Senior Mental Health Practitioner

By joining us you can look forward to a choice of flexible Bank shifts across any of our client Trusts in England, as well as the ability to develop professionally and gain experience in several wards or areas.

Main Duties

• Offer a comprehensive health visiting service in accordance with Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (BHFT) policy and guidelines and The Healthy Child Programme 0-5 years.
• Assess child and family needs, using the appropriate assessment and risk assessment tools. Ensure that at each contact with a child an assessment of the health and developmental need is conducted.
• Develop and implement outcome focused care plans and evaluate care given, in partnership with clients.
• To provide support to families using the Solihull approach model in behaviour management, parenting skills and delivering programmes of care to vulnerable families.
• To support breastfeeding and parent infant relationships applying the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative standards.
• Develop and facilitate Health Visiting drop in clinics, health promotion activities and groups.
• Identify and respond to individual client and local health needs and to incorporate the four principles of health visiting and the service model set out in the Health Visitor Implementation plan.
• Provide care according to the available evidence of best practice and supports the team in the development of evidence based practice.
• Establish effective working relationships with members of the Primary Health Care Team, Midwives, Children Centres, School Nurses, allied professionals and voluntary agencies to achieve best health and wellbeing outcomes for families and children.

About Us

Who are NHS Professionals?

We specialise in putting people in places to care. Every year we help thousands of dedicated candidates and highly skilled NHS workers enjoy better career opportunities, access to more shifts and a healthier work‑life balance, giving more choice and control to our members.

As an equal opportunities' organisation, NHSP is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective Bank members and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender reassignment, or marriage and civil partnership.

We believe there is a strong case for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda and we strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a range of backgrounds to apply.

Job Details

Job Title: Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Trust: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Location: Resource House, Berkshire

Contract: Bank, ongoing full time

Shift Patterns: Monday‑Friday 9‑5

Pay: Day £22.99 per hour; Sat/Nights £29.89 per hour; Sun/Bank Hols £36.79 per hour

Band: Band 6

Salary: £22 to £36 an hour

Working Pattern: Flexible working

Reference Number: M0042‑24‑5964

Responsibilities

• The post holder will be responsible for the formulation, execution and evaluation of a care plan for a designated number of patients who may present with significant complexity within a multidisciplinary team.
• The post holder will ensure that each individual plan is developed in consultation/agreement with the patient and informed by the wider multidisciplinary team.
• The post holder will be responsible for identifying the specific interventions and skills required from the multidisciplinary team to deliver the plan of care and expected health/social outcomes with are evidence based and lead to recovery and minimise risk.
• The post holder will be responsible for devising a risk and safety plan with each individual patient and alerting the crisis/home treatment team services as required.
• The post holder will operate within the principles of recovery and as such support each patient to develop a Wellness Recovery Action Plan and reduce dependence on Secondary Mental Health Services enabling a planned integration into local community facilities and the discharge as part of the patients recovery plan.
• This is a varied role where you’ll be expected to undertake the range of responsibilities specified above, working together with your line manager and colleagues to ensure that the activities of this post make a real difference to our patients. Your line manager may ask you to undertake other reasonable duties to facilitate the smooth running of your service or team.
• We are an equal opportunities employer and you’ll be expected to role‑model equality of opportunity, live the values and always operate in accordance with our Equal Opportunities Policy.
• Health and Safety at work is important to us and we would like you to role‑model the highest standards of behaviour and go above and beyond by adopting excellent practice where it links to the health and wellbeing of our colleagues. It is important that you cooperate with us to ensure that statutory and departmental safety regulations are adhered to.

Qualifications & Experience

Qualifications:

• Qualified Psychiatric Nurse, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist with +2‑year post registration experience preferred.
• Statement of NMC Registration (for Registered Nurse roles).
• Degree/Diploma in Nursing (for Registered Nurse roles).

Experience:

• Previous knowledge and experience of working in the community and with service users who have complex mental health needs.
• Knowledge and experience of applying evidence‑based strategies and psycho‑social interventions to effectively engage with service users and their carers.
• Experience of formulating risk assessments.
• Experience of working with mental health services (or ability to demonstrate transferable skills).
• Experience of clinically supervising junior and unqualified staff and mentoring students.
• Experience of working effectively in a multi‑disciplinary team and multi‑agency environment.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Specialist knowledge acquired through training in a specialised discipline.
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the health and social care systems and operating frameworks, clinical observations and the Mental Health Act.
• Clear understanding of complex needs support issues such as homelessness, substance misuse and offending.
• Knowledge of safeguarding protocols.
• Knowledge and understanding of how to deal with challenging individuals.
• Effective and competent interpersonal, influencing, communication, observation, and reporting skills.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to analyse situations and make the right decisions.
• Able to empathise, be supportive and sensitive to the needs of others, and cope with distressing circumstances.
• Ability to cope in a pressurised environment and apply practical problem‑solving skills in everyday situations.
• Ability to manage risk and maintain clear boundaries.
• Psychological awareness of others strengths and weaknesses, awareness of different coping styles, perspective‑taking.
• Ability to work effectively in a team, work on own initiative, work unsupervised and manage own workload.

Person Specification

• Minimum of 6 months paid experience as Senior Mental Health Practitioner in a Mental Health Hospital within the last 3 years.
• All Registered Nurse roles must provide evidence of NMC registration and Degree/Diploma in Nursing.

Benefits

• Putting People in Places to Care community; weekly pay; Blue Light Card NHS discount; first choice of shifts/placements at the Trust of your choice; support line; flexible work options; training and development opportunities via the Trust and NHSP Academy; explore different wards; member activities and perks.

Additional Information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and will require a submission of Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

UK Registration: Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer Details

Employer name: NHS Professionals Limited

Address: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Berkshire, RG1 5AN

Website:

Apply Today

By joining us you can look forward to a choice of flexible Bank shifts or fixed term placements across any of our client Trusts in England.