidence of experience working with adults in a variety of health care settings
- Ability to lead the process of standard setting and audit
- Computer literate
Values
Essential
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Skills
Essential
- Ability to manage challenging conversations through strong communication skills
- Ability to adapt communications skills to a range of audiences
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Ability to demonstrate persuasive, creative, and influencing and negotiation skills
- Ability to carry a complex workload and to balance competing and conflicting demands in a flexible way and meeting deadlines
- Ability to organise meetings e.g., visits for service users and carers to venues across the Trust and to other trusts in the country
- Ability to liaise effectively with different disciplines of staff and the public including service users, carers, and volunteers
- Ability to liaise effectively with external organisations at a senior level in order to develop and sustain effective partnerships
- Ability to write accurate reports and papers, paying attention to detail
- Ability to write accurate reports and papers, paying attention to detail
- Ability to identify challenges for the Trust from national and local policy initiatives and propose appropriate responses
- Ability to recognize barriers and have a 'can do' positive attitude to remove them
- Self motivated, enthusiastic, and conscientious with determination, resilience, energy, and strong negotiating skills
- Ability to think at both strategic and operational level
- Ability to formulate long- term and strategic plans that impact across the organisation
- Ability to make judgements that contribute towards safe, effective, and highly efficient service design, implementation, and ongoing development
- Ability to interpret and understand a range of data and information from several conflicting sources to inform service development and delivery
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Current clinical professional registration in a relevant mental health/learning disability/addictions discipline or a relevant Public Health/Health and Wellbeing qualification at an equivalent level.
- Educated to Masters level or currently undertaking a Masters level degree
- Significant post registration experience within mental health services
- Evidence of post registration study / continuing professional development
knowledge / experience
Essential
- Significant experience of leadership and management at a senior level within clinical care/community setting
- Experience of project management
- Proven clinical experience including the management of clinical governance and risk
- Proven experience of designing and developing innovative socially inclusive services
- Proven experience of strategic planning resulting in innovative change management processes across clinical systems
- Proven experience of at least 5 years of recovery, rehabilitation, or prevention services
- Proven up-to-date knowledge in the concepts of mentorship, preceptorship and supervision and ability to provide education and supervision to qualified and unqualified staff
- Proven knowledge of developments in community care and of health legislation
- Proven experience in side by side
- Ability to understand local, regional, and national population need and relating sources of data and information to inform the design and delivery of services
- Knowledge of national policy and strategy relating to health inequalities, population health, prevention, and recovery and how this applies to the Trust's prevention strategy
- Understand the Trusts prevention strategy and how The Life Rooms social model of health contributes to this
- Evidence of experience working with adults in a variety of health care settings
- Ability to lead the process of standard setting and audit
- Computer literate
Desirable
- Evidence of experience working with adults in a variety of health care settings
- Ability to lead the process of standard setting and audit
- Computer literate
Values
Essential
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Skills
Essential
- Ability to manage challenging conversations through strong communication skills
- Ability to adapt communications skills to a range of audiences
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Ability to demonstrate persuasive, creative, and influencing and negotiation skills
- Ability to carry a complex workload and to balance competing and conflicting demands in a flexible way and meeting deadlines
- Ability to organise meetings e.g., visits for service users and carers to venues across the Trust and to other trusts in the country
- Ability to liaise effectively with different disciplines of staff and the public including service users, carers, and volunteers
- Ability to liaise effectively with external organisations at a senior level in order to develop and sustain effective partnerships
- Ability to write accurate reports and papers, paying attention to detail
- Ability to write accurate reports and papers, paying attention to detail
- Ability to identify challenges for the Trust from national and local policy initiatives and propose appropriate responses
- Ability to recognize barriers and have a 'can do' positive attitude to remove them
- Self motivated, enthusiastic, and conscientious with determination, resilience, energy, and strong negotiating skills
- Ability to think at both strategic and operational level
- Ability to formulate long- term and strategic plans that impact across the organisation
- Ability to make judgements that contribute towards safe, effective, and highly efficient service design, implementation, and ongoing development
- Ability to interpret and understand a range of data and information from several conflicting sources to inform service development and delivery
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.
