Mental Health Transition Practitioner

North West Borough Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; West Kirby; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting a Band 6 Mental Health Transition Practitioner to support 18–25s transitioning to adult CMHT/Recovery teams. You will work with CYP services, carers and referrers, conducting biopsychosocial assessments and linking young adults to appropriate pathways.

You will be part of the CMHT MDT, promoting transition principles and working across the wider system to ensure a seamless, person-centred service.

Qualifications

• Degree level training or equivalent is required.
• Professional registration i.e. NMC, Social Work England, or equivalent.
• Autonomy and ability to teach or educate other professionals.

Responsibilities

• Oversee NICE Quality Statements for transition for 18-25s.
• Coordinate transition planning between CYP and AMHS.
• Develop and implement collaborative care plans with MDTs.
• Provide education/training to stakeholders.

Skills

Engage service users

Carer collaboration

Problem solving

Risk management

Education/training

Education

Degree level training or equivalent

Job description

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Using AI to support your application

AI can be a useful tool to support the preparation of your application. However, all information submitted must be accurate, truthful and reflect your own skills, experience and achievements. Applications should include personal examples demonstrating how you meet the person specification. Applications that appear mostly or fully generated by AI, without clear personal examples linked to the person specification, may be rejected. For tips and guidance, please refer to our applicant guidance.

Identity verification

Candidates attending interview will be required to provide original photographic identification where available. Where suitable photographic identification is not available, a photograph will be taken at interview for identity verification purposes. Successful candidates will also be required to complete digital identity and right to work checks via TrustID, including facial recognition and image matching technology, to verify their identity throughout the recruitment and onboarding process. Identity verification will also be undertaken on the first day of employment in line with NHS employment check requirements.

Job overview

Mental Health Recovery Team/CMHT are looking to recruit a band 6 Mental Health Transition Practitioner to support transition for young adults 18-25, into the CMHT/Recovery Team and connect the young adult to their chosen pathway and interventions.

The successful applicant will engage the young adult, carer and referrer prior to referral, where possible, and support the young adult to make informed decisions around their treatment plan and transition. The Transition Practitioner will strive to achieve the transition standards identified by NICE and will ensure the Mersey Care principles of transition are promoted.

The Transition Practitioner will become an integral member of the Community Mental Health Team/Recovery Team MDT, whilst working closely with Children and Young People services and developing a good working relationship with services across the wider system, who are also supporting 18-25 transition throughout primary care and VCFSE's.

The transition practitioner will support any new referrals in to service for any young person aged 18-25, the role will entail supporting carrying out biopsychosocial assessments and any transition in to the recovery cmht

Main duties of the job

The Transition Practitioner will work within the CMHT/Recovery but will display initiative and flexibility to support all potential referrals of young adults, 18-25 years of age. They will support young adults for a limited time period, until the young adult has successfully achieved their transition goals and begun treatment within the team. They will act as their keyworker for this period of time, helping the young adult to navigate a complex mental health system and will support in being a point of contact for the young adult and carer.

The Transition Practitioner will regular analyse the performance against the transition standards to understand where quality improvements can be made and to help shape the role across Community Mental Health Services.

Working for our organisation

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Community Mental Health Transition Practitioner will support transition for Children and Young People, aged 18-25, from Mersey Care Children and Young Persons Services (CYPS) and Alder Hey to Adult Community Mental Health Services. The post holder will also ensure the principles of transition are applied when transferring between other Adult Mental Health (AMH) service lines i.e. Inpatient/Urgent Care to Community Mental Health services.

The Community Mental Health Transition Practitioner will become an integral member of the Community Mental Health MDT, whilst also working closely with CYP Services and local communities to understand and provide a seamless and consistent offer within the wider system.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

To oversee the implementation of National Institute for Health and Social Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Statements for transition for children and young people, aged 18-25, between CYP to AMHS and AMHS to AMHS services.

Young people who will move from children to adults' services start planning their transition with health and social care practitioners by school year 9 (aged 13 to 14, or immediately if they enter children's services after school year 9.

Young people who will move from children to adults' services have a coordinated transition plan.

Young people who will move from children to adults' services have an annual meeting to review transition planning.

Young people who are moving from children to adults' services have a named worker to coordinate care and support before, during and after transfer.

Young people who are moving from children to adults' services meet a practitioner from each adults' service they will move to before the transfer.

Young people who have moved from children to adults' services but do not attend their initial meetings or appointments are contacted by adults' services and given further opportunities to engage.

To oversee and implement the principles of transition as identified below:

Transition support should be person centred and ensure they are an equal partner in the planning of their care choosing pathways which meet their needs.

Transition support should be strength based and focuses on what is positive and possible for the young adult and their carer/family.

Assessment and planning should focus on goals with the young adult, which may include education and employment, community inclusion, health and well-being and housing needs.

Carers and families need to be at the centre of transition planning, but it is important to ask the young adult how they would like their carer/family to be involved in the transition.

Transition should be based on need not age.

Ensure transition support is developmentally appropriate and considers the persons maturity, cognitive abilities, psychological status, long term conditions, social and personal circumstances, caring responsibilities and communication needs.

Where the young person is autistic and/or has a learning disability along with a co‑morbid mental health need, the transition processes and associated assessments and interventions should be reasonably adjusted to meet the young person's needs.

Young adults absolutely should not be forgotten or forced to begin the assessment/transition process again. Young adults may need to be able to dip in and out of services there needs to be flexibility and understanding in the system for 'did not attend' (DNA).

Health and social care services should work together in an integrated way to ensure smooth transition, avoiding the proliferation of separate plans for specific sectors.

Consideration of special education needs and education health care plans.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Degree level training or equivalent
• Professional registration i.e. NMC, Social Work England, Occupational Health and Care Professions Council
• The practitioner has acquired at least one years additional post-registration knowledge and experience, allowing them to be autonomous in their practice
• The practitioner had developed knowledge and skills to enable them to teach and educate other professionals

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of CPD and working towards master level qualification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of providing care for people with mental health difficulties within a secondary care environment and working as a care co‑ordinator/key worker
• Experience of working autonomously and recognising professional limitations
• Experience of developing and implementing collaborative care plans
• Experience of developing risk formulations and managing risk accordingly
• Experience of working within a multi‑disciplinary team and contributing to an MDT approach to care delivery
• Experience of supporting families and carers
• Experience of supporting and mentoring students and other junior members of staff
• Experience of utilising a problem‑solving approach and implementing quality improvement ideas
• Evidence of keeping up to date with relevant literature and evidence based practice

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with external partners with the wider system
• Experience of working across CYPS and AMHS
• Experience of working as a transition practitioner

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to work independently and also as part of a team
• Ability to engage service users and carers and work collaboratively to develop and implement a transition plan
• Ability to utilise appropriate measuring tools and generate/review associated reports
• Ability to problem solve
• Ability to identify and implement risk management strategies
• Ability to provide education/training to relevant stakeholders

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Working knowledge of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act
• Knowledge and experience in safeguarding children and/or adults
• Up to date knowledge of relevant legislation

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust's guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.