MHST Team Lead

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; Basildon; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity awaits within a forward-thinking NHS organization, where you can make a real difference in the lives of children and young people. As a Team Lead in the Mental Health Support Teams, you will combine clinical expertise with operational leadership, ensuring high-quality mental health services are delivered effectively. This role offers the chance to work closely with schools, providing essential support to enhance the emotional wellbeing of young individuals. Join a compassionate team dedicated to fostering a positive environment and promoting mental health awareness, while enjoying flexible working arrangements and a commitment to your professional development.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Proactive health and wellbeing support

Employee assistance programme

Training and development opportunities

Supportive networks for diverse staff

Qualifications

• Registered professional with experience in mental health provisions.
• Completion of graduate training with appropriate professional registration.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational and clinical aspects of the Mental Health Support Teams.
• Manage clinical staff and ensure service delivery meets targets.

Skills

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Communication Skills

Organisational Skills

Risk Management

Education

Graduate training in nursing, social work, occupational therapy, or clinical psychology

Tools

Systmone

Job description

Main area: Children and Young People's Mental Health Service

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 7

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time, Part time, Job share, Flexible working

37.5 hours per week

Job ref: 395-EC873-24-A

Site: Phoenix House

Town: Basildon

Salary: £46,148 - £52,809 p.a. (plus HCAS) pro rata

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 29/01/2025 23:59

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award-winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years. We have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Job overview

This is an exciting new role within the NHS that offers an opportunity to progress within an operational capacity. We are seeking enthusiastic registered professionals who can undertake the role of Team Lead within the Mental Health Support Teams (MHST). This particular role is based within South West Essex.

The MHST’s work in partnership with schools and colleges to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people. We achieve this through offering 1:1 CBT interventions and whole school approaches (WSA).

As a Team Lead, you will work closely with the Operational Manager and Clinical Lead. The Team Lead’s role will be separated into two, with 50% of your time being focused on clinical interventions and oversight and 50% of your time spent on operational responsibilities. A key part of this role is ensuring that we are meeting both operational and clinical targets. You will be responsible for line managing clinical staff whilst also holding a small caseload and having oversight of the delivery of service within your area.

Main duties of the job

Operational

1. Support with recruitment; including review of job applications, interviewing, and planning induction packages.
2. Sickness and absence management; including return to work meetings, staff wellbeing meetings, and referrals to occupational health.
3. Roster management, support with annual leave requests, flexible working requests, and study leave.
4. Organising and chairing meetings.
5. Undertaking audits as required by the service.

Clinical

1. To provide an efficient, effective, comprehensive, and specialist MHST service for children and adolescents.
2. To complete assessments and treatment of children and adolescents with emotional and mental health problems, their carers/parents, and families.
3. To undertake a range of generic clinical work, guided self-help, targeted group work, and workshops under the Whole School Approach (WSA).
4. Ensure delivery of interventions are carried out in line with NICE guidance within the team. Ensure the appropriate use of Routine Outcome Measures (ROMs) to monitor the efficacy of intervention.
5. To monitor and guide the team in ensuring we meet safety benchmarks set by NELFT and the CQC.

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT, we place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training, and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will have the opportunity to meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing, and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently partway through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

High Cost Area Supplement

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £1,258 and a maximum payment of £2,122 per annum pro rata).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. The Team Lead will provide operational and clinical leadership within the MHST. They will be responsible for ensuring their locality team is meeting operational and clinical targets; and following escalation processes as required.
2. The Team Lead will line manage clinical staff within the MHST.
3. The Team Lead will actively promote the three core functions of MHST alongside the eight principles of the whole school approach.
4. The Team Lead will facilitate the development of a positive and supportive team culture.
5. The Team Lead will take an active interest in working parties and groups within the Trust to develop and improve on service delivery, protocols, and guidelines.
6. The Team Lead will participate in the audit process, linking in with the clinical governance agenda.
7. The Team Lead will advise and share knowledge utilizing the latest research and practice development, through literature and peer reviews in line with their registered governing body.
8. The Team Lead will ensure that a high quality, timely, accessible, and evidence-based service is provided equitably across all schools that work in partnership with the MHST programme.

For a full description, please see the attached job description and person specification.

The South-West Essex Mental Health Support Team (MHST) covers a large geographical area incorporating the districts of Thurrock, Basildon, Brentwood, and Billericay. We are an early intervention and prevention evidence-based service and as a team, we are supportive and passionate in what we deliver. We are a friendly team of professionals who come from multidisciplinary backgrounds. We recognize the needs for a healthy work-life balance, and we will consider flexible working applications in line with the trust policies and processes. We encourage Continual Professional Development (CPD) and are keen to support our staff to grow and progress. In South-West we offer an additional five percent, higher cost of living payment on top of your yearly wage as we understand the expense of living in this area.

Finally, we are a welcoming, compassionate, and considerate team that works incredibly hard to support one another to improve the mental health of our community.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Successful completion of a graduate training (e.g. nursing, social work, occupational therapy, clinical psychology) with appropriate registration of a professional body (e.g. HCPC, NMC).
• Further professional knowledge will have been gained through accredited courses, workshops, study, and in-house training programmes (e.g. CYP-IAPT training).

Experience

• Experience of working with children/young people within mental health provisions.
• Experience in delivering evidence-based interventions (e.g. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) to children and young people aged 4 – 18 years.
• Experience of providing supervision.
• Experience working with and in educational settings.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents and safeguarding procedures and policies.
• Knowledge of risk management and ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly to ensure safety.
• Applicant is proficient in using Systmone.

Skills

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively highly complex and sensitive matters to service users, families, and other professionals.
• Capacity to write clear records and observe policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Experience of organising and chairing meetings.

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

• A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long-term/chronic conditions, and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work-life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our efforts to support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognized as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations, and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part-time hours, or another flexible pattern.

We recognize the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community makes to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans, reservists, and military spouses, and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.

Equal opportunities employer

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.

We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email [e-mail].

Correspondence with us

You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.

In the event of a high number of responses to any advert, NELFT reserves the right to close the vacancy early. If you do not hear from us within three weeks of the closing date, then please assume you have not been successful on this occasion.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name: Zoe Houchin

Job title: Operational Manager MHST SW Essex Locality

Email address: [e-mail]