Mental Health Practitioner

Job overview

A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join a GP service as a Support Worker with experience, and interest in supporting people with mental health problems, and to join the Primary Care Plus service in Wandsworth, Putney & Roehampton and Battersea areas.

The team will consist of a Clinical Team Manager, Qualified Mental Health Practitioners, and experienced Primary Care Mental Health Recovery Workers

The Primary Care Plus service provides an enhanced level of primary care support to patients (18yrs +) with serious mental illness operating flexibly as both a step-up and step-down model.  Service users include those stepped down from Southwest London & St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWL) to primary care and those who are appropriate to step up from a GP practice (Serious Mental Illness) SMI Register. People aged 18 years onwards would access the service and would serve those with a diagnosis of stable schizophrenia and psychosis, bipolar disorder, major depression. The service is not aimed at people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression (clusters 1-4) as these are usually served by IAPT services.

The focus of the Primary Care Plus Team is to forge strong relationships with GPs to ensure that all CMHT discharges within 2 weeks of discharge are seen, and that an appropriate Wellness Plan (care plan) is agreed.

Main duties of the job

Provide face-to-face and remote recovery support to adults with SMI registered within participating GP practices.

Contribute to the completion and follow-up of annual SMI physical health checks, including lifestyle interventions and signposting to relevant services.

Support medication adherence, facilitate understanding of side effects, and signpost medication reviews with GPs or pharmacists if indicated.

Conduct risk screening (including self-harm, suicide, vulnerability, relapse indicators), escalating concerns immediately to senior clinicians, reporting incidents appropriately within the allocated GP practices and Datix/Ulysses within the Trust.

Deliver relapse prevention interventions, including wellness planning, coping strategies, and early-warning-sign identification.

Support access to community mental health services, talking therapies, social care, voluntary sector organisations, and peer support networks , recovery college, Hestia recovery café , active wellbeing, Wandsworth bereavement service, Citizens Advice Bureau , The Drug and Alcohol services , Mind , Enable , Befriending Services , Wandsworth Carers Centre, EMHIP Project for service -users from the Ethnic backgrounds etc.

Promote wellbeing, independence, social inclusion, and meaningful activity engagement.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Facilitate recovery-focused goal setting, structured interventions, and strengths-based support sessions.

• To facilitate the yearly neuroleptic depot injection review once a year and schedule medication review with the GP if needed regarding active side effects / considering alternative medication if indicated as well as providing adequate psychoeducation to enhance concordance.

• -       Help with the improvement of pathways between primary and secondary care (and vice-versa) by facilitating the discharges from secondary mental health services safely to primary care by arranging transfer of care (TOC) meetings with the appropriate service/ care coordinator, the service-user, and the PCP clinician.

• -       Work always to promote the safety and the well-being of service users and their families/carers.

• -       Being aligned with the PCN Networks to ensure ongoing collaborative working in supporting the recovery of the SMI service-users.

• -       Champion the Trust values within the team.

• -       Provide supervision /PADR support to the band 5 junior colleagues regularly

• -       Deputise or chair team meetings if needed in the absence of the team manager

• Be in link worker between PCP and the IRH’s/CMHT’s for collaborative working to improve the discharge pathways, arrange Transfer of care (TOC) and ensure appropriate referrals in supporting the SMI service-users when being stepped down to primary care.

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