Carer Liaison and Co-production Lead

Are you an experienced mental health family support worker, looking for a new challenge?

This is an exciting opportunity with plenty of development opportunity

Bridgwater vacancy - please read on as there is other travel involved.

Somerset FT are developing a new specialist community mental health service and are seeking experienced band 4 Carer Liaison and Co-Production Lead to join our exciting new team.

Please note - experience in a mental health setting or an Level 5 qualification within healthcare or related area.

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 secure hospital within the South West region.

We are looking for skilled band support workers, seeking a new challenge in a mental health setting.
- 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.
- We offer a clear progression pathway route once you are part of our trust.

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.
- Establishing and maintaining good working links with stakeholders including, the SWPC, NHS and Private sector inpatient secure care providers, MAPPA, Ministry of Justice and the wider trust.

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 post holder will be an experienced Carer Liaison and Co-Production Lead who will work with a patient and carers who are currently detained to a secure hospital and are ready for discharge consideration.

The expectation of the post holder will be to begin in-reach work in conjunction with the patients SCFT key worker, to support the journey of discharge planning and transition to community living.

The post holder will continue to provide community support post discharge in conjunction with the SCFT to help in maintain successful community living.

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

Please note - 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 Langdon hospital (Devon) and Fromeside hospital (Bristol) as well as Wellesley hospital in Wellington, Somerset.

Please see attached Job Description for a full list of roles and responsibilities:
Communication and Key Working Relationships
Work alongside the Community Forensic Workers (Band 6), providing agreed interventions for an allocated number of individual service users.

**This will include**:

- Attending ward rounds,
- Ward based in-reach & engagement work
- Attending and contributing to team review meetings
- Supporting patients and families to identify and work towards recovery goals
- Supporting patients and families throughout their care pathway from inpatient stay to community living.
- Attending supervision and training as appropriate.
- Reporting regularly back to the Community Forensic Workers other team members and appropriate key workers.
- Actively promoting the rights and responsibilities of service users