Job summary
Street Triage is a small but vital part of HPFT's work in crisis services. The Street Triage Clinicians work mostly autonomously in the assessment of people who have come to the notice of police. The role involves providing both background information for the force control room staff and the officers who are with someone they have concerns for, often leading to face-to-face assessments.
The service is evolving as both HPFT's and the Police's response to immediate mental health needs changes to meet the needs of Hertfordshire's residents.
The current shift pattern includes a day shift and 2 late evening/night shifts. These may change as the service undergoes regular review and the Team best decides how to meet the needs of the service.
It is a challenging role suitable for staff who have experience of lone working/autonomous assessment, who can assess in the most difficult of environments and who can follow up with other services to continue care provision when needed.
This role often involves 'blue light' responses that involve being driven at speed.
This role requires Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Professional Registration or Social Work England Professional Registration. This role is for suitably Qualified staff.
Main duties of the job
Job Summary
- To work within an emergency response framework (Blue Light), attend 999 calls on immediate, blue lights and sirens as required to attend to the immediate mental health crisis presented.
- Work autonomously as an experienced mental health professional with the ability to give specialist mental health triage assessment and advice.
- To liaise with clinical services and relevant agencies as a member of the Mental Health Triage team, as well as to contribute to the development of the Mental Health Triage service across Hertfordshire.
- To provide expert mental health advice to the Hertfordshire Police, British Transport Police and East of England Emergency Ambulance staff (EEAST).
- To work with a Police Officer/Paramedic assessing people in often complex situations, who the Police feel may be suffering from a mental health problem.
- To assess any risks that may be presented and formulate effective plans and strategies to meet and manage the risk involving liaison with the service user, their family, mental health services, the Police and possibly the EEAST.
- To prevent the use of a section 136 where possible and appropriate.
- To prevent referral to A&E for mental health assessment, where possible and appropriate.
All staff should comply with the Trust's Open Culture, Employee Charter, Trust Policies & Procedures and Equality and Diversity.
About us
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from theCare Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.
Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.
The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:
Our Trust values are:
Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.
These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it!
Would you like to be part of the HPFT family? Would you like work with us to ensure our service users live the fullest lives possible they can? Would you like to be supported in your career to be the best that you can be?
Then please read on...
Job description
Job responsibilities
Values and Behaviours
- Our values and behaviours have been developed by over 800 service users, carers and members of staff. They describe how we aim to be with service users, carers and each other. By living our values we will deliver our ambition to be a leading provider for everyone we work with.
- We are welcoming so you feel valued as an individual.
- We are kind so you can feel cared for.
- We are positive so you can feel supported and included.
- We are respectful so you can feel listened to and heard
- We are professional so you can feel safe and confident
Our values set the tone for
- The way we plan and make decisions.
- The way we behave with service users and each other.
- The kind of colleagues we recruit.
- The way we induct, appraise and develop our staff.
- To demonstrate highly developed clinical skills in relation to triage Mental Health assessment, in-situ risk assessment, advice and interventions for service users with acute mental health issues, adolescents 16 to 18 and their families, older people with functional and organic mental health issues, people with a learning disability who may be in crisis and people with drug and alcohol misuse dependency and currently intoxicated, including people with dual diagnoses and people in custody.
- To exercise high levels of judgement and decision making in the care and treatment of people with acute mental health issues.
- To autonomously formulate, implement and ratify immediate plans of care for short term intervention and management of a persons mental health needs which are based upon an appropriate conceptual framework. Such plans will usually involve sharing of complex, sensitive and, at times, contentious information.
- To meet the aims of the Mental Health Triage Service to ensure that any person who does have a mental health issue receives the most effective care and treatment, either signposting to appropriate services or referring to mental health services. And in so doing, prevent the use of a Section 136 detention & A&E attendance whenever possible.
- To carry out Mental Health triage assessments and advise/support the police and paramedics about the service users mental health status; seeing people in their homes and in the community, public places across the whole of Hertfordshire County and in the custody suites for the purpose of providing a S136 MH consultation.
- When with EEAST attend urgent/999 physical health situations and give assistance as appropriate to your professional training and competencies.
- To promote the rights and entitlements of service users to ensure equality of access to services. Ensuring that the needs of service users and carers are meaningfully considered during the care process and act as an advocate for the Service user carer/family to receive the most appropriate care at a time of crisis.
- You will be required to work shifts as a as an autonomous mental health practitioner. The service will run 7 days a week covering 20 hours a day; The shifts may be subject to change to meet the evolving needs of the multi professional service and its service users.
- Within your shift you will be accountable for keeping comprehensive and contemporaneous electronic patient entries, and for communicating effectively with other teams to ensure safe and effective care and treatment for the service users triaged.
- To work within the strict parameters of GDPR when outside agencies are requesting sensitive and confidential information and making decisions on what information to share, and to whom, ensuring the ultimate decision making is clear, justifiable, legal and clearly documented
- To collect shift based quantifiable data and information required for effective evaluation of the service.
- To be conversant with the Mental Health Act/Mental Capacity Act and the requirements relating to Section 136 and any other sections that people may be subject to in the course of your work including safeguarding adults and children
Communication and Relationships
- To communicate complex and often highly sensitive information effectively to service users, carers, and professionals from a wide variety of agencies, including the Police, EEAST, Adult and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Learning Disability Services, Social Services (including Adult Care Services and Children, Schools and Families, Primary Care Services, independent sector and out of county NHS care providers and voluntary agencies).
- To communicate highly sensitive and contentious issues and / or information to service users in a potentially hostile, antagonistic and highly emotive atmosphere / situation e.g. when assessing and addressing challenging behaviour when there may be barriers to communication such as intoxication, hostility, learning disability, mental illness with acute symptoms or language. You may be asked to offer advice to Police Negotiators in relation to the communication with a person in a volatile situation, if it is safe to do so, and conduct a triage assessment if required.
- To communicate complex, highly sensitive and contentious issues and/or information to the carers / families of service users in a potentially hostile, antagonistic and highly emotive atmosphere / situation e.g. where there may be a difference of opinion to the needs of the person being assessed.
- To communicate verbally and in comprehensive and structured written notes, detailing the triage, assessment, treatment and management recommendations relating to the person seen and triaged.
- To provide expert knowledge and advice related to practice in the specialist area of mental health to a wide variety of agencies as described above.
- To use a range of skills to communicate complex information on the work of the team in a variety of settings.
- To provide information to the Police to assist them to update their records of the incidents and write statements, if needed, regarding an incident.
- To liaise with all services within HPFT, and nationally, in relation to the ongoing care, treatment and management of people seen by the Police and Mental Health Triage Team. To offer treatment and care planning recommendations in relation to the 24/7 element of any plan of care.
- To liaise with the AMPH Service, HPFT Bed Management Team and Out of Hours Leads with regards to any admission to acute inpatient services that might be required.
- To advise other professionals from the emergency services about assessment of capacity and carry out and document such assessments as required.
- Liaise with other agencies including Drug & Alcohol services, Adult Care Services, Children, Schools and Families, Housing and voluntary sector agencies with regard to individuals presenting with risk issues and mental health issues.
- To liaise to create effective links with the HPFT Learning Disability Service and develop the service to include the assessment and management of people with learning disabilities within the community who present in crisis or have acute mental health issues.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Values and Behaviours
- Our values and behaviours have been developed by over 800 service users, carers and members of staff. They describe how we aim to be with service users, carers and each other. By living our values we will deliver our ambition to be a leading provider for everyone we work with.
- We are welcoming so you feel valued as an individual.
- We are kind so you can feel cared for.
- We are positive so you can feel supported and included.
- We are respectful so you can feel listened to and heard
- We are professional so you can feel safe and confident
Our values set the tone for
- The way we plan and make decisions.
- The way we behave with service users and each other.
- The kind of colleagues we recruit.
- The way we induct, appraise and develop our staff.
- To demonstrate highly developed clinical skills in relation to triage Mental Health assessment, in-situ risk assessment, advice and interventions for service users with acute mental health issues, adolescents 16 to 18 and their families, older people with functional and organic mental health issues, people with a learning disability who may be in crisis and people with drug and alcohol misuse dependency and currently intoxicated, including people with dual diagnoses and people in custody.
- To exercise high levels of judgement and decision making in the care and treatment of people with acute mental health issues.
- To autonomously formulate, implement and ratify immediate plans of care for short term intervention and management of a persons mental health needs which are based upon an appropriate conceptual framework. Such plans will usually involve sharing of complex, sensitive and, at times, contentious information.
- To meet the aims of the Mental Health Triage Service to ensure that any person who does have a mental health issue receives the most effective care and treatment, either signposting to appropriate services or referring to mental health services. And in so doing, prevent the use of a Section 136 detention & A&E attendance whenever possible.
- To carry out Mental Health triage assessments and advise/support the police and paramedics about the service users mental health status; seeing people in their homes and in the community, public places across the whole of Hertfordshire County and in the custody suites for the purpose of providing a S136 MH consultation.
- When with EEAST attend urgent/999 physical health situations and give assistance as appropriate to your professional training and competencies.
- To promote the rights and entitlements of service users to ensure equality of access to services. Ensuring that the needs of service users and carers are meaningfully considered during the care process and act as an advocate for the Service user carer/family to receive the most appropriate care at a time of crisis.
- You will be required to work shifts as a as an autonomous mental health practitioner. The service will run 7 days a week covering 20 hours a day; The shifts may be subject to change to meet the evolving needs of the multi professional service and its service users.
- Within your shift you will be accountable for keeping comprehensive and contemporaneous electronic patient entries, and for communicating effectively with other teams to ensure safe and effective care and treatment for the service users triaged.
- To work within the strict parameters of GDPR when outside agencies are requesting sensitive and confidential information and making decisions on what information to share, and to whom, ensuring the ultimate decision making is clear, justifiable, legal and clearly documented
- To collect shift based quantifiable data and information required for effective evaluation of the service.
- To be conversant with the Mental Health Act/Mental Capacity Act and the requirements relating to Section 136 and any other sections that people may be subject to in the course of your work including safeguarding adults and children
Communication and Relationships
- To communicate complex and often highly sensitive information effectively to service users, carers, and professionals from a wide variety of agencies, including the Police, EEAST, Adult and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Learning Disability Services, Social Services (including Adult Care Services and Children, Schools and Families, Primary Care Services, independent sector and out of county NHS care providers and voluntary agencies).
- To communicate highly sensitive and contentious issues and / or information to service users in a potentially hostile, antagonistic and highly emotive atmosphere / situation e.g. when assessing and addressing challenging behaviour when there may be barriers to communication such as intoxication, hostility, learning disability, mental illness with acute symptoms or language. You may be asked to offer advice to Police Negotiators in relation to the communication with a person in a volatile situation, if it is safe to do so, and conduct a triage assessment if required.
- To communicate complex, highly sensitive and contentious issues and/or information to the carers / families of service users in a potentially hostile, antagonistic and highly emotive atmosphere / situation e.g. where there may be a difference of opinion to the needs of the person being assessed.
- To communicate verbally and in comprehensive and structured written notes, detailing the triage, assessment, treatment and management recommendations relating to the person seen and triaged.
- To provide expert knowledge and advice related to practice in the specialist area of mental health to a wide variety of agencies as described above.
- To use a range of skills to communicate complex information on the work of the team in a variety of settings.
- To provide information to the Police to assist them to update their records of the incidents and write statements, if needed, regarding an incident.
- To liaise with all services within HPFT, and nationally, in relation to the ongoing care, treatment and management of people seen by the Police and Mental Health Triage Team. To offer treatment and care planning recommendations in relation to the 24/7 element of any plan of care.
- To liaise with the AMPH Service, HPFT Bed Management Team and Out of Hours Leads with regards to any admission to acute inpatient services that might be required.
- To advise other professionals from the emergency services about assessment of capacity and carry out and document such assessments as required.
- Liaise with other agencies including Drug & Alcohol services, Adult Care Services, Children, Schools and Families, Housing and voluntary sector agencies with regard to individuals presenting with risk issues and mental health issues.
- To liaise to create effective links with the HPFT Learning Disability Service and develop the service to include the assessment and management of people with learning disabilities within the community who present in crisis or have acute mental health issues.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Relevant Professional Qualification, i.e. o RMN or
- Dip/BSc (Hons) in Mental Health Nursing or,
- Occupational Therapy Degree/ Diploma or Degree or equivalent in Social Work.
- Up-to-date Professional Registration
- Evidence of further post graduate level development/training.
Desirable
- AMHP
- Nurse prescriber
- Social work placement supervisor
- BSC/Hons Specialist Community Nursing Practice (Mental Health) or similar training or relevant experience
- DBT, CBT, Solution focused brief interventions, BFT, or other associated skillsbased training
Experience
Essential
- Extensive and varied post qualification experience in several areas of mental health with a significant period at a band 6 or equivalent level.
- Experience of working in a crisis setting.
- Experience in acute and community areas.
- Significant experience in a specialist area of mental health such as: Substance misuse, CAMHS, working with the older adult, working with people with personality disorders, PATH.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
- Experience of providing and receiving supervision
Desirable
- Experience of working as an AMHP.
- Experience of teaching or training.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Relevant Professional Qualification, i.e. o RMN or
- Dip/BSc (Hons) in Mental Health Nursing or,
- Occupational Therapy Degree/ Diploma or Degree or equivalent in Social Work.
- Up-to-date Professional Registration
- Evidence of further post graduate level development/training.
Desirable
- AMHP
- Nurse prescriber
- Social work placement supervisor
- BSC/Hons Specialist Community Nursing Practice (Mental Health) or similar training or relevant experience
- DBT, CBT, Solution focused brief interventions, BFT, or other associated skillsbased training
Experience
Essential
- Extensive and varied post qualification experience in several areas of mental health with a significant period at a band 6 or equivalent level.
- Experience of working in a crisis setting.
- Experience in acute and community areas.
- Significant experience in a specialist area of mental health such as: Substance misuse, CAMHS, working with the older adult, working with people with personality disorders, PATH.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
- Experience of providing and receiving supervision
Desirable
- Experience of working as an AMHP.
- Experience of teaching or training.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
