Mental Health Support Worker

North London NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

North London NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting for a role at Roger Sylvester Centre to support the Crisis Prevention House with trauma-informed care and recovery-focused activity. The post emphasizes lived experience and flexible supervision within a multidisciplinary team.

The role is permanent and full-time, requiring commitment to safeguarding, trauma-informed practice and delivering compassionate care to service users in a community/in-patient setting.

Qualifications

• Registered mental health professional qualification or equivalent.
• Evidence of ongoing academic study.
• Level 1 & 2 Safeguarding Children or Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults certificates.
• Knowledge of mental health, trauma or domestic and sexual abuse.

Responsibilities

• Deliver shifts from a trauma-informed perspective, taking guidance from the team within the managing risk framework.
• Receive live supervision/reflective practice from senior staff on each shift.
• Ensure health and safety of each shift; report/escalate to senior managers or on-call issues as needed.
• Lead on activities and help maintain privacy, dignity and respect for service users.
• Work weekends alongside senior staff when required.

Skills

Excellent communication

Team player

Trauma-informed care

Therapeutic relationships

Computer literacy

Education

Registered mental health professional qualification

Ongoing academic study

Safeguarding Level 1/2 certificates

Knowledge of trauma/abuse

Job description

This role is an exciting part of the launch of our Crisis Prevention Houses as therapeutic, recovery-focused, and person-centred environments that support people who are experiencing mental health challenges. We aim to reconnect symptoms to the context of people's lives. There is a strong link between childhood trauma and adult mental distress and experiences of marginalisation, poverty racism and violence are correlated with poor mental health. People who stay in the Crisis Prevention House can live in a safe environment and engage in a wide range of activities which include building life skills, learning about mental health, wellbeing support, therapy, and creative activities. We are here to help guests get back on their feet and move forward in their lives with confidence. We aim to help guests build the foundation for a meaningful and fulfilled life by enabling people to recover from understandable mental health challenges, without encountering institutional re-traumatisation.

The salary is subject to night and weekend enhancements.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will deliver shifts from a trauma informed perspective, taking guidance from the team within the managing risk framework at the service. Lived personal/close relative experience of mental health challenges are welcomed.

The post holder will be guided alongside colleagues in the interventions on each shift and will also have senior staff to provide them with ongoing live supervision/reflective practice.

They are responsible for the health and safety of each shift, reporting/escalating to senior managers or on call issues which cannot be contained within the shift.

The post holder will lead on some activities in the house and be responsible with others that the environment maintains the privacy, dignity and respect of all those who use the service.

The post holder will work shifts alongside senior staff at weekends when required.

This job description is written as an indication of the nature and scope of duties and responsibilities. Additional competencies may be required to fulfil the needs of specific areas and client groups. It is not intended as a fully descriptive list and does not include specific skills or therapeutic interventions that may be required of the specialist service area. The post holder will be expected to be flexible and to carry out other duties assigned by the Team Manager, which are appropriate to the grade, nature and changing needs of the role.

About us

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

• We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
• With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
• We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
• We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.

Why NLFT?

• We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
• We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
• NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
• Excellent internal staff network

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached Job description and Person Specification for main responsibilities of the role.

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications

• Registered mental health professional qualification or Nationally recognised qualifications in relevant/identified posts (teaching, City and guilds, sports coaching) or Equivalent level experience
• Evidence of recent and ongoing academic study
• Level 1 & 2 Safeguarding Children or Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults certificate
• Evidence of studies or learning about mental health, trauma or domestic and sexual abuse.

Knowledge and Experience

• Demonstrable experience working with individuals with mental health issues in a community, in-patient, or substance misuse care setting
• To demonstrate a sound knowledge base in relation to factors that cause mental health problems for people and preferred treatment methods, or trauma informed therapeutic models.
• Demonstrable understanding and experience of utilising a variety of assessment tools currently used in practice in relation to determine risk and assessing / planning care needs
• To have experience of or if appropriate to service needs be willing to undertake training in de-escalation or breakaway techniques.
• To demonstrate an understanding of the societal factors that impact on the health and wellbeing of people, including discrimination and how this contributes to mental health problems.
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of current Mental Health legislation and its application / use in practice or legislation relevant to substance misuse services.
• An awareness of current research and evidence-based practice within the setting
• To demonstrate an understanding of the interventions needs to meet the physical health needs of people with mental health or substance addictions problems.

Skills / Abilities

• Excellent verbal, non-verbal and written communication skill
• Able to work on own initiative
• Able to work as part of a team and demonstrate the importance of a team approach
• Demonstrate well developed interpersonal skills
• Ability to maintain boundaries and form positive therapeutic relationships with service users and carers
• Competent using computers and keyboards for entering personally generated data, generating and responding to emails, conducting web searches etc.
• Motivated and enthusiastic about working/creating a newly formed trauma informed service
• Sound awareness of patient / service user services within the wider context of the organisation
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the roles within the multi-professional team

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.

Roger Sylvester Centre, 276 High Road (Side entrance on Canning Crescent)

£30,630 to £32,346 a yearPer annum inclusive of Outer London HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

455-NLFT-8284401

Job locations

Roger Sylvester Centre, 276 High Road (Side entrance on Canning Crescent)