Job overview
This new position is an exciting innovative post for a Senior Mental Health Practitioner, to work within the Primary care network (PCN) to support children and young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties.
The East Warrington PCN provides primary care services across three GP practices.
1. Birchwood Medical Centre
2. Fearnhead Cross Medical Centre
3. Padgate Medical Centre
Mental health is as important to Children's and Young People safety and wellbeing as their physical health. It can impact on all aspects of their life, including their educational attainment, relationships, and physical wellbeing. Across the East Primary Care Network, we are finding more children are presenting to the Practices who are struggling with their mental health and wellbeing, and therefore we are building a unique team of people with a range of skills to provide a children and Young People’s mental health and wellbeing service across East Warrington’s community.
You will work alongside a Children’s Care Co-Ordinator, a Children and young person’s wellbeing Practitioner, a Health and Wellbeing Coach and a Social Prescribing Link Worker. The role requires collaborative working with the East Warrington Primary Care Network clinical teams and mental health services to shape, design and deliver an excellent holistic service for our children and young people.
Shortlisting planned for: 28 May 2024
Interview planned for: 03 June 2024
Main duties of the job
As an Senior Mental Health Practitioner, the post holder will provide high standards of evidence based client centred care to children and young people with mental health problems within the THRIVE Framework for service delivery.
The post holder will be expected to provide interventions, advice, consultation and supervision to both colleagues and colleagues within external partner agencies in line with THRIVE and clinical competency.
As the post is identified within the CYPMH strategy, it is expected the role will continue to develop in line with national and local initiatives.
The post holder will demonstrate an attitude which respects and values service users’ and their carers.
The post holder will embrace the core values of the organisation and adopt the principles of Recovery and THRIVE. These principles will recognise the need to:
4. Promote safe practices
5. Value the aims of service users
6. Work in partnership and offer meaningful choice
7. Be optimistic about the possibilities of meaningful change
8. Value social inclusion
Working for our organisation
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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To hold a caseload of both specialist and generic work dependant on clinical competence and experience.
To undertake assessments, treatment and consultation work based upon a conceptual framework and employing research based evidence.
1.2. To provide direct therapeutic interventions in line with the grading of the post, including assessments, formulation and therapeutic input into children, young people and families referred into the service.
1.3. Undertake risk assessments and care plans accordingly, in line with the THRIVE framework
1.4.To work in ways that are sensitive to the needs of children and young people families from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds.
1.5. To be responsible for the screening of referrals to children and Young People’s services.
1.6. To participate directly in the teams duty rotas.
1.7. To exercise responsibility and autonomy, within supervisory, managerial and accountability structures, for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients
1.8. To deliver care co-ordination, ensuring effective assessment, care planning and risk management processes are maintained. Involve the views of children, their families, referring agents and other professionals involved in the network of care including organising multi-agency meetings.
1.9. To produce a clinical formulation and intervention plan founded on evidence based practice in co-operation with the child young person and carers
1.10. To hold responsibility for standards of clinical practice within area of specialist knowledge
1.11. To work jointly and collaboratively with other team members in order to enhance and develop the provision of services to young people and their families. To have an effective knowledge base of other modalities so as to engage and work effectively with colleagues in other disciplines.
1.12. To provide consultation, advice and guidance to junior colleague. To promote effective multi-agency work. To contribute theoretical knowledge to the process of managing risk within the multi-agency network.
1.13. Undertake risk management for all children including the protective and risk factors present in the network of significant relationships.
1.14. Identify and respond appropriately to child protection issues, as described with the guidelines of Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and Northwest Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust safeguarding policies
1.15. Maintain clear and comprehensive electronic clinical records, to ensure information is accurate and complies with Data Protection Act and professional body and Trust standards.
1.16. To engage with using routine outcome measures as clinically appropriate including their use in clinical practice and inputting data into clinical records.
1.17. To work collaboratively with children, young people and their families and contribute to the trust’s service user participation agenda.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
9. Must have qualification in at least one of the following areas, Individual or group Psychotherapy Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Person centred counselling Systemic Family Practice Webster Stratton Incredible years / parenting groups professional
10. Must have professional qualification and registration with an appropriate accrediting body (i.e. HCPC / BACAP ), or equivalent from the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) approved accredited register
11. Degree or equivalent level of experience
12. Post Graduate or equivalent level of experience
Desirable criteria
13. Core Professional qualification in one of the following areas •Nursing •Social work •Psychology •Occupational therapy
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
14. Experience of mental health assessments and therapeutic interventions with children and young people with mental health problems and their families
15. Skilled in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, clinical sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
16. Experience of working with a wide variety of patient groups that reflect the full range of clinical severity including a high degree of professionalism in the face of emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
17. Experienced in and the ability to undertake case management and the supervision of students as required
18. Knowledge and skills in the complete range of approaches within the field as required to meet the needs of different patients and settings.
19. Level of knowledge of the mental health needs of children and adolescents.
20. Have experienced in providing risk assessments
21. Must demonstrate ability to be self-reflective and to organise own supervision appropriately
22. Ability to work within a culturally diversive community in a wide variety of contexts including highly specialist skills for working in settings outside the clinic.
23. Ability to take full clinical responsibility for patient care and treatment, both as a care co-ordinator and within the context of a multi-disciplinary team.
Desirable criteria
24. Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist therapies in specific difficult to treat groups
25. A level knowledge of theory and practice of specialist therapy / interventions Experience of delivering teaching, training
26. Experience of delivering teaching, training.
27. Experience in consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
28. Information technology and management skills using word processing, spreadsheets, database and presentation software.
29. Level of knowledge and/or training and other psychological therapies.
30. Knowledge and skills in providing consultation to other professionals and non-professional groups
Skills
Essential criteria
31. Interpersonal skills of a high level to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, in order to convey clinically sensitive information to family members of all ages and to a wide range of lay and professional persons, within and outside of the NHS.
32. Demonstrate the ability to co-ordinate and lead a multi-agency care plan / risk management plan
33. Knowledge of legislation and strategic frameworks and their implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the full range of client groups.
Values
Essential criteria
34. Continuous Improvement
35. Accountability
36. Respectfulness
37. Enthusiasm
38. Support
39. High professional standards
40. Responsive to service users
41. Engaging leadership style
42. Strong customer service belief
43. Transparency and honesty
44. Discreet
45. Change oriented
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