Senior Mental Health Practitioner

We currently have a substantive Band 6 Community Mental Health Practitioner post within Central Adult Community Mental Health Team open to applications from Registered Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers and Occupational Therapists. The team is based in Stowmarket and covers a large area of central Suffolk. We are a recovery focussed, multi-disciplinary team providing an effective, supportive, and professional service for our Services users and Carers.

You will be a qualified professional with experience of supporting people and their families, preferably in the community. You will demonstrate a strong understanding of your role as a Care Coordinator/Assessor and join our dedicated multidisciplinary team working closely with a range of partners to provide appropriate community interventions for those individuals referred to the team.

We are looking for people to join us to continue to build on an already successful service.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge, and experience.

Main duties of the job

You can expect a manageable case load and a supportive management team to ensure you're able to work independently but support is never far away if needed.

The typical job roles and responsibilities will include:

• Working with other multi-disciplinary professionals within the team.
• Undertake initial assessments.
• Liaise with statutory and voluntary sectors
• The successful candidate will be an integral part of this team. You will contribute to meetings both within the service and in wider networks.
• Effective personal planning and organisation of daily workload.
• Flexible working and manage own working time effectively and accordingly to service demands.
• Managing and providing a high quality of care.
• Managing a case load of patient that have a range of mental health needs.
• Initiate, create and maintain therapeutic relationships with patients and carers, ensuring that practice is patient centred.
• Participating in the duty rota
• Practicing in line with policy, guidance and legislation.
• Carrying out risk assessment, crisis and safety planning.
• Working closely with the ACS mental health team to support our patients, meeting both their mental health needs and their Care Act needs.
• To support patients in being discharged back to primary care.

Benefits

• a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
• career progression
• starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
• NHS discounts and many more
• Relocation packages.

Job responsibilities

The post will involve you working autonomously in the community. You will engage with people, and using effective communication, often in difficult and stressful circumstances. You will be undertaking initial assessments, introducing services, making referrals to appropriate agencies, and monitoring and supporting situations to achieve positive outcomes for our service users and carers. You will be supported within your practice via a helpful team.

Valid Driving Licence for the UK is required for this role.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Registered Mental Health or Learning Disability Nurse, Occupational Therapist OR Social Worker with the relevant professional registration
• Ongoing professional development working towards degree level ( if professional registration is following a diploma level course)
• Higher degree or post graduate certificate in area of clinical / therapeutic practice

Experience

• Experience in the delivery of clinical interventions
• Experience in working in team delivering person centred treatment packages
• Experience in delivering group based interventions

Skills

• Competent and effective documentation and record keeping
• Prevention and Management of Suicide training
• Safeguarding training

Knowledge

• Up to date knowledge of legal and ethical frameworks including Mental Health Act

Other

• Ability and willingness to travel independently to meet the needs and requirements of the service

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.

£39,959 to £48,117 a year gross per annum (pro rata)