Lead Community Support Worker - Physical Health Checks

Job overview

We are very excited to be able  to offer  a permanent 24 hrs band 4  Lead Community Physical Health Checks Support Worker post.

We are very proud of our Physical health check service which is one of the highest performing in the South West of the UK.

Physical health outcomes in people diagnosed with serious mental illness are significantly poorer than the main population. In order to address this inequality this role will support patients who are cared for under the Care Programme Approach (CPA) to undertake annual physical health checks and should be offered proactive advice on how they can make lifestyle changes and improve their physical health.

Working across a range of community mental health services the post holder will hold a more senior position to their counterpart band 3 colleagues with the aim to provide countywide oversight of the service, to identify and share any training opportunities for colleagues, to facilitate the countywide peer group, organise cross cover and take a lead in developments that promote prevention not intervention for physical health difficulties.

Clinically, they will work closely with the teams undertaking annual physical health checks, in a clinic environment and, where this is not possible, in the patients’ own home.

There may  be requests to cross cover over our other sites within Gloucestershire.

Main duties of the job

• Provide leadership within the service by means of the facilitation of the peer support group, representing the service at development meetings and actively contributing to service development and having a countywide oversight to allow for cross cover when required.
• Completion of physical health checks in line with national and local requirements for a caseload of patients with mental health diagnoses. Workload will be allocated as checks become due, the results will be documented and appropriate advice and onward referral to other services completed. The post holder will be provided with supervision provided by a senior member of the team who will coordinate activity.
• Based upon the results of the observations and interviews, suitable advice and referral will be provided to the patient.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As a lead Physical Health Check  Support Worker you will be responsible for ensuring the facilitation of monthly peer support meetings, having oversight of staffing and any challenges across the localities and respond accordingly and actively partake in development of the service.

The postholder will participate in the delivery of care / services to patients and service users as part of a Mental Health and Social Care Health Service.  Health Care Assistant, Social Care Workers and other Healthcare Support Workers employed by the Trust are required to follow the guidance set out in Code of Conduct for Health Care Assistants/ Health Care Support Workers to provide safe and compassionate care of a high standard, and to challenge others who are not.

You will receive direct supervision and partake in reflective practice / training on a regular basis and be required to meet the Care Certificate standards. All successful applicants will also have the opportunity to discuss the prospect of undertaking a Level 3 Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship alongside their substantive post. This apprenticeship would include the Level 3 Diploma in Clinical Healthcare.

Gloucestershire Health and Care is committed to embedding and providing personalised care through all of its services as part of our high-quality care strategy. The purpose of personalised care is to empower people to lead the lives they want to live. Personalised care starts with a conversation with people about what matters to them. It builds on what people can do, as well as addressing their health needs.  Including new ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our people’s skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care.  So we want to know What Matters to You and that you will share our values and join us on this very important journey.

Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.