Mental Health Practitioner-

Job summary

Penwith Primary Care Networks provides Mental Health andWellbeing support. Our valued team member is off on maternity leave and we need your help This is a fixed term contract and we will consider a secondment. We currently have centres open in Hayle and Penzance with afurther centre opening in St Ives. We are looking for a senior nurse, social worker or occupational therapist (with extensive mental health experience) who hasthe values, skills and ability to holistically support people in makingimprovements to their mental wellbeing.

Users of the service may originally have approached their GPor perhaps not previously have known where to turn for help. We supportpatients from all surgeries in the primary care network to find treatment,support and advice.

This is a relatively new service, so we are looking forapplicants who are creative, imaginative and willing to actively help ourservice evolve and therefore be adaptable in their working practices.

Your working day will never be the same one day to the next.Our growing team is a happy, compassionate, and supportive group of people whoare excited to welcome new practitioners to our service.

Main duties of the job

To provide a holistic and person-centred primary care mentalhealth service, which delivers better access to a broader range of careoptions, reduced referral to specialist services and provides an improvedpatient experience. The service aims to include evidence informed approachesthat are known to improve both mental and physical wellbeing.

The role requires understanding of the whole person,treatment and/or onward bridging to community resources. We deliver access toevidence-based interventions for people with serious mental illness (or thoseat risk of becoming mentally unwell). As a practitioner you will consideralternative ways forward based on the needs and wishes of each person. Theservice will be for people over 18 years old who are not under secondary careprovision (including carers) with a specific focus on:

People whose mental health needs that do not meet the accesscriteria for NHS Talking Therapies or secondary care.

People with serious mental illness who are in recovery andstable in secondary care mental health services who could be cared for withinPrimary Care.

People who present frequently in primary care who experiencedifficulty coping with their emotions.

About us

Health and Wellbeing West as an employer encompasses our primary care network across Penwith. Our network has 7 surgeries within it. Our patients are able to use our innovative mental health and wellbeing services situated outside of the surgeries in order to offer a truly person centred bio-psycho-social model of care. You will be supported by a service lead but also supervise a team of mental health and wellbeing coaches. They're all amazing at their roles and we work together as a great team.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

a) Works as part of a MDT within the PCN;

b) Consults with patients, their family, and themulti-professional team to

undertake assessments of patient need and devise andevaluate complex care

plans

c) Evaluates and analyses problems using their clinicalknowledge,

seeking out and applying relevant evidence, enhancedtechniques,

interventions, and equipment to make clinical decisions

d) Delivers enhanced clinical care in the context ofcontinual change, challenging

environments, different models of care delivery, innovationand rapidly evolving

technologies using analysis and their underpinning knowledgeto manage

complex interventions

e) Teaches and advises patients and their families on how tomanage their

condition or support the multi-disciplinary team to do so

f) Participates in clinical audits and research projects andimplements changes as

required, including the development, and updating ofpractice protocols /

guidelines and procedures locally

g) Works within national and local protocols where theseexist

h) Recognises boundaries of their practice and know when andto whom patients

should be referred

i) Using the principles of delegation, delegates work toother members of the

MDT and take responsibility for the delegated activity asappropriate

j) Demonstrates initiative and are creative in findingsolutions to problems

k) Holds responsibility for team performance and servicedelivery

l) Provides supervision to team members

Key Wider Responsibilities

a) Facilitate and support the development and delivery ofinnovative training and

education to staff, to improve competence and confidence, inline with best

practice and guidance related to area of expertise

b) Participate in and/or lead formal training eventspromoting best practice in area

of expertise

c) Provide professional and clinical leadership andmentorship, acting as a clinical

role model on the delivery of evidence-based practice

d) Advise and support on the development and delivery ofwork streams relating

to area of expertise as part of the PCNs strategy, whereappropriate

e) Work proactively with key local and national stakeholdersto develop more

integrated care pathways and holistic models of care,through dissemination of

specialist skills and knowledge

f) Contribute to the delivery of local policy, proceduresand protocols for the PCN

to improve identification, assessment, ongoing support forpatients and their

family carers

g) Practitioners will work alongside general practice teams,providing clinical assistance and expert support to the GPs and other membersof the primary care team in managing the mental wellbeing of the practicepopulation.

Management and Personal Development

Multi-disciplinary practice teams, attending practicemeetings and having regular informal contact.

Able to document consultations during patient interventions accordingto Practice guidelines.

Ensures awareness of statutory and local clinical protectionprocedures, including systems of referral.

To provide clinical supervision on a regular basis in linewith relevant professional guidelines and policies to members of your team.

Undertake own clinical supervision on a regular basis withyour line manager.

To report on the progress of the role, providing requiredreports, statistical and qualitative information.

Clinical Activities

To triage, manage risk and communicate patient needsthroughout PCN and wider multi-disciplinary team members.

To work closely with mental health and wellbeing coaches asvalued staff members of equal worth to formulate, plan and deliver carepathways for each patient.

To take part in daily huddle/safety meetings and overseeother staff member workloads and support them to safely fulfil their roleswithin their scope of practice. To be capable and accountable for clinical decision making.

To work with adults (18+) with serious mental illness (andtheir Carers) whose needs are best met within primary care and whosedifficulties are best understood within a biopsychosocial model.

Provide brief support and perhaps longer evidence-basedinterventions, drawing from the guiding principles of trauma informed care.

To work closely with and understand what community resourcesand assets are available across Penwith.

To collaborate jointly with NHS colleagues reviewing seriousincident investigations and identify key areas of learning to create animplement and quality improvement action plan.

Understand and apply legal issues that support theidentification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, be aware ofstatutory child/vulnerable patients health procedures and local guidance.

It is recognised that this job description may be open todevelopment and changes to reflect alterations in the PCN Mental HealthPractitioner role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Professional Qualification Degree Level qualification and professional registration via the NMC or equivalent registering professional body (social work, occupational therapist). A registered nurse degree apprenticeship (RNDA). A post graduate qualification (level 7 or above) of a relevant discipline mental health specific would also be accepted.

Experience

Essential

a)Experience of working with people with mental illness and those at risk of becoming unwell. Also experience of liaising/working with GPs and primary care colleagues. b)Suitably trained and experienced in the delivery of short term, focussed evidence-based interventions. c)Experience and in-depth awareness of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice. d)An in-depth knowledge of prevalent mental illnesses, how and why they may develop, symptoms someone might experience and the subsequent treatments or care pathways that are currently available. e)Experience of working with people with a wide range of bio/psycho/social concerns that have led to often challenging presentations including drug and alcohol dependence, self-harm, domestic violence (perpetrators/survivors), historical and present trauma survivors and those who experience difficulty coping with their emotions. f)The candidate will always be part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) but must be able to make decisions autonomously and be accountable for these at this level. An ability to run the service in the absence of the service lead is also necessary. g)Be able to bring perhaps their own, additional qualities to this role that might aid wellbeing for our patients. This may include enhanced communication skills, complimentary therapeutic approaches, counselling qualifications, work with charitable organisations or health promotion skills (the list is endless). h)Have a general knowledge of the voluntary sector and charities that are available in Cornwall that aid bio/psycho/social wellbeing. i)Have a good understanding of medication, physiological comorbidities, and the effects of these on a persons presentation. j)An essential requirement is an understanding of the trauma informed approach together with an understanding of health and social inequalities experienced by the population of Penwith. k)An ability to feel comfortable in times of change and uncertainty in a working environment. l)IT skills (training will be provided on the GP patient record system and that of secondary care).

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