Nhs - Specialist Health Care Assistant (Mental

**About Us**

**Overall Purpose of Role (Summary)**

Are you a dynamic and committed Healthcare Assistant with experience or a special interest in Mental Health? Are you interested in working in GP practices across Peterborough and surrounding areas supporting patients with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) diagnosis?

This is an exciting opportunity to join and new service set up to support people living with serious mental illness to access physical health checks and to be supportive in improving their health and wellbeing. This service will be working across Peterborough and Wisbech GP Surgeries.

**JOB PURPOSE**
- To undertake physical health checks for people as designated / identified in relation to their mental health needs
- This will include supported signposting to other services /proactive support to access other services
- To contribute to the regular reviews of service users as identified within primary care.
- To work in partnership with families and carers to ensure the patient’s individual health needs are met.
- To work closely with both primary care and specialist/ community mental health services to promote good health
- To proactively outreach to patients who are struggling to engage
- To identify and proactively engage with vulnerable and ‘hard to reach groups’
- To support patients to access health promotion, screening services, LTC annual health checks, medication reviews and public health campaigns
- To promote recovery centred goals Eating Disorder Health Checks Successful applicants may also be asked to carry out physical health care checks on Eating Disorder mild to moderate stable and engaged patients:

- To work as a member of the multi-disciplinary team to provide medical monitoring for patients with an eating disorder in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough using the standardised medical monitoring template with the aim to;
- Improve the management of engaged, stable patients with a mild to moderate eating disorder
- Deliver medical monitoring, including brief essential examination, on the same day as blood tests and ECG (requested occasionally)
- Providing required information to decision-makers (specialist eating disorder services and GPs) based on medical monitoring results, to enable medication prescription and management of co morbidities according to guidelines and /or advice from specialist AEDs
- Proactive follow up of patients who do not attend for medical monitoring or who refuse to accept recommended treatment (co-ordinating with specialist AEDS where required)
- Recognise signs of relapse in mental health, increases in risk or change in social care needs and alert the responsible professional and multidisciplinary team

**KEY RESPONSIBILTIES**

Undertake clinical procedures on patients including;
- Phlebotomy, ECG recording, Blood pressure monitoring (weighing, lying and standing), Pulse, Temperature, Skin review and testing of proximal muscle strength Non-clinical responsibilities
- Support access to screening services as per national/local protocols July 2020
- Assisting in the assessment and monitoring of patients’ health and well-being
- Support access to screening services as per national/local protocols
- Support access to relevant long-term condition checks and medication reviews
- Raise awareness of health and well-being and how it can be promoted
- Identify early signs of relapse by monitoring the physical health and alert the appropriate staff involved in the individuals care.
- Identify changes in social care needs or increase in risk factors and alert appropriate professionals
- Support SMI patients stepping down from secondary care
- Maintain regular links with the Primary Care Mental Health teams
- Participate in regular planning and review meetings with the clinician supervising pieces of work
- Maintain quality and management of clinical caseload within supervision process (pieces of work may be supervised by more than one team member).
- Attend and participate in wider team/care plan review meetings as appropriate.

**OTHER DUTIES**
- Ensure that up to date written and electronic records and activity data are maintained in accordance with GPN policy.
- Participate in clinical and social care governance care group forums as required.
- Attend essential training.
- Develop and maintain an awareness, knowledge and delivery of relevant NICE/local guidelines and quality standards as defined by care pathway.
- To work under supervision undertaking delegated tasks
- To keep accurate and timely written and electronic record of each contact, using GPN’s Systmone clinical database July 2020
- To adhere to the NHS Code of Conduct, professional standards and ethics and comply with local and national standards of practice.
- To participate in GPN’ s annual Appraisal process.
- To attend all relevant mandatory training as and when required to do so.
- To attend the eating disorder medical monitoring training
- To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation,