Mental Health Practitioner

If you would like to join us we are looking for enthusiastic, grounded, yet innovative mental health practitioners either from a background in Mental Health Nursing, Social Work or Occupational Therapy who are committed to the principles of recovery. The team offers a 24 hour service with the expectation of working a flexible shift pattern, which includes every other weekend.

We also actively encourage band 5 applicants who may have less experience, to consider our bespoke development posts. We will individualise a program of support and development to work through with the aim of progressing to a band 6 within an agreed time period. We have had a great deal of success with these posts.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Practitioner in the team you will have a key function in assessing service users as they present in crisis and require an urgent response. Working with them to formulate a collaborative care or safety plan to aid there recovery and keep them safe. You will be integral to delivering a range of high quality interventions and undertaking the role of shift coordination.

You will need robust assessment skills to enable the team to deliver high quality crisis care. Excellent communication skills are also essential to enable you to be a role model for others, as well as positively representing the team and the organization as a whole.

You must also be able to liaise effectively with other services, both internal and external to Southern Health Foundation NHS Trust, retaining service user focus at the heart of any clinical decision making to ensure the best outcome.

We invest in our team members by enabling training opportunities. We offer a program of internal team development from our dedicated psychology team. We also support and encourage external training opportunities.

To contribute to the provision of intensive home based treatment, as an alternative to hospital admission, providing a 24 hour service across the acute care pathway. To work proactively in accordance with the principles of social inclusion, promoting independence and recovery.

About us

Are you committed to providing remarkable care and service?

Are you passionate about helping people and want to make a difference every day?

We want to meet you!

Southern Health is one of the largest Foundation Trusts in the UK, specialising in mental health, adult and child community health and learning disabilities. We are committed to promoting the welfare and safeguarding of children, young people and adults at risk of abuse and neglect through our 6,500 strong workforce.

Southern Health has over 300 sites across the county and we serve 1.5 million people throughout all stages of their lives. Our aim is to work alongside the people we support (and our health and care partners) to deliver the best possible care and constantly improve.

Here at SHFT we have so much to be proud of:

- Working as a team and supporting each other, we put patients and our staff at the heart of everything we do.
- We have a skilled and diverse workforce and are committed to our staff development, offering bespoke training packages, leadership pathways and career opportunities.
- We offer a variety of benefits such as an amazing pension scheme, generous annual leave, Childcare Choices scheme, many discounts (Blue Light card, The Company Shop, NHS Staff Discounts, cycle to work scheme) and much more.

Come to work with us, together we will provide outstanding treatment and care to improve lives.

Job description
Job responsibilities

To ensure the provision of intensive home based treatment, as an alternative to hospital admission.

To undertake ongoing assessment, implementation and evaluation of care needs of a changing caseload of service users within their home environment.

To work closely with the inpatient units ensuring the effective transition of care across the acute pathway.

Ensuring the regular attendance at ward rounds, professionals meetings to identify service users who may benefit from the Hospital at Home Service.

Liaise closely with Community Treatment Teams ensuring the safe discharge of service users following a period of treatment with the Hospital at Home Service.

To work as a lead practitioner in managing a flexible, team based caseload.

To mentor, supervise and teach qualified and unqualified staff including students.

To lead the care for a specified group of service users.

To participate in the recruitment, deployment and management of staff.

To participate in the development of a new urgent assessment care pathway (crisis lounge)

To work in a 24 hour service, on a shift basis including shifts covering the assessment function based in the crisis lounge.

To ensure the completion of a rota system, ensuring adequate staffing levels are maintained over a 24 hour period.

To undertake supervision and appraisal for a defined number of junior staff.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

- Registered Nurse
- Computer skills
- Significant post qualifying experience
- Mentorship course
- Clinical supervision training

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.