Healthcare Assistant - Female Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit | Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

Pennine Care NHS FT; Stockport; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider is seeking a Health Care Assistant to join their Psychiatric Intensive Care Team in Stockport. The role emphasizes delivering compassionate care to female service users and maintaining staff wellbeing. Ideal candidates should be knowledgeable about mental health practices and capable of performing clinical observations. Training will be provided to equip team members for their responsibilities. Apply by 22 Sep 2025.

Qualifications

• Experience in a healthcare or mental health setting preferred.
• Relevant training in mental health practices.
• Ability to work with diverse service users.

Responsibilities

• Carry out clinical observations and escalate concerns.
• Ensure security protocols are maintained.
• Support users in distress using compassionate care.

Skills

Compassionate care

Knowledge of Mental Health Act

Ability to carry out clinical observations

Teamwork

Job description

Overview

Do you enjoy working in a compassionate environment, want to learn and develop new skills, enjoy working with a variety of service users, all with very different needs and work with people in crisis to help them with their recovery, then this job is for you!

An opportunity has arisen for a Health Care Assistant to join our Psychiatric Intensive Care Team with a strong focus on delivering excellent care for our female service users and to priorities our staff health and wellbeing on our ward.

Upon joining our team, we will ensure that successful candidates undergo both mandatory and bespoke training, to fully equip them with the skills required to work within our female PICU environment.

Responsibilities

• To have a working knowledge of the Mental Health Act and to be aware of relevant MHA information when carrying out observations, to support leave appropriately for detained patients under the approval of a qualified practitioner.
• To undertake and record clinical observations(e.g temperature, pulse, blood pressure) as required. Recording the observations accordingly and escalating any concerns to a qualified practitioner as appropriate.
• To undertake and record therapeutic observations in accordance with the Trust’s Observation & Engagement Policy (for example general, 1:1 and 2:1 observations) as required and instructed with access to supervision from a qualified member of staff.
• To be competent in all aspects of reducing restrictive practices, which includes the early prevention of violence and aggression using least restrictive approaches, positive behaviour support through to physical manual restraint as a last option. This can be part of planned interventions set by a qualified member of staff or as an intervention to manage challenging behaviours as they occur, immediately alerting a qualified practitioner for support and supervision.
• To ensure that security protocols and procedures are carried out over a 24-hour period and any possible breaches should be reported to the senior nurse immediately.

About the service and approach

Our team provides short-term intensive assessment, treatment, and support to Service Users, who maybe experiencing a mental health crisis crisis, and often present with a variety of complex mental health needs.

To maximise Service User recovery, the teams will be working in a trauma informed way and utilising the RAID model of care. Our aim is to work in the least restrictive way as possible whilst maintaining patient safety.

Eligibility and how to apply

To be eligible for shortlisting you need to ensure you meet the essential qualifications for this role, as you will be asked to provide your certificates at interview and pre-employment checks.

When completing your application, please ensure you read the job description and person specification. You will need to give examples of how you meet each of the criteria listed on the person specification. You can use the supporting information section or career history to do this.

Closing date

This advert closes on Monday 22 Sep 2025