Mental Health Practitioner

Job overview

This postholder will be a member of the North East London NHS 111 option 2 Crisis Service which services the North East London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, City & Hackney, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering and Barking & Dagenham. The postholder will be required to respond to calls and texts made to NHS 111 option 2. The post holder will work with people in crisis and their families who are supporting them and who reside in these boroughs, who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Main duties of the job

• The postholder will support the band 4 crisis response practitioners in taking calls to the phone line and will be the escalation point for complex calls requiring a qualified practitioner involvement.
• The postholder will provide supervision to the band 4 crisis response practitioners as delegated in the governance structure
• In conjunction with the senior management team you will ensure safe and effective crisis support is delivered on a consistent basis and that targets are met or are escalated when challenges prevent this
• To undertake a comprehensive assessment including risk assessment effectively and efficiently using the triage tool, over the telephone and ensuring an urgent face to face assessment is carried out as appropriate, or the relevant blue light emergency service is deployed.
• To agree crisis care plans as appropriate to the triage outcome of the call and to support and advise relatives and care givers.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a high standard of practice based on a biopsychosocial assessment framework and supportive clinical management.
• Liaise and establish good working relationships with referring agents, colleagues in Primary Care services, Social Services, Community Mental Health Teams, Assertive Outreach, In-Patient services, Emergency Services, Criminal Justice, Voluntary Sector and other agencies as appropriate.
• To have knowledge of and practice a range of therapeutic interventions available to reduce distress for individuals experiencing an acute mental health crisis.
• Ability to work autonomously
• To work with the service in developing plans that offer supportive crisis care in the least restrictive way.
• Act as a role model in the practice area, encouraging staff in supervision to sustain a supportive learning environment.
• Be responsible for the maintenance and accurate recording of patient information in the documentation systems and to ensure the effective dissemination of service user information throughout the Trust.
• Ensure compliance with the requirements Safeguarding Adults and Children’s policies. To ensure that staff have the required knowledge and skills to work within these procedures to support the safety of vulnerable adults and children.

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.