Outreach Practitioner

Job responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

• Work closely with key internal and external personnel and stakeholders including midwifery, acute medical staffing, Social Services provision, Housing, Voluntary and non-statutory agencies and a wider Health and Social Care Community.
• Co-ordinate and investigate complaints, ensuring that any clinical lessons learned are identified and disseminated to the relevant teams.
• Ensure that any learning from SUIs and RCAs is identified, disseminated and where necessary put into practice.
• Ensure close liaison with primary health care staff and commissioning officers regarding referral criteria into the services and quality standards and ensure targets from the National Framework are met.
• Liaise with professional stakeholder groups and interface service providers and agencies to develop mutually helpful working relationships.
• Act as a point of contact for agencies outside Devon Partnership Trust seeking information about the team, or wanting to refer to it.
• Present information, some of which may be contentious, to staff groups, service user groups, carers groups and other stakeholders using a range of techniques and media.
• Demonstrates communications which are professional, and act as role model for peers and wider staff group.
• Ability to persuade, use data and make forceful argument.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Role model clinical leadership.
• Practice in a way that actively minimises dependency and promotes recovery.
• Communicate information in a way that makes it relevant and understandable for users of services.
• Promote a duty of care to users of services; encompassing safe and competent care.
• Take personal accountability for own practice; answerable for actions and omissions, regardless of advice or directions from another professional.
• Remain professionally competent by participating in own and others clinical supervision.
• Demonstrate specialist knowledge and skills, not only relating to the care of users of services, but also in depth knowledge of the roles and functions of other professionals across services.
• Produce evaluation data and reports in a timely manner where required.
• Identify, gather and produce information that improves understanding.

Planning and Organisational Skills

• Assess, plan & deliver complex care packages to admission vulnerable & discharged women from the Mother & Baby Unit, ensuring high quality liaison with other professionals, families & carers at every stage of care.
• Actively participate in multi-agency forums to ensure the identification of need and the development and delivery of integrated local services in line with local need.
• Ensure that activity is delivered in accordance with agreed quality standards and to service level agreements and in line with relevant national guidance.
• Work within Service Business Continuity Plan (BCP) & ensure a safe service at all times, escalating risks to the Service Manager when indicated.
• Work within the service Clinical Governance framework, which includes with care pathways/clinical practice; provide expert professional advice with regards to clinical care, incidents and complaints.
• Provide and facilitate education and learning from experience.
• Monitor and improve quality in line with NICE guidance.
• Contribute to the ongoing operation and development of the service..
• Promote the service locally and nationally as appropriate.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

• Promote, develop and role model high standards of clinical care.
• Develop and implement care plans, ensuring active involvement of service users and their carers.
• Ensure robust systems are in place to monitor the clinical practice of team members in line with CQC standards.
• Ensure effective care pathways are in place for transition between mental health and other services eg Acute Medical, CAMHS, Child Protection and Learning Disability..
• Ensure the availability of choice that meets the needs of the local population.
• Provide expert advice pertaining to complex cases.
• Have enhanced clinical skills.
• Work closely with other teams with the Trust and the Voluntary, Statutory and independent sectors to ensure effective discharge planning which incorporates implementation of key success criteria for NICE guidance eg NICE 192 Antenatal Postnatal Mental Health, CPA, Information Sharing etc.
• Implement a formal and active system of caseload review, caseload management and pro-active care management that will enable achievement of local and national targets.
• Participate in Safeguarding Adults and Children to Level 3 Enhanced as set out in Safeguarding Children and Young People: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff.

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

• Ensure the development of local expertise, ongoing service improvement and professional monitoring of standards.
• Identify and implement best practice in the delivery of the MBU Outreach Service.
• Undertake programmes of audit and research within the team and implement the findings.
• Participate in the maintenance of current services and future developments within the locality in conjunction with the Service Manager and other managers e.g Care Pathway development.
• Participate in the service governance and research agenda within the locality e.g Clinical Audits, NICE and Standards and Evaluation Research.
• Promote the NHS programme; right person has the right care, in the right place, at the right time, making the best use of available resources.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• Authorised signatory for small cash and/or financial payments e.g travel expenses
• Ensure that care is provided within resources.
• Ensure accurate travel records and expenses, submitted in a timely manner.

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

• Provide clinical leadership to the Community Perinatal Teams as required.
• Promote and be involved in reflective recovery focused practice.
• Provide specialist Perinatal Mental Health training to staff within the Perinatal Service, DPT & to external agencies.
• At all times follow Codes of Professional Conduct, ensuring all staff within sphere of responsibility also adhere to codes of conduct.
• Manage team members in line with DPT policies e.g sickness, and provide supervision for example Nursery Nurses

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

• Ensure that activity data is collected as required. Maintain and disseminate appropriate data relating to work undertaken e.g. research and audit results.
• Ensure clinical records are written contemporaneously and are accurate.

Responsibility for Research and Development

• Undertake programmes of research within the team as required, and implement the findings.
• Lead clinical audits within own area with support and oversight of service manager.

Freedom to Act

• Practice in a way that actively minimises dependency and promotes recovery.
• Communicate information in a way that makes it relevant and understandable for all including service users and carers, working to the principles of the functions policy implementation guidelines and practice in line with the standards and values set out in them.
• Aim to uphold the principles and approach of CPA, whether people are formally in CPA or not.
• Ensure the delivery of high standards of care to patients, who are entitled to receive safe and competent care. The patients wishes, feelings, values and beliefs should be taken into consideration as well as the views of the people close to them.
• Take personal accountability for your own practice. This means that you are answerable for your actions and omissions, regardless of advice or directions from another professional.
• Maintain your professional registration and clinical accountability.
• Proactively work on development of higher level clinical skills.

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

• Ensure Trust policy compliance including activity data and manual and electronic record keeping.
• Have an ongoing awareness of high clinical risk situations within the team and respond appropriately.
• Chair meetings as required relating to clinical management of individual clients where high levels of risk are involved.
• Attend other meetings relating to risk management where other agencies have a statutory role as chair.
• Chair and participate in multi-agency safeguarding meetings.

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills including the ability to engage with large groups who may be antagonistic.
• Able to produce well written reports.
• Ability to chair and participate in meetings which encompass complex organisational structures

Other

Essential

• Excellent clinical assessment skills.
• Ability to manage change in a positive manner

Planning and Organisational Skills

Essential

• Supervisory skills.
• Negotiation skills.
• Ability to manage own time and that of the teams.
• Ability to work flexibly.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

Essential

• Able to own problems and get involved in the solutions.
• Ability to manage risk.

Physical Skills

Essential

• Ability to be mobile across a geographical area.
• Computer literacy

Qualifications

Essential

• A professional mental health nursing qualification e.g. RMN, Nursing Degree, Qualified Occupational Therapist or Social Worker with extensive mental health experience.
• Post graduate qualification relevant to specialism or commitment to work towards.
• Training to Level 3 Enhanced in Safeguarding Adults, Children and Young People: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff, or commitment to work towards.

Desirable

• Management qualification

Experience

Essential

• Experience working with admission vulnerable cohorts of people
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment
• Extensive experience of managing a busy caseload of clients with a range of mental health problems.
• Substantial experience of working at a senior clinical level.
• Working within a community mental health setting in either the statutory or voluntary sector.
• Knowledge:
• Knowledge and experience of working in acute mental health settings
• An excellent understanding of the NSF and Mental Health Act/ Mental Health Capacity Act requirements, CPA Process.
• Awareness of community structures and social care options and processes.

Desirable

• Providing clinical supervision and managing staff.
• Knowledge:
• Understanding of recovery principles in Mental Health.
• Specialist knowledge and experience in working in perinatal mental health.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).