Healthy Minds Mental Health Practitioner - Northpoint Wellbeing

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job title: Healthy Minds Mental Health Practitioner

Service: Healthy Minds Extended Access Service

Responsible to: Nicola Grogan Deputy Operational Services Manager

Contract: Permanent

Salary/Pay Band: £27,055- £32,934 WTE (Salary range is equivalent to Band 5 on NHS Agenda for Change).

Pension: Eligible employees will be auto-enrolled in a defined contribution scheme

Hours and days: Part-time 14.5 hours, Friday 9-4.30- Saturday 9-5pm.

Holidays: 28 days annual leave per year plus statutory holidays pro-rata and up to 3 discretionary leave days at Christmas.

Location: Predominantly based remotely (home based or equivalent) and with a small amount of activity within a surgery/s within one or more of the following PCN groups: Chapeltown, Beeston, Middleton, Hunslet or Woodsley and Holt Park, working as part of an extended Primary Care mental health team with support from Northpoint Wellbeing.

Start-date: ASAP

Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate: Due to the nature of the work this post will be subject to an enhanced DBS check. Northpoints policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders is available on request - a past criminal conviction will not necessarily be a bar to employment.

Purpose of the role:

The emphasis of the Healthy Minds service is on triage to ensure the patient is referred into the most appropriate service and higher risk patients are followed up to ensure they are engaging with services or the provision of a timely Helpful Conversation to assist patients experiencing chronic/complex common mental health presentations towards increased self-management of anxiety, depression symptoms and an improved tolerance to distress to improve wellbeing, facilitate increased awareness and agency for individuals to self-manage both their mental health and wellbeing.

For patients presenting with mild depression/anxiety or with situational crisis, the service will offer:

• Low level psychoeducation and support to enable patients manage their fears and make practical and emotional recommendations to help patients take control of their worry and develop effective coping mechanisms for anxiety and panic.

• Signposting (Mindwell Leeds, Linking Leeds, self-referral to LMWS) where confident patients have the ability to navigate this effectively.

For patients with moderate/severe depression and anxiety, the service will offer:

• Risk assessment

• Provide some psychoeducation and support

• Refer to appropriate service

• Ensure there is appropriate follow up

• Feedback to referring PCN Clinician

Overall Aim: to ensure patients mental & emotional health needs are better supported, that referrals to appropriate services are made more efficiently, and that GP and other Primary Care Clinician workload is reduced appropriately.

• To allow patients to have a timely triage/assessment of their mental & emotional health needs, ideally within 2-3 working days.

• To ensure patients are better enabled to manage their own mental & emotional health where appropriate

• To ensure patients are supported to access appropriate mental services where these exist including PCN practice-based Mental Health Nurses, Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service, Social Prescribing, Mindwell and third sector support services.

• To minimise duplication with other mental health services

• To reduce self-harm and suicide attempts, A&E contacts, and inappropriate crisis team assessments

The post-holder/s will predominantly work remotely (home based or equivalent) and provide telephone triage, assessment and decision-making support to ensure that patients with common mental health needs gain access to the most appropriate pathway and intervention. There will be a requirement to deliver some face-to-face support (circa one day per week) in at least one of GP practices.

The post-holder/s will be required to carry out assessment and formulation of mental health needs in order to assist patients towards increased self-management of anxiety and depression symptoms and better tolerance of distress. The role will also involve identifying opportunities to support individuals with their mental health by helping them to access appropriate community support, encourage behavioural and lifestyle changes, enabling and empowering patients to become actively involved in their own wellbeing.

The role combines the skills of triage/assessment/care navigation/psychological support. Key to the role will be the ability to utilise psychological formulation (i.e. construct meaning out of mental distress) and build trusting relationships quickly whilst motivating individuals to make sustained changes.

The mental health practitioners will utilise a range of therapeutic skills, including, but not limited to:

Assessment of need/triage + onward referral/signposting

Active listening and reflective discussion

Psychoeducation

CBT-based and counselling techniques

Motivational interviewing

Understanding / challenging unhelpful patterns of behaviour

Main duties:

The duties and responsibilities of the post will include:

Referrals, triage & assessment:

• Accept referrals of patients with chronic and/or mild to moderate common mental health problems (predominantly anxiety, depression and OCD) via agreed protocols within the GP Practice/s.

• Use SystmOne/EMIS patient management system (after training) to record referrals, assessments and outcomes.

• Identify and manage cases where complexity and/or severity are present, including triaging referrals and signposting to appropriate mental health and crisis support.

• Use therapeutic skills where appropriate to help patients to contain and manage acute emotional distress which does not pose a risk.

• Complete a comprehensive and holistic assessment of need for those referred to the service within an agreed timeframe, in order to determine the most appropriate help and support.

• Develop an understanding of the particular issues presented, including any complicating social factors (physical health, employment, housing, substance misuse, etc), the patients sense of what support would be helpful and realistic, and the patients readiness to engage with connecting services.

• Offer consultation, advice, and decision support to primary care colleagues.

Caseload management & interventions:

• Typically, a post holder would offer circa 40 (30min Triage) and 7 (60min Follow-up) appointments per week.

• Manage a full caseload and reach agreed activity levels set within the service and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.

• Within Follow-up appointment use a range of techniques and interventions to support patients with mental health needs to self-manage their symptoms, and encourage behavioural and lifestyle change, while working within boundaries of professional training and competence.

• Respond to unpredictable situations of risk and manage these in a safe, professional and holistic manner, utilising appropriate risk assessment, relapse prevention interventions and risk management plans.

• Facilitate patients to use/develop their own resources and support networks (family/friends), provide extra support for patients to access the wide range of existing psycho-educational, peer support and wellbeing groups within Leeds.

• Support navigation into a range of other useful social and support services, including Forward Leeds, Health Trainers and social prescribing.

• Build knowledge of relevant local community networks and support individuals to access these, where appropriate (including but not limited to LMWS, Secondary Care Mental Health services, social prescribing service, local voluntary sector mental health provision).

• Encourage patients to actively manage their own mental health/wellbeing.

• Help patients to develop skills and build confidence in their ability to regulate their emotional state and make appropriate choices which promote mental wellbeing; encourage patients to self-initiate positive behaviours and to gain problem-solving skills.

• Educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying clinical formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language.

• Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.

• Keep records of all clinical activity in line with service protocols using SystmOne/EMIS and any paper-based systems as appropriate.

• Monitor patient experience using a qualitative evaluation questionnaire.

• Work closely with the GP practices and other members of the team ensuring appropriate timely communication, and be available to support practice staff with queries about referrals and suitability.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• A relevant qualification at NVQ Level 3 (e.g. NVQ Level 3 in Mental Health & Social Care) or equivalent (psychology graduate), and/or significant experience in mental health support work.

Experience

Essential

• At least two years experience of working in a mental health setting with clients presenting with multiple & complex mental health issues.
• Experience of undertaking specialist mental health risk assessments, formulation and managing safeguarding issues safely and appropriately.
• Experience of delivering appropriate therapeutic casework skill, risk management and relapse prevention interventions in a time-limited manner
• Experience of managing and organising own caseload and time to meet service targets and deadlines.

Desirable

• Relevant experience in Primary or Secondary Care mental health services
• Experience of working within a Third Sector organisation.
• Experience of working in a service with agreed targets for outputs and clinical outcomes
• Experience of SystmOne/EMIS or similar IT system for outcome and case- management recording.

Knowledge

Essential

• An understanding of anxiety and depression and how it may present in Primary Care services
• An understanding of the work of secondary care mental health services and complex mental health presentations
• An understanding of the relationship between employment/unemployment and mental health problems
• An understanding of trauma informed approach

Desirable

• Knowledge of existing services within the area.

Skills & Competencies

Essential

• Ability to deliver a range of mental health support appropriate to the needs and capacities of the client group
• Can demonstrate sound clinical skills and ability to make clinical decisions, in line with professional standards, NICE guidelines and service protocols
• Ability to develop and sustain meaningful relationships with clients
• Ability to organise self, meet deadlines and work on own initiative within set parameters
• Ability to manage safeguarding issues safely and appropriately
• Ability to be self-reflective, whilst working with service users, and in own personal and professional development, and to use supervision positively and effectively
• Ability to work with complex mental health issues
• Creative, flexible and imaginative approach to working with people with mental health problems
• Demonstrate a commitment to enabling and empowering clients to become actively involved in their own wellbeing
• Computer-literate
• High standards in written communication, including ability to write clear records and letters to referrers

Desirable

• Ability to deliver support in community languages
• Ability to employ psychological formulation

Training

Essential

• Able to attend supervision training, and other training as the post develops
• Good record of Continuing Professional Development and willingness to continue this.

Other Requirements

Essential

• High level of enthusiasm and motivation
• Ability to work independently and within a team and foster good working relationships
• Ability to work under pressure
• Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy and confidentiality

Desirable

• Experience of working with diverse communities and within a multicultural setting.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Northpoint Wellbeing Ltd

Address

Northpoint Wellbeing Ltd

Hunslet Road

Leeds

LS10 1JN

Employer's website

https://northpoint.org.uk (Opens in a new tab)