Triage Practitioner

Job overview

Come and join the Mental Health Single point of Access (SPA) team for Surrey and North East Hampshire.

The SPA Service offers:

• A single referral point for GPs and other professionals across Surrey and north east Hampshire
• Compressed hours e.g. Mon-Weds 8am-8pm.
• A 24 hour telephone advice and support for people who use services and carers
• More responsive crisis services with improved experiences for people who use services, carers and professionals

Our aim is to provide people with mental health issues access to the support they need at the right time, with positive outcomes.

We are looking for people who are dedicated to promoting recovery, and who can inspire people experiencing mental health and their families that recovery is possible for everyone. You will have access to training and support and supervision from qualified Nurses, Occupational Therapists and Social Workers.

Post holders will work within our hub located at Gatton Place, Redhill located across the Trust providing a single point of access for all emergency, urgent and routine referrals. You will be working alongside our team of practitioners in order to expand skills and experience in the triage, assessment and treatment of people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Main duties of the job

Single Point of Access (SPA) is an integrated role in order to support the triage and/or rapid response as well as the Home Treatment elements of the service and the post holder will be responsible for creating an environment which is safe, supportive and an easily accessible with a no wrong door approach.

'I have been employed as a mental health triage practitioner with the Single Point of Access (SPA) Team since the service started in 2018. Moving from mental health social work in the community, I was initially apprehensive about working in a service that was solely telephone based but I quickly learnt the value of a single service providing a vital formulation of a person’s needs, vulnerabilities but also strengths at the point of referral. I passionately believe that telephone triage as a brief intervention alone can sometimes provide a level of stability and trust in the next stage of a person’s journey for mental health support. Working for a 24 hour service affords a level of flexibility that has allowed me to establish a healthy work and home/life balance. I have been fortunate to be supported by SABP to complete the foundation year of systemic therapy training which has allowed me to bring a new lens of relational understanding to my clinical work.'

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for the requirements of this role.