Case Worker

**We have the exciting opportunity for a full-time case worker to join our North Tyneside Together in a Crisis Team**

**Purpose of the role**

To support people who, following contact with NHS crisis service, are deemed not in need of an urgent statutory response, but who nevertheless are in emotional and psychological distress and may require an immediate response to their personally defined need. To listen with empathy, care and concern to people who have identified they have an urgent mental health need. To ‘stay alongside’ the person in distress, helping them to step back from their ‘crisis’ and/or manage their way through it.

**Responsibilities**
- Co-produce a crisis plan, relapse prevention and other self-management tools such as Wellness Recovery Action Plan, in partnership with the person.
- Support the person to implement their crisis and recovery plans and to enable them to make informed decisions about their mental wellbeing, thus maximising their independence.
- Maintain hope and optimism for the person, expressing high expectations for recovery. Use lived experience (if appropriate) to positively support the person’s recovery.
- To actively navigate, broker and signpost the person to the services and resources they need. Provide just the right amount of support, to enable the person to do this. The amount and intensity of this support will vary depending on the person’s needs, mental health and life circumstances.
- Develop knowledge of the local care pathways to meet service users’ need.
- Actively support people to develop lasting, independent peer-support networks beyond the Service.
- Manage caseload, documentation and time effectively, ensuring up to date and clear record keeping in line with organisational policies, making best use of supervision, training and staff development. Ensuring up to date and clear record keeping in line with policies.
- Work in a culturally sensitive way for all service users, tailoring service to meet their individual needs, challenging stigma and discrimination, advocating for person if appropriate, and ensuring up-to-date community knowledge. Work with a range of needs e.g. from young people to older people, LGBT service users, disabled people and with people with a range of backgrounds and ethnicity.
- Participate actively in supervision and reflective practice. Proactively seek advice and support from colleagues and other agencies as relevant.

**We would like to hear from you if you possess the following**:

- Awareness of mental health issues & users’ needs.
- Knowledge of recovery in the context of mental health.
- Knowledge of the effects of stigma and discrimination.
- Have knowledge of issues surrounding homelessness, financial inclusion or substance misuse.
- Prepared to undertake a basic mental health qualification
- Very good organisational and time management skills, able to manage and prioritise own work.
- Good report writing skills, with the ability to collate, analyse and present data clearly and concisely.
- Able and willing to regularly work without direct supervision, using initiative.
- Very good interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop good working relationships at all levels, both internally and externally.
- Group facilitation & participation skills.
- Good written and verbal communication.
- Good IT skills, including knowledge of a range of software packages (including Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word).
- Flexibility in working hours, as this role covers weekdays, weekends and evenings.

**What we offer in return**

We are proud to have been recognised and certified as a Great Place to Work, which speaks volumes on how much we value our staff members. In return for the hard work and dedication from our teams, we offer the following benefits:

- 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays (rising to 32 days at 5 years’ service) and the option to purchase or sell day
- Enhanced pension
- Wagestream - ability to release earnings, giving you instant access to your pay
- Vitality Wellbeing Programme including Employee Assistant Programme, GP and priority physiotherapy access and shopping discounts with the opportunity to sign up for a Blue Light Card
- Enhanced life assurance scheme, payment being three times your annual salary
- Plus, many more great benefits on offer

We welcome you to be yourself at work and have a range of Colleague Networks for members and allies of the LGBTQ+; Black, Asian and minority ethnic; menopause and neurodivergent communities.