Job Overview
A full time permanent post, 37.5 hrs per week for a Community Perinatal Mental Health Nurse has risen. The Hillingdon Community Perinatal Mental Health Team, based at Riverside Centre, Hillingdon Hospital, is recruiting for a Band 7, permanent post. We seek a Mental Health Nurse who is looking to make a difference whilst working in an environment that promotes staff development and training opportunities.
The post requires a skilled, experienced, and passionate practitioner with a warm and approachable disposition, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, a team player, confident, motivated, flexible, and able to show initiative. The candidate should be robust, resourceful, and willing to work outside her comfort zone in a demanding and stressful environment.
Main Duties of the Job
The applicant must have excellent clinical skills, including the ability to complete comprehensive mental state examinations, thoroughly assess risk, formulate safe and effective risk management plans, and document and communicate these clearly and concisely.
Experience managing caseloads in a complex multidisciplinary/multiagency context is required. The applicant should have experience using formal child protection processes and be involved in interagency work with families. Awareness of current policies and practice in this area is essential.
Working for Our Organisation
Service operates Monday‑Friday, 9.00am‑5.00pm. The successful applicant should have flexibility to work occasional extended opening hours for early or late clinic appointments, home visits, or training.
The Perinatal Mental Health service provides specialist, multidisciplinary care for women from preconception, during pregnancy, and up to two years postnatal in the boroughs of Hillingdon.
The team works closely with maternity services on site, local community and inpatient mental health services, primary care services, social services, and a wide range of statutory and third sector organisations.
Key Working Relationships
* Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist
* Perinatal Psychiatry Administrator
* Specialist one‑to‑one midwives
* Local Acute/Maternity Hospital – both inpatient & community
* Liaison Psychiatry Service and Mother and Baby Unit
* Other Perinatal Mental Health Teams across NW London
* Local mental health services (Adult, CAMHS & Psychology/IAPT)
* Health Visitors
* Local Safeguarding Children’s team
* Local Children & Families Social Services
* GPs
* Voluntary and Third Sector Organisations
Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential criteria
* RMN qualification and evidence of current registration on Part 3 of NMC register
* Mentorship in practice/ENB 998 or equivalent (or willingness to complete)
* Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
* Educated to degree level or equivalent
* Dual qualified as RGN or midwife
* Specialist Training in perinatal & infant mental health
* Recent experience of perinatal mental health practice and/or safeguarding children practice
* Qualifications / training in specialist skills e.g. therapeutic / psychological interventions
Experience
Essential criteria
* Professional knowledge acquired through degree/diploma
* Extensive post‑qualification experience
* Significant post‑qualification experience working with women with serious mental illness
* Experience of managing a caseload of service users with evidence of completing high quality assessments
* Experience of working in a complex multi‑disciplinary/multi‑agency context
* Experience of formal child protection processes and inter‑agency work with families
* Experience of undertaking complex nursing and mental state, risk and needs assessments
* Experience of working in a multi‑racial/cultural community and of working with interpreters
Desirable criteria
* Experience of multi‑agency pre‑birth planning (CPA) for women with serious mental illness
* Evidence of networking within the Perinatal Psychiatry Specialty
* Experience of working in obstetrics and gynaecology
* Experience of planning and delivery of training in response to identified needs
* Experience of supervising mental health / non mental health professionals
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
* Sufficient clinical knowledge to be able to make autonomous decisions, based on analysis of complex presenting problems and judgement about available options
* Team/self management and organisational skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken, revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the service
* Ability to contribute to and facilitate effective multidisciplinary/multi‑agency working
* Ability to liaise and offer highly specialist consultation to other agencies effectively
* Ability to provide highly specialist therapeutic assessments and a range of therapeutic interventions
* Ability to effectively manage own clinical and administrative caseload and work under pressure at times of change
* Ability to identify, recognise and understand safeguarding children issues and refer appropriately
* Ability to work flexibly across service boundaries and with professionals from health‑care settings such as maternity services
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both oral and written
* Ability to work effectively with women from diverse minority ethnic and cultural backgrounds and with families with a high level of deprivation, social isolation, exclusion and stigma
* Ability to work as part of a multi‑disciplinary and ‘virtual’ team
Desirable criteria
* Computer literate to an intermediate/ advanced level
Knowledge and Understanding
Essential criteria
* Up to date knowledge of evidence based practice and current developments in perinatal psychiatry
* Knowledge about mental illness in the perinatal period
* Up to date knowledge of the Children Act 1989 and associated legislation and government policy and its implications for mental health services
* Knowledge and understanding of diversity and equality issues and their application in perinatal psychiatry services
* Knowledge & understanding of contributions of other disciplines and professionals to a multi‑agency service
* Understanding of clinical governance and audit issues
* Understanding of issues around information‑sharing in relation to Child Protection and Children in Need
* Knowledge of relevant Perinatal service models
* Knowledge of relevant legislation e.g. MHA, MCA
Desirable criteria
* Experience of conducting clinical audits
Personal
Essential criteria
* Calm and professional in manner
* Able to exercise initiative, flexibility and tact
* Ability to work under pressure and remain calm particularly in unpredictable situations where there may be exposure to highly distressed patients who may exhibit challenging behaviour
* Ability to meet deadlines
* Ability to accept constructive criticism
* Self‑motivated with the ability to think laterally to problem solve
* Willing to engage in and use peer and group supervision creativity
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