Senior Mental Health Practitioner: HMP Nottingham

NHS; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job description

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Looking for something new & exciting in the NHS? Ever considered Prison healthcare?

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Mental Health Practitioner to join the Offender Health Directorate working at HMP Nottingham. HMP Nottingham is a Category B Prison.

To provide effective Mental Health services for prisoners, which deliver against required standards, e.g., Key Performance Indicators and Prison Health Performance Quality Indicators and CPA standards.

To demonstrate innovative practice whilst maintaining clinical efficacy, enabling the service to compete as provider of choice to local commissioners.

Main duties of the job

To take an active role in providing the successful and effective delivery of mental health services within the offender health directorate. To work as a mental health practitioner within a multi-disciplinary team in a prison setting. To provide safe and effective care to patients with complex and enduring mental health problems, including those being managed under the Care Programme Approach (CPA).

To coordinate treatment of mental health and social care needs from the point of entry into the prison system to transfer of care to ongoing providers, so the mental health and social functioning of prisoners is improved.

To provide leadership to junior staff by maintaining professional standards, ensuring adherence to all relevant policies and procedures to ensure the delivery of high-quality care.

About us

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.

Job responsibilities

The Offender Health Care Group is one of the largest and most successful providers of prison healthcare in the UK. The Care Group provides physical, mental health, and substance misuse healthcare services in prisons across the East Midlands, Lincolnshire & Leicestershire.

The Care Group provides healthcare to 7 prisons and a short-term holding facility. You are part of a large peer group of 400+ healthcare professionals with access to peer support, supervision, and excellent opportunities for learning and development. We also offer services within the Personality Disorder Pathway, including Therapeutic Communities (within prisons), Community and Prison Personality Disorder services, and specialist Veteran Services.

We are committed to working in partnership with prison services, the national probation service, other healthcare providers, and our criminal justice system partners to improve health, support justice, and reduce re-offending behaviour. The Offender Health Team truly believes it can make a difference to the lives of offenders by offering consistent, high-quality care in primary, mental health, and substance misuse services that are equivalent to health services delivered outside of Prison.

If you are an outstanding mental health care professional (social worker, occupational therapist, or other allied professions) who is passionate about providing high-quality care for a vulnerable patient group, then we want to hear from you.

We expect you entered the healthcare profession as you wanted to have the opportunity to make a difference, a real difference to the lives and lifestyles of those with mental health problems and their families. Mental healthcare at HMP Nottingham gives you this opportunity to make this difference to a group of people who traditionally have had high psychiatric and social morbidity, who have often neglected their own mental well-being and have faced multiple barriers to accessing appropriate healthcare.

Person Specification

Qualification

• Registered Mental Health Nurse/learning disability practitioner (OT, Psychology, Social Worker)
• NMC registration in date or suitably skilled/trained/experienced allied health professional with current professional registration.
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Mentor and Assessor

Experience

• A genuine interest in working with this client group and in Offender Mental health/learning disability related issues
• Experience of working in Primary/Secondary Mental Health Services
• Supervision and appraisal of staff
• Experience of working effectively within a MDT/interagency working
• Forensic and/or prison/or criminal justice nursing experience
• Experience of care co-ordination

Knowledge

• CPA systems and processes
• An understanding of working with people with Personality Disorders and those who have experienced trauma.
• Knowledge and/or experience of the ACCT process.
• Local and National strategies including issues relevant to the criminal justice system

Skills

• Good communicator with both verbal and written text.
• Organisational skills to manage and prioritise own workload
• IT skills including Patient Administration Systems (S1)
• Evidence of effective and appropriate documentation
• Ability to engage with and develop a rapport with the client group
• Evidence of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Effective problem and decision-making skills

Values and Behaviours

• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust, Honesty, Respect, Compassion, Teamwork.
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation.

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.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

£37,338 to £44,962 a year (pro rata for part-time)