Community Psychiatric Nurse (HTT)

Job overview

We are excited to offer an excellent opportunity for an experienced and motivated Crisis Assessment Practitioner (Band 6) to join our Enhanced Night Home Treatment Team (HTT) within the Trust’s Crisis Pathway.

This is a newly developed role, reflecting the Trust’s commitment to strengthening out-of-hours crisis provision and ensuring people experiencing acute mental health crisis receive timely, high-quality assessment, intervention and support overnight.

The Enhanced Night HTT provides a 7-day, out-of-hours function, working closely with day HTTs, Liaison Psychiatry, Emergency Departments, the Mental Health Crisis Line and inpatient services to support people in crisis and reduce unnecessary admissions.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of crisis care, within a developing and innovative service model.

Main duties of the job

As a Band 6 Crisis Assessment Practitioner, you will:

• Undertake comprehensive mental health assessments, including risk assessment and formulation, for people presenting in crisis overnight.
• Provide short-term therapeutic and crisis interventions in line with HTT and Trust models of care.
• Develop and review collaborative care and safety plans with service users and carers.
• Make clinically informed decisions regarding admission, home treatment, onward referral or discharge, in line with agreed pathways.
• Work autonomously within professional scope of practice, with access to senior clinical advice and on-call medical support.
• Liaise closely with Liaison Psychiatry, ED teams, wards, police, LAS, MHCL and community services to ensure safe handover and continuity of care.
• Contribute to MDT discussions, escalation processes and overnight operational problem-solving.
• Ensure accurate, timely and high-quality clinical documentation.
• Contribute to service development, audit, and quality improvement activity within the Enhanced Night HTT.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

• Undertake timely crisis and risk assessments for individuals referred by the Mental Health Crisis Line (MHCL), following initial triage. Clinicians will be expected to respond in line with the urgency indicated - completing assessments within 4 hours for urgent cases and within 24 hours for routine referrals.
• Ensure safe and appropriate decision-making regarding follow-up care or discharge.
• Formulate brief crisis care plans, incorporating safety measures, signposting, and risk management strategies in line with evidence-based practice.
• Exercise clinical autonomy within scope of practice and escalate complex presentations, safeguarding concerns, or high-risk decisions to senior clinicians as appropriate.
• Support triage processes by prioritising referrals and identifying urgent needs, including in liaison with NHS 111, the Mental Health Crisis Line, and ED teams.
• Promote trauma-informed, recovery-focused, and least-restrictive approaches in crisis intervention.
• Deliver face-to-face care in a range of settings, including service users’ homes, community clinics, and Recovery Cafés, in accordance with service protocols.
• To undertake home visits (single or joint) single visits only when there are no health, risk or safety issues evident.
• Maintain accurate and timely clinical documentation on RiO, ensuring assessments, risk summaries and plans are clearly recorded.
• To actively participate in relapse prevention work
• To actively support the client in self- management of their symptoms and diagnosis and with the formation of their collaborative crisis plan.
• To provide comprehensive risk assessments in accordance with the Trust Guidelines.
• Communicate sensitively and clearly with service users, carers and professionals, especially in distressing or challenging situations.
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of legal and ethical frameworks, including the Mental Health Act (1983) and Mental Capacity Act (2005), and apply these appropriately within clinical decision-making.
• Contribute to multi-agency working, liaising with IRHs, HTTs, social care, and other stakeholders to support coordinated care pathways and appropriate use of resources.
• To offer advice and support to other professionals on issues of referrals to HTT or signposting if not appropriate for HTT.
• Participate in regular clinical supervision and reflective practice, and engage in continuous professional development in line with NMC standards.
• Support student nurses or less experienced staff where required, providing informal guidance or shadowing opportunities under supervision of senior staff.
• Provide verbal and written information to service users and carers regarding available services, rights, and the Trust’s feedback and complaints procedures.
• To ensure effective communication with Children & Families Teams when safeguarding children.
• To report to Team manager any incident or Serious Untoward Incidents that may take place and provide reports and accurate records relating to the incidents.