Senior Community Mental Health Practitioner

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.

At any one time, around 23,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk are receiving care and attention from the Trust. We believe in whole life care - seeing people in the context of their whole lives, understanding the importance of good physical health, friends, family, spirituality, culture, home, work, education and a sense of purpose and achievement to experience good mental health.

Nearly 3,200 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 900+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, delivering supplies, ward administration, information technology, human resources and financial services.

We are committed to delivering quality driven mental health services. Every individual makes a valuable contribution. We are proud of our staff who have been commended for the care they provide. Do you value working positively, respectfully and together? If so, we’d love you to join us

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JOB DESCRIPTION/PERSON SPECIFICATION

YOUR APPLICATION

**Job overview**:
**Are you looking to join a forward thinking, supportive Older People’s Community Mental Health team? Do you enjoy working as part of a team in a fast paced environment?**

Our friendly and supportive team, based at Walker Close in Ipswich and covering the Coastal area, are looking for a Mental Health Practitioner to join us in providing an excellent service to Older People in our patch. We provide a community-based service to people of any age with a dementia diagnosis, and to Older People with a functional diagnosis and complex needs.

You’ll be working alongside a close knit multi-disciplinary team of Assistant Practitioners, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Psychological Therapists, Independent Prescriber and Psychiatrists as well as working closely with GP surgeries, PCNs, Social Workers within ACS and Care Agencies.

We are an established team with a high retention rate, and we are looking to welcome an experienced Mental Health Practitioner. You will be given full support and a comprehensive induction.

We are looking for someone who is interested in working in Older People’s services, has an interest in physical as well as mental health and who has an understanding of assessment, the referral process, case handling and working collaboratively with the wider MDT.

**Main duties of the job**:
**Main duties of the job**

As a Community Mental Health Practitioner you will be responsible for:

- Holding a caseload of patients with organic and functional presentations under CPA and NCPA
- Assessing and managing risk.
- Using Dialog+ where possible and Recovery Care Planning with service users and carers.
- Managing your own diary and planning your day.
- Attending MDT meetings and ward review meetings.
- Duty working 2 half days per week.
- Communicate effectively through notes on Lorenzo and letters to GPs and other involved parties.
- Administering depot medication.
- There is an opportunity to learn to take ECG readings and to learn phlebotomy.
- Driving is essential for this role.

**Working for our organisation**:
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

**Why work for us?** We are an improving Trust, with ambitious aspirations and pushing ahead with exciting transformation work. We have strong, established nursing networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

**Why Norfolk and Suffolk?** The people here are warm and welcoming, you’ll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We’re an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.

**Detailed job description and main responsibilities**:
Post includes working with individuals using a Recovery focused approach.

**Person specification**:
**Qualifications**:
**Essential criteria**:

- Nursing degree or equivalent, Dip OT, Clinical Psychology or equivalent

**Experience**:
**Essential criteria**:

- Able to demonstrate an appropriate level of knowledge of mental health practice from previous experience
- Experience in working in team delivering person centred treatment packages

**Knowledge**:
**Essential criteria**:

- An understanding of the policies and guidelines both local and national e.g. National Institute for Clinical Exce