Band 3 Healthcare Support Worker - Devizes

Avon And Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Nhs Trust; Devizes; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health care provider in Devizes is seeking a compassionate Healthcare Support Worker to support service users in crisis. This role offers the opportunity to work in a dynamic environment, promote independence, and participate in a multidisciplinary team. Candidates should have a strong commitment to improving mental health and wellbeing. Flexible shifts and training opportunities are available.

Qualifications

• Must have empathy and understanding of mental health issues.
• Experience in a healthcare or supportive role is advantageous.
• Ability to work flexible shifts including weekends.

Responsibilities

• Support individuals with personal care and nutrition.
• Help facilitate social inclusion for service users.
• Deliver psychosocial interventions and maintain safety.

Skills

Compassion

Resilience

Good communication

Teamwork

Job description

Overview

This is an exciting opportunity for you to develop a rewarding career where you can make a real difference to help change the lives of our service user group for the better. This can be a challenging yet rewarding environment where as a team we strive to help our service users to overcome a variety of complex needs. You will be able to learn and understand how to care for service users that are in mental health crisis by promoting choice and independence in the least restrictive way possible. To deliver high quality care and recovery interventions for service users within designated clinical areas, in collaboration with, and under the indirect supervision of, registered care staff.

Responsibilities

• Supporting individuals with fluids and nutrition, physical wellbeing, and personal care.
• Assisting service users with financial or accommodation issues.
• Escorting or accompanying service users for planned periods of leave on hospital grounds and in the community facilitating social inclusion.
• Encouraging service users to talk about their experiences in one‑to‑one or group discussions.
• Help maintain a clean, well‑organised, safe and therapeutic environment that meets the needs of service users, carers and colleagues, and support registered care staff to perform standardised environmental assessments to monitor and improve the care setting.
• Deliver psychosocially‑informed one‑to‑one and group interventions aiming to positively impact service users' cognitive and emotional wellbeing.
• Work as part of a multi‑disciplinary team.
• Assume lead or link roles on core practice initiatives and priorities (e.g. Essence of Care, Safe wards and carer engagement) under the supervision of registered staff.
• Integrate areas of personal interest with clinical practice to enhance the diversity of the team's provision of care.
• Practice planned care and directly participate in the development of recovery‑focused interventions that address service users' and carers' needs and preferences.
• Proactively review, record and assess the on‑going impacts of such interventions.
• Participate in ongoing care planning, CPA and risk assessment processes in collaboration with service users, their carer's, and other members of the care team and contribute to all aspects of clinical record keeping.
• Maintain a basic working understanding of both the Mental Health Act (1983) and Mental Capacity Act (2005), and any other relevant legislation, as required by mandatory and statutory training (MaST).
• Adhere to AWP's Code of Conduct for unregistered practitioners; promote and embed it through the delivery of peer support and supervision to junior, temporary and newly appointed Health Care Support Workers.
• Observe and record interactions with service users and carers both verbally and in writing via clinical records and staff handovers.
• Deliver a wide range of fundamental care interventions using evidence‑based clinical tools, monitor and improve physical health and personal wellbeing and model a high standard of dignity, respect and candour.
• Engage in reflective practice to maintain and promote ongoing clinical practice.
• Promote and enhance a positive learning culture, being proactive in the induction, orientation and support of junior, temporary and newly appointed Health Care Support Workers, seeking to embed core care values into practice.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are proud to be fostering a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. A key commitment to this is improving staff representation from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, those from the LGBTQ+ communities, people with ‘lived‑experience’ of mental health conditions and people living with disabilities. We are a 'Disability Confident Employer' offering a guaranteed interview to Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. This includes people with a variety of disabilities and neurodivergent conditions (for example autism, ADHD, sensory, physical and learning disabilities).

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service users.

About AWP

AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) is a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community‑based mental health care. We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset. Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person‑centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

Unit Details

Are you looking to develop a career in mental health? We are looking to recruit compassionate, resilient and enthusiastic Healthcare Support Workers within our 4‑bedded place of safety. Bluebell Unit offers a place of safety to adults and children brought in by police on S135 or S136 of the Mental Health Act. Bluebell is a 24‑hour, fast‑paced and dynamic service catering to the specific needs of a wide variety of presentations and personalities whilst in crisis.

This role is within a place of safety that operates on a 24/7 shift basis. Staff will qualify for unsocial enhancements in addition to their basic pay.

Successful applicants will also be required to undertake and complete a Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression course. This enables staff to begin building the skills to de‑escalate service users in peaks of distress whilst maintaining a safe and therapeutic environment for all.