Secure Care Case Officer

Are you a skilled mental health professional, looking for a new challenge?

Somerset FT are developing a new specialist community mental health service and are seeking a Secure care case officer to join our exciting new team.

The Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT) is an innovative, newly commissioned service to Somerset FT, working inline with the South West Provider Collaborative (SWPC)

The team will be responsible for overseeing the care of Somerset patients who are currently detained to a high, medium or low secure hospital.

We are looking for either a skilled band 5 practitioner looking to progress or experienced practitioners seeking a new challenge.
- The opportunity to be part of a new, developing team
- Access to specialist supervision
- A comprehensive training package.
- The option to work flexibly, with a balance of patient facing, office and home working.

The team office will be in Bridgwater, however there will be an expected element of reimbursed travel across the County of Somerset and the South West Provider Collaborative region.

This is likely to include travel to Broadmoor hospital, Langdon hospital (Devon) and Fromeside hospital (Bristol) as well as Wellesley hospital in Wellington, Somerset.

The aim of the SCFT is to reduce the length of patient stay for patients in secure hospital and work to prevent admission to secure care by
- Providing enhanced community support, to facilitate, support and maintain discharge processes.
- Providing clear, tiered levels of intervention with the aim of admission avoidance, including risk management.
- Encouraging proactive discharge discussions for longer stay patients who may have faced barriers to the discharge process.
- Supporting community placements.

The advertised role will form part of an extensive, close working multidisciplinary team, who will provide high quality, psychologically informed, risk managed care for a cohort of patients with complex forensic mental health needs.
The SWPC clinical caseload will fall into two areas, a Direct caseload, for those patients on the pathway to discharge and an indirect caseload consisting of patients who require secure inpatient treatment within the SPWC region and those requiring treatment outside of region (eg high secure hospitals / Broadmoor).

The post holder will be a qualified mental health professional (RMN, OT or Social Worker) who will take responsibility for the case management of patients placed in Secure inpatient Services who are not ready for discharge consideration, but whom still require clinical oversight of inpatient care (indirect caseload)

Please see attached Job description for a comprehensive overview of the role.

As an organisation, the NHS offers a wide range of benefits including flexible working, fantastic pension contributions, market leading annual leave allowance, career progression and regular conversations, not to mention our Blue Light Card and NHS exclusive discounts.

The benefits of working in Somerset include the idyllic countryside, with our areas of outstanding beauty and stunning coastlines. You will get to enjoy these perks whilst still only being a stone’s throw away from bustling city centres like Bristol, Bath and Exeter and only two hours away from London.

There are excellent educational facilities in the area and, when compared to other regions, house prices are reasonable. You will experience the best of both in Somerset, the countryside and the cosmopolitan - there is truly something for everyone

For full details please see attached Job Description

The expectation of the post holder will be to
- Take responsibility for the case management of patients placed in Secure inpatient Services who are not ready for discharge consideration, but whom still require clinical oversight of inpatient care (indirect caseload)
- Attend regular inpatient care plan reviews and updating clinical records
- Liaise with Somerset FT Mental Health Act administration office and SWPC MHA administration offices to ensure accurate recording of MHA status on Somerset FT local clinical systems (RIO)
- Monitoring and updating a virtual bed caseload on RIO
- To become the team expert for monitoring and utilising the CAMBIO patient flow and referral system (Full training will be given).
- Close Liaison with SWPC Case managers.
- Close working links with the wider SCFT to ensure transfers to direct case management are considered when appropriate
- Hold full clinical oversight of Somerset FT patients on the indirect caseload and be able to report on inpatient presentation and care plan.
- Close liaison with external specialist services including FIND, Forensic personality disorder service.
- Ability to escalate any clinical concerns to the SCFT and the SWPC