Healthcare Support Worker - Mental Health

Job summary

Opportunity to work as a Healthcare Support Worker and enrol on our bespoke Clinical Induction Programme to support you into your new role!

Would you like to work in a care environment, with patients who have a range of mental health and clinical needs? Would you like to have the opportunity to broaden your career horizons and work as a part of a committed and caring patient centred team? If so, we want to hear from you!

We are looking for enthusiastic Healthcare Support Workers to join our mental health teams which provide care to patients on our Inpatient adult mental health wards, Maples and Hawthorns, at St James Hospital in Portsmouth.

The inpatient wards are fast paced and dynamic, a wonderful environment to learn on the job and develop new skills.

We are looking for individuals with good communication skills along with a flexible and responsive approach as well as a genuine interest in working within this rewarding area of mental health nursing.

As you progress there are opportunities for further professional development, with apprenticeships for both nursing associate and nursing pathways. However, this is based on a further application process.

The team runs educational skills sessions at the start of each late shift before the commencement of handover, enhancing the already existing learning opportunities.

Main duties of the job

Our shift patterns over a 24-hour period and we have 3 shift patterns: early -- 07:00-15:00, Late- 13:30-21:30, Night- 21:00-07:30 over a 7 day period. We therefore ask that candidates are able to work a combination of these shift patterns.

The inpatient mental health teams work collaboratively to offer a seamless journey for patients based upon their needs and risks to ensure that care and treatment is assessed and provided in the least restrictive environment.

Successful candidates will be required to undertake Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression (PMVA) which is a series of techniques for the safe prevention and management of potential violence and aggression, and which requires a reasonable level of fitness (please contact the unit if you have any queries regarding this requirement).

Some previous caring experience is desirable though not essential.

About us

Make a difference with us

If you are looking for somewhere you can make a real difference and are passionate about keeping people safe, well and out of hospital, a career with us may be just what you're looking for. At Solent NHS Trust, we strive to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of our communities.

We are proud to be an organisation which is focused on our people and we welcome people who share our values to come and work with us.

To deliver great care that is safe, simple and easy to access

To be a caring, flexible and supportive place to work

To deliver the best value for money

Our shared values support the development of a strong working culture. They breathe life into our organisation -- guiding and inspiring all of our actions and decisions. They enable us to be better at what we do and create a great place for our staff to work, whilst ensuring we provide the highest quality of care to our patients.

In creating our values, we spent time listening to our employees and members. Based on what people told us, we created our HEART values to reflect the deep belief that we are caring organisation at the centre of our community: Honesty, Everyone counts, Accountable, Respectful, Teamwork.

We are an accredited Real Living Wage employer.

We encourage and support our staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against Covid-19.