Woodsley and Holt Park PCN Mental Health Link Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Tasks

To promote the service within GP practices, developing close working relationships with the teams within practices and the Primary Care Network

To provide a telephone based mental health service to patients with low level mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.

To appropriately risk assess patients to minimise harm and identify harm reduction where this is needed.

To complete referrals and signpost to specialist support quickly and effectively where necessary.

To provide short term interventions with 4 to 5 appointments to support patients whilst they wait to access appropriate specialist provision.

To enable patients to manage their own mental and emotional health by using coping strategies and challenging unhelpful behaviour patterns

To develop collaborative support plans with individuals which promote choice and complement any medical treatment or advice.

To identify any barriers to people accessing services and activities and work with individuals to overcome these.

To use a range of techniques and interventions to support people, including those with long term conditions, to self-manage their health and encourage behavioural and lifestyle change.

To facilitate access to recommended community-based interventions and programmes of activity that benefit health and wellbeing

To monitor and record contacts and outcomes within clinical systems

To build networks with local community resources such as activities and services that may have an impact on mental health and wellbeing and support individuals to access these

To develop multi-agency working across communities and voluntary and statutory organisations to improve health and address health inequality

To liaise with other professionals as appropriate

To undertake clinical supervision to ensure safe therapeutic practice.

Person Specification

Other requirements

Essential

• Full DBS (Enhanced)

Skills and knowledge

Essential

• Excellent listening and communication skills.
• Willingness to work as part of team.
• Good IT and record keeping skills.
• Willingness to undertake training and develop skills.
• Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health conditions enabling understanding of holistic support.
• Up to date working knowledge regarding Safeguarding Children and Adults.
• Clear written and spoken English.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Empathetic and understanding, with good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to demonstrate initiative.
• Able to work effectively in a team.
• Counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach.
• Desirable Skills
• To be able to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers, and other professional colleagues both within and outside NHS.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualification in a health, mental health, or psychology related subject courses that have units specific to mental health studies or similar.

Experience

Essential

• Mental health working experience, including voluntary work or expertise gained by experience of mental health problems.
• Understanding of working with a diverse cohort of people and the barriers that may come with this.
• Demonstrates a good understanding of mental health conditions and how they may affect someone.
• Experience of working with people with mental health issues.
• Experience of working with people with complex needs
• Experience of completing assessments, risk assessments and patient centred action planning
• Experience of using SystmOne and or EMIS

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.

Employer details

Employer name

South and East Leeds GP Group

Address

Hosted employer's address

1st Floor Park Edge Practice

Leeds

West Yorkshire

LS14 1HX

Employer's website

https://www.seleedsgpgroup.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)