B3 Mental Health Support Worker

Service Summary:
The Home Treatment Team will provide intensive support for patients as an alternative to hospital admission.

The Home Treatment Team hours of operation are 9am to 9pm 7 days a week. The hours of operation for the Safe Haven will be 5pm to 9am 7 days per week, thus ensuring the service user can be appropriately referred or signposted to existing services the following morning if required. Research suggests that currently there is a peak of presentations of individuals to the emergency department in the evening which is more likely to lead to admission It has been recognised that most admissions happen in the evening and when service users present in crisis it is usually in the evening.

It is envisaged that this approach will provide a timely and quality experience for the service user and avoid an inpatient admission where clinically appropriate.

The Safe Haven is a service that provides out of hours support for people experiencing mental health problems who may be open to the Home Treatment Team or who may be referred from other Mental Health Professionals.

The practitioners will work between Home Treatment team and Safe Haven.

Role Summary:
This is an exciting opportunity for a Band 3 Mental Health Support Worker to join this dynamic, expanding team.

Key Responsibilities of the Post:
The post holder will work as part of the Home Treatment and Safe Haven teams to deliver an effective and efficient response to people who access the service, providing clinical assessments and interventions focusing on relapse prevention and improved quality of life for service users.

Key Requirements of the Person Specification:

- NVQ Level 3
- Knowledge of mental health services
- Ability to listen and communicate effectively at all levels
- Ability to work unsupervised in a range of settings
- Knowledge of diversity and anti-discriminatory practice/equal opportunitie

We welcome applicants who have lived in care experience

We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.

Main

**Responsibilities**:
Clinical
To assist qualified practitioners in the Home Treatment and Safe Haven team.
To support service users in the Home Treatment Team and Safe Haven team.
To support service users in engaging positively and actively with appropriate services and resources such as benefits, employment, housing and substance misuse services.
Promote independent living of service user through help, advice, practical and emotional support.
Provide information and support with health promotion.
Support the practitioners in monitoring the service user’s physical health and mental state, level of functioning and progress.
To support the wider home treatment teams.
Maintain accurate legible documentation in accordance with Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust Policies and procedures.
Provide information and support to enable service users to engage in meeting education, employment and vocational needs.
Provide information and support to family and friends of service users.
Promote mental health awareness and reduce stigma and discrimination wherever possible.
To attend and actively partake in meetings, and training sessions as required.
To liaise and communicate across statutory and non-statutory agencies
To maintain confidentiality at all times.
To develop knowledge of local resources and opportunities available to service users and keep an up to date file of community resources which can be shared with the rest of the team and outside agencies.
To actively partake and utilise clinical and management supervision to develop and maintain safe practice
To contribute to the learning environment for any students or workers on placement with the team
To partake within the Key Skills Knowledge Framework system to identify and plan for areas of personal development

Physical
Will be required to drive service users where appropriate.
Uses computer at regular times in the shift for short intervals
Sits for regular intervals throughout the day when supporting clients

Mental
Able to hold clinical discussions related to physical, social and psychological concepts of service user’s care
Able to translate concepts into an understandable framework for service users and carers
The post holder will be required to sustain high levels of concentration throughout the working day
The post holder will be required to identify and report risk on a daily basis due to the complex nature of the client group.

Emotional
Able to manage boundaries when the service user breaches them, whilst maintaining a therapeutic relationship
The post holder will be required to manage frequent exposure to highly distressing and emotive situations and disclosures, including of child safeguarding, suicidal intent and plan, expression of distressing mental health signs and symptoms
The post holder will be required to contain and manage personal emotions, which may be evoked on a daily basis in working with this complex client group and seek supervision as required.
The post holder is required in clinical supervision to reflect on personal emotions, which may impact on clinical practice if not addressed
This job description is not exhaustive, but is intended to give an overall picture of the role. Other duties within the general scope of the post may be required from time to time. The duties of the post and job description can be reviewed through the agreed process.
This job description is not exhaustive, but is intended to give an overall picture of the role. Other duties within the general scope of the post may be required from time to time. The duties of the post and job description can be reviewed through the agreed process.

General Duties of all post holders
To undertake any other reasonable duty, which is appropriate to the band, when requested by Senior Staff.
To be familiar with and comply with all Trust and departmental policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines.
To be aware of and work towards the Trusts strategic goals.