BANK Support Worker

Job summary

Derbyshire Mind's CrisisSupport Drop-In services are friendly and supportive non-clinicalcrisis services for adults who self-define as needing immediate help with theirmental health or emotional wellbeing. Located in Buxton, Ripley andSwadlincote, the services offer out-of-hours mental health help, support andsignposting in a relaxed and comfortable community environment. The serviceswill be open on Friday and Saturday evenings, additionally Sunday afternoons,all year round.

This is an exciting time to join our friendly and supportive team on a Bank basis and make a real difference to community support.

Pay Progression - Following successful completion of Probationary Period salary rises to £22, Full Time Equivalent, pro rata actual pay based on actual Bank hours worked only.

Main duties of the job

Crisis Support Drop-In servicesare friendly and supportive non-clinical crisis services for adults whoself-define as needing immediate help with their mental health or emotionalwellbeing. Located in Buxton, Ripley and Swadlincote, the services offerout-of-hours mental health help, support and signposting in a relaxed andcomfortable community environment.

The role of the Bank Support Worker is typically to provide an ad-hoc and planned coverage for when permanent team members are unavailable at sites. There is no guaranteed hours of work, these will be booked on a case by case basis.

Following training, the Bank Support Worker will be responsible for delivering the service to attendees whoarrive at the service in emotional distress or mental health crisis, including assessing,monitoring and supporting those individuals on a one-to-one basis and viaappropriate group work.

The Bank Support Worker rolewill also require the post holder to alternate the role of designated ShiftLeader for that days on-shift team. In addition to normal shift responsibilities,this will include, for example, allocating responsibilities to the team overthe course of the shift, liaising with on-call teams as necessary, ensuringadministration is completed, and leading a team wellbeing check-in at the endof each working shift.

About us

Derbyshire Mind is yourlocal independent mental health charity within the national Mind network. Ourfocus is on improving mental health and wellbeing for people across Derby andDerbyshire. We provide a range of community mental wellbeing servicesdesigned to support local people with mental health problems as well as thewider population.

OurDerbyshire Mind website provides further information on us

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The key responsibilities ofthe Bank Support Worker are :-

1. To deliver the Crisis Support Drop-In service by providing person-centrednon-clinical mental health crisis support and information to attendees who mightotherwise had to attend Accident and Emergency for help. This will include providinga supportive and safe environment, supporting attendees to identify theirindividual needs, providing support with de-escalation, providing advice andinformation, and, in partnership with the attendees, agree flexible andrealistic crisis support and safety plans and encouraging positive stepstowards management of crisis and future crisis prevention.

2. To follow agreed service systems, processes and procedures.

3. To proactively recognise the indicators of deterioratingmental health and facilitate appropriate action, while liaising with relevantagencies 999, On-Call Teams, NHS Crisis Teams. CMHT, etc.

4. To signpost and refer attendees to local services,including Derbyshire Mind groups and services, so that they can support andimprove their mental health and hopefully not reach crisis point again.

5. To accurately record attendees discussions, individual andgroup observations on the relevant attendees notes on the database, followingthe guidance of GDPR. Ensuring that any issues are reported to the LocalCoordinator in a timely manner

6. To liaise with the Local Coordinator, Service Lead, orother appropriate person to ensure the safety of attendees and team members asrequired.

7. To record and evaluate the impact of interventions using agreedfeedback and evaluation tools. This includes using the computer programCharityLog for case management.

8. To potentially organise taxi transport for attendees tofacilitate access to the service if they meet the criteria.

9. To support and encourage the Volunteer members of the team.

10.To initiate andmaintain good channels of communication and information sharing with allmembers of the team.

11.To ensure the serviceremains operational by being punctual, flexible and working with colleagues tocover gaps in the rota caused by planned / unplanned absence ie annual leaveand sickness.

12.To work positively aspart of Derbyshire Minds partnership, and the wider multi-disciplinary and multi-agencycrisis alternatives teams.

13. To proactively contribute to the continuous improvement ofthe service by making positive suggestions, providing constructive feedback andassisting in the implementation of agreed new ways of working.

14. To contribute to the ongoing co-production of the serviceby supporting service users with Lived Experience to be involved in the design,review, and continuous improvement of the service.

15. To support the training of new Support Workers andVolunteers where deemed appropriate by the Local Coordinator, includingproviding shadowing opportunities.

16.To help ensure theservice is, and remains, accessible to all individuals and groups youngeradults, women with children, racialised communities, veterans and groups whomay have more difficulty in accessing mental health services.

17.To participate inresearch, audit and evaluation as required.

Supervision, training, meetings, andsupport

18. To undertake specific and specialised training provided byDerbyshire Mind and other nominated parties, in order to support the vulnerablecohort of attendees.

19. To attend and actively participate in regular one-to-onemeetings with line manager, team meetings, and clinical supervision.

20. To participate in Individual Performance Review andPersonal Development plans, and to undertake training and development asidentified within these discussions and as indicated by the requirements of thepost.

21. To be proactive in reviewing and evaluating own personalperformance and identifying areas for improvement and development.

General

29. Provide cover for other members of the wider Crisis SupportDrop-In service team and potentially other Crisis Support Drop-In service teamsacross Derbyshire as necessary.

30. Participate in the assessment of risk and therebycontribute towards clinical governance as appropriate.

31. Maintain the confidentiality of information about attendeesand other services, in accordance with Derbyshire Minds policies andprocedures. GDPR etc

32. Keep up to date on all matters relating to DerbyshireMinds policies and procedures and adhere to these at all times.

33. Be familiar with matters relating to health and safetymanagement and work in accordance with Derbyshire Minds Health and Safetypolicy and procedures.

34. Derbyshire Mind is committed to Equal Opportunities for allpresent and potential members of staff and attendees. Therefore, it is expectedthat all employees, Bank Workers and volunteers will understand, support, and apply thispolicy through their working practice, which requires all individuals to betreated with respect, dignity, courtesy, fairness and consideration.

35. Represent and be an advocate and role-model of DerbyshireMind.

When Completing Your Application

Applicants must use the criteria listed in the Person Specification to structure their 'Supporting Information'. To be most successful, applicants must take each criteria in turn, and demonstrate their experience, knowledge, and abilities in that area. The shortlisting panel will score applications based on the information the application has provided, and how it meets the listed criteria. No assumptions about an applicants skills or experience can be made. The panel can only score your applicability based on what has been written. If an applicant perhaps feels they dont have direct experience of the required criteria, they should think about what transferable skills they might have from other areas of their life, as this can all be considered. Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

1 Good level of general education, including English and Maths at GCSE grade C and above

Desirable

2 Any mental health, housing, social care, health care, counselling, or psychology related training or qualifications

Experience

Essential

3 Experience of working in a mental health service or similar, in either a paid or voluntary capacity 4 Experience of providing compassionate wellbeing support to adults in a community or other setting 5 Experience of helping people experiencing emotional distress and low self esteem 6 Experience of working on your own initiative and as a member of a team

Desirable

7 Experience of working with adults with mental health conditions, either in a residential or community setting 8 Experience of supporting individuals one-to-one, and via group work 9 Experience of working outside of normal office hours 10 Experience of leading a team or being a shift leader, including allocating roles and responsibilities to staff/volunteers

Skills, Abilities & Knowledge

Essential

11 Active listening skills 12 Ability to gather and interpret information, problem-solve, make decisions and act 13 Knowledge of common mental health conditions and issues affecting adults with mental health issues 14 Good interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written 15 Ability to communicate with different range of cognitive abilities eg learning difficulties, age difference, language differences, non-verbal attendees 16 Ability to plan and manage and prioritise own workload in line with shift requirements 17 Understanding of working within safeguarding, data protection, confidentiality and equality frameworks 18 Good IT and technology skills in order to input attendees data onto the case management system, manage emails and documents using Microsoft programs 19 Ability to remain calm in stressful situations

Desirable

20 Knowledge of de-escalation techniques and resources 21 Ability to seek and acquire knowledge of local services available to attendees 22 An understanding of the principles, philosophy and practical applications of the Person-Centred Approach 23 An understanding of the issues faced by individuals from minority groups 24 Monitoring and evaluation skills

Personal Characteristics

Essential

25 Compassionate, supportive and sensitive approach 26 Reliable, creative and flexible, with a can-do attitude 27 Values people and sees their potential, worth and strengths 28 Develops effective and trusting relationships, characterised by respect, being non-judgemental, and not making assumptions about the persons experiences and beliefs 29 Highly motivated and able to learn quickly, willing to seek advice appropriately and accept supervision and training as required 30 Emotionally resilient and has own self-care practices and methods

Ability to Work Flexibly

Essential

31 Access to a car to get to and from the Crisis Support Drop-In service venue (as will be working outside of Public Transport operating times) 32 Willingness and ability to work flexibly in terms of working outside of normal office hours and supporting a service that needs to run all year round

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