Approved Mental Health Practitioner #0008A9051

ongoing relief that can do out of hours mainly can cover whatever shifts where the gaps are

daytime 8am – 6pm
OOH – 5pm – 3am
then on call system until the day shifts starts

General Role Description

To provide a high quality, integrated, effective, Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) service in line with legal and statutory obligations under the Mental Health Act (MHA, 1983, amended 2007), national guidance and local policy. The post holder will be a core member of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) Service. They will provide the required S114 (MHA 1983) statutory AMHP cover during the day time hours and will be part of the out of hours back up rota and therefore provide some cover to the Out Of Hours AMHP service as and when required to cover annual leave etc. The role will involve carrying out statutory assessments under the Mental Health Act (MHA, 1983;

The post holder will be a core member of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) Team in Doncaster. The AMHP Team provides a single route of access to all requests for assessments under the Mental Health Act amended 2007) in the Doncaster Borough. This includes assessments under the MHA of working age adults, those under 18 years of age or over 65 years of age, and service users who may already be receiving mental health input from specialist services.

The remit of the AMHP Team is to provide a clear management framework and a timely response for the delivery of a service to people who are experiencing a mental health crisis and are assessed to be in need of an assessment under the MHA

The role of the AMHP will therefore be expected to carry out statutory assessments under the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and related statutory responsibilities arising from their duties as an AMHP. The functions that AMHP's discharge under the Act compromise of activities related to the assessment of people with a view to compulsory admission to hospital, the making and administration of Community Treatment Orders and for making applications for acceptance into Guardianship. The AMHP has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the assessment process, implementing the decision if s/he decides to apply for compulsory admission and arranging for the patient to be conveyed to hospital, as appropriate, having completed the application for admission.

The post holder will also have a small case load of service users placed in specialist placements (locked rehabilitation and secure care), subject to Section 117 of the MHA 1983. Input into these cases will include monitoring and liaison with inpatient multidisciplinary teams, S117 reviews and active involvement with the discharge planning process (when this becomes appropriate).

Duties and Responsibilities

Core responsibilities and duties will include:

· To carry out and manage the process of MHA assessments, consistent with legal and statutory obligations including identification and implementation of least restrictive options and identification, engagement and support of Nearest Relatives when undertaking statutory work

· To undertake duties under the Mental Health Act 1983 including, participation (when required) in the Doncaster area Out of Hours 17:00 -08:30 (Mon-Fri) AMHP/Adult Making Safe back-up rota.

· To be the Statutory decision – maker on behalf of DMBC with regard to the AMHP role and responsibility under the MHA

· The post holder will provide specialised advice to colleagues, managers and partner agencies in relation to mental health issues and where appropriate to the application of mental health law.

· To provide support and advice to colleagues in relation to statutory work; including Community Treatment Orders, Guardianship, Mental Health Tribunals and Mental Capacity Act issues.

· To undertake assessments under the Mental Capacity Act and where appropriate initiate Best Interests procedure

· Maintain AMHP status in line with statutory regulations.

· Provide practice placement supervision for trainee SW's & AMHPs

· To lead and implement clinical practice guidelines, standards and protocols, ensuring the highest quality service user experience.

· To undertake joint working with care coordinators on a small number of complex cases, particularly where social care needs or the use of mental health legislation is under consideration.

· To maintain and collate accurate clinical records on both paper and on the Trust and/or Local Authority computerised system, including the maintenance of electronic case records.

· To be committed to and involved in the development of the service through participation in education and in service training and contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures relevant to their area of work.

· Prepare and present written and verbal reports to the First Tier Tribunal and Hospital Managers hearings and application to Magistrate Court.

· These duties and responsibilities should be regarded as neither exclusive nor exhaustive as the post holder may be required to undertake other reasonably determined duties and responsibilities, commensurate with the grading of the post, without changing the general character of the post.

· As appropriate, to the post holder's duties must be carried out in compliance with the following:

· Council's Equal Opportunities Policy and Strategy,

· Information Security Policies,

· Financial Regulations and Standing Orders,

· Health and Safety at Work Act and subsequent health and safety legislation).

Specialist Skills and Knowledge

Essential skills, knowledge and experience required to fulfil the role include, but are not limited to:

• Relevant Social Work qualification is necessary BASW, CQSW/DipSW/CSS/NQSW/PQ consolidation, Approve Mental Health Professional qualification and Practice Teaching Award
• Able to undertake complex assessments and provide care co-ordination under the Care Programme Approach to individuals who have severe and enduring mental health needs.
• Ability to deal effectively and in a non-confrontation way with challenging behaviours from service users, carers, staff, colleagues and other stake holders
• Ability to work with complex issues involving service users and carers, especially where there are conflicting demands and tight deadlines where difficult situations can bring about conflicting priorities
• Demonstrable in-depth knowledge of a range of mental health problems, including co-morbid, drug, alcohol or personality disorders.
• Experienced in the completion of agreed care plans to required quality and ability to oversee the completion of service user care plans by other less experience members of the team
• In depth knowledge of: Mental Health Act 1983, associated legislation and related codes of practice.
• Have a demonstrable ability to analyse changes in the law, code of practice and best practice guidelines and apply to decision-making process
• Have a comprehensive knowledge of a range of services available to meet the assessed needs of service users as an alternative to formal admission to hospital admission.
• Experience of working with adults who have assessed needs within the health and social care setting and knowledge of relevant policies and procedures.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective mutually beneficial working arrangement with others and actively engage them in the assessment, and care planning activity.
• Experience of supervising and developing social work students including AMHP students.
• Ability to use specific information technology, including word processing, databases, emails etc.
• A working knowledge of legislation with regard to safeguarding adults and children and protecting people's property, finances.
• Ability to engage with Continual Professional Development, including keeping up to date with changes in Mental Health Act, associated legislation and case law developments.

Please be aware this is a Long Term Temporary post to start ASAP.

You must have:

• A professional qualification in social work and experience of working with Adults
• Social Work England registration.
• Post qualified experience.
• References required for the last 5 years of employment.

Benefits of working with :

• Free on-going training opportunities upon registering as part of our commitment to you.
• Competitive Rates of pay
• In house payroll, providing weekly payments and support
• Enhanced DBS completed.
• Support and expert advice from an approachable, dedicated and friendly team
• An assigned dedicated & experienced consultant
• Various employment opportunities in your preferred geographical area

If you would like to find out more information about this role, or the other opportunities have available feel free to click the 'Apply' button below**

INDSEM