Senior Triage Worker - Calderdale Open Minds

Job responsibilities

Purpose of Role: The primary aim of the role will be to support the First Point of Contact to fulfil its primary aim of processing a high volume of referrals in a prompt and efficient way.

The post is being created for a number of reasons;

• Demand into FPOC continues to increase (over 100% increase over last 4 years)

• The FPOC staff team continues to expand

• The FPOC Manager and Deputy Manager roles have evolved to include more strategic service development. Additional capacity is therefore needed to oversee the co-ordination of referrals and day-to-day running of FPoC

• There are a number of developments in the pipeline to ensure FPOC has stronger links to other services who are able to meet the needs of young people and families (e.g. school nursing, 3rd sector wellbeing organisations within the wider Open Minds Partnership, pre-school autism referrals, integration of digital mental health support).

Main tasks:

• Ensuring new referrals are risk screened in a timely way – either by the postholder or by another member of the team

• Day to day co-ordination and allocation of referrals to members of the team

• Ensure the database of referrals is managed and is accurate and up-to-date

• Responding to and Coordination of consultations received in to FPoC

• The postholder will also be expected to complete an amount of triage and consultation for more complex cases that are received into service

Typical day/week: A typical week as a senior triage worker would entail risk screening and assigning all new referrals into service, daily checks of the database to ensure all referrals are accounted for and up to date, responding to consultation requests from parents/carers and professionals, attending the daily triage worker huddle to provide support and consultation to the team and managing your own caseload of the more complex referrals into service.

Other duties:

• Help ensure the triage/information gathering process is focused on the strengths of the young person and their mental health needs

• Support FPOC staff to ensure that each referral has a clear plan, formulation and outcome

• Contribute to the ongoing review and improvement of triage guidance, systems, pathways and processes

• Facilitate the daily FPoC Huddle and Triage Worker Huddle in the absence of the Deputy Manager

• Attend the planned daily catch-ups/huddles with SWYPFT Open Minds CAMHS duty workers (specialist CAMHS practitioners)

• Support with induction and ongoing guidance for new members of staff.

• Management of cases on Patient Delay to ensure throughput and thoroughness

• Supporting the FPoC Support team to respond to routine queries

• Help to make sure good communication takes places across the wider Open Minds service

• Support from the management and leadership team will be available to complete all these tasks.

Knowledge and Understanding

Essential

• Working understanding of safeguarding issues
• Working understanding of confidentiality issues
• Understanding of the mental and emotional health problems which can affect children, young people and their families, and of the interventions available

Desirable

• Knowledge of neurodevelopmental conditions (Autism and ADHD)
• Understanding of the pressures facing professionals who support children and young people, such as schools and GPs
• Knowledge of relevant local services and referral pathways in Calderdale

Training, Experience & Qualifications

Essential

• Experience of working in a mental health service or a similar organisation supporting children, young people and/or families
• Experience in assessing child protection/safeguarding concerns and the ability to act on these in accordance with relevant safeguarding procedures
• Experiencing a managing a varied list of daily tasks, according to the presenting risk and need
• Experience of speaking with families and professionals about sensitive and difficult topics
• Experience of helping to improve and develop services

Desirable

• A relevant qualification in the field of mental health or similar
• Experience of leading or managing staff, services or projects
• Experience of working in CAMHS or similar
• Experience of providing telephone support/advice
• Experience of using an electronic patient record system (e.g. IAPTus/SystmOne) Experience of supporting young people with SEN, and or neurodevelopmental needs (ASD/ADHD)

Qualities and Values

Essential

• An understanding and sensitivity towards mental health issues
• Evidence of a positive and proactive attitude, motivated and solution-focused
• Commitment to the principles of inclusivity, equality and diversity, demonstrated in practice
• Demonstrates values consistent with those of Northpoint

Skills and Competencies

Essential

• Able to deal with calls from young people, parents/carers and professionals which may involve emotional or distressing content, including potential complaints in to the service
• Able to provide support and guidance to parents and professionals on matters relating to childrens mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Able to build and maintain relationships with others both internal and external to the organisation whilst maintaining appropriate professional boundaries
• Ability to plan and organise workload in line with targets and coordinate tasks to other members of the team
• Able to work according to organisational policies and procedures
• Actively committed to personal & professional development
• IT skills i.e. able to use Microsoft Office packages including Word and Outlook and video conferencing such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including communicating clearly and concisely at all levels (both orally and in writing)