First Contact Mental Health Practitioner

Job overview

An exciting part time (15 hours) opportunity has arisen for a First Contact Mental Health Practitioner to work within primary care within the Filey & Scarborough Healthier Communities Network.

After the successful introduction of our initial first contact mental health practitioner’s, we aspire to expand the service with a further innovative offer.

In this attractive, flexible, role the post holder has opportunity of working within general practice with the benefit of bank holidays!

This role is fundamental to the development of inclusive & integrated mental health services.

NMC Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers (England), HCPC Occupational Therapist encouraged to apply.

You must have the Right to Work in the UK in order to be successfully appointed to this role. Please note, due to the part time hours the starting salary for this role would not meet the required salary threshold for this post to be eligible for sponsorship under the Health and Care (Skilled Worker) visa. Health and Care Worker visa

Not open to previous applications

Main duties of the job

The successful post-holder will work in partnership with practice colleagues in joining an ambitious locality network that is committed to developing a strong, caring, and compassionate multidisciplinary workforce.

As a valued team member, you will develop close working relationships with all our friendly Clinical staff. Your role will involve offering specialist mental health advice and providing clinical care for people with a range of mental health needs, ensuring that those with mental illness do not fall between gaps in services.

You will also contribute to safe and effective transitions in care between Adult Mental Health services, where appropriate. You will improve access by being a ‘ first contact mental health worker’, undertaking triage, assessments, brief interventions, and reviews, with clinical supervision provided by a B7 Mental Health Practitioner. You will contribute to networking and navigation expertise, enabling access to a range of appropriate mental health support across the community system.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will work across the 4 PCN practices: Filey Surgery, Hackness Road Surgery, Hunmanby Surgery and Scarborough Medical Group. Our ethos is to provide good quality, safe and effective care for our communities. Our PCN includes the beautiful coastal towns of Scarborough and Filey.

Filey and Scarborough HCN has a vision of achieving “quality improvements in healthcare provision and supporting people to make healthier choices.” The successful post-holder will become part of an ambitious network, committed to developing a strong, dedicated and compassionate multidisciplinary workforce.

The PCN has a registered population that experiences high deprivation and challenges associated with social determinants of health – we would welcome enthusiastic innovators with a strong desire to work in partnership to achieve the best possible outcomes for local people and communities, and with the motivation and flexibility to help develop our services as the team evolves to meet the changing needs of the population.

The successful candidate will be well-supported and guided by the PCN and the clinical team leads. You will be supported to work autonomously, having day to day responsibility for your clinics and workload.

This is a new, exciting, and innovative post to support the needs of the local population living with mental health difficulties. The role holder will fulfil a ‘first contact’ specialist mental health role within GP Practices across the Primary Care Network (PCN), seeing patients who would otherwise have traditionally seen a GP. Within the primary care setting, the role holder will work in a collaborative and multi-agency way. This will contribute to the safe and effective day to day operation of the PCN and the efficient and timely management of clinical enquiries and decision-making.

The post will sit within the GP Practices and will facilitate the interface between Primary Care and Secondary Mental Health Services to provide specialist advice and support, assessment, treatment, education and solution-focused approaches to the local Primary Care Teams, for patients and carers.

The role will offer expertise in networking and navigation to promote ease of access to a range of specialist mental health support services. This ensures that each person, once assessed, receives the best possible care in the right place at the right time and by the right supporting service.

The post holder will be an effective member of the multi-disciplinary team. They will be professionally accountable and responsible for patient care, undertaking initial assessment with signposting to appropriate services, or providing time-limited psycho-social therapeutic interventions directly, in e.g. GP surgeries, patient’s homes and other primary care settings. This will include providing clinical advice to GPs such as specialist opinion.

The post-holder will manage their daily clinics and act as a specialist advisor to GP’s, fulfilling a pathway management function and providing short term interventions and support, in collaboration with GP’s and other practice based mental health workers.

You will support the establishment of partnerships and networks with key stakeholders across the PCN and the wider mental health care system. You will offer advice to, or obtain advice for, the Primary Care Team on appropriate interventions and on-going patient care management.

You will develop links and foster a culture of ‘partnership’ between Primary Care Teams and Mental Health Services, promoting clear communication and access to specialist knowledge and advice. This will include the facilitation of joint working with PCN, Secondary Care providers, and Voluntary Care Sector to increase the range of services/interventions available to the communities served.

You will provide clinical advice, consultation, and support to other care providers within primary, secondary, voluntary and statutory services as required.

You will collate and organise contemporaneous information about opportunities and resources in the local area which may be of benefit to patients referred to the service (e.g. voluntary and community organisations, educational and recreational opportunities).

The role includes facilitating ‘sign posting’ to other appropriate services and undertaking very short-term interventions for patients with mild to moderate mental health difficulties (average length of time expected to be 6 weeks). Working alongside the PCN staff which could include a care coordination team and a social prescribing link worker.

In line with the principles for community transformation, you will ensure systems/pathways are in place to enable smooth transition between primary care and secondary mental health services.

Most importantly, the right candidate will have a strong desire to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients and have the motivation and flexibility to help develop our services as the teams evolve to meet the needs of their population. If you are a qualified Occupational Therapist, Mental Health Nurse or Social Worker, with a determination for supporting local people with mental health problems and their families, and are looking for an exceptional opportunity to contribute to the development of an innovative and new way of working - then we look forward to hearing from you!

Due to the nature of the role it is essential that applicants are able to travel independently across the locality and have access to a suitable vehicle for business purposes. If necessary, adjustments can be considered in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

This job advert may close early if a high volume of applications have been received. If interested, please apply for this post as soon as possible.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.