Senior Practitioner

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Croydon; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous pay, pensions and leave

Work life balance

Career development

Accommodation

NHS discounts

Croydon Carers parking permit

Counselling services

Wellbeing events

Job summary

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a highly experienced Senior Practitioner to deliver specialist assessments, care planning and short interventions for adults in the Croydon Assessment and Liaison Team.

You will work within a multidisciplinary team, provide supervision, mentor junior staff, and support service delivery while maintaining NICE-aligned practice and ensuring patient-centred care.

Qualifications

• Offering comprehensive, specialist initial assessments and formulations for adults with mental health needs.

Responsibilities

• Carry out autonomous assessments, formulate care plans and brief interventions (up to 12 weeks).
• Supervise junior staff and provide mentorship to students and colleagues.
• Ensure adherence to Standards of Practice and data protection responsibilities.
• Develop partnerships with primary care, crisis services and other borough teams.
• Contribute to service development and training to promote best practice.

Skills

Autonomous practitioner

Job description

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

This post is open to experienced RMNs, mental health social workers or OTs who wish to broaden their work experience and further develop their skills and knowledge in the Croydon Assessment and Liaison team.

Candidates to please be aware that Croydon is currently undergoing a transition into Neighbourhood Centres. As part of this transformation the successful candidates will be subject to role to reallocation to different teams as a result.

We provide a service for people aged 18-65, who live in the London Borough of Croydon. We provide advice on the best treatment and care options available to people who have moderate to severe mental illness, such as anxiety, depression or personality disorder.

We work with a team of health and social care professionals including nurses, doctors, and social workers. We also work closely with the patients, their carers and GPs.

Advert

To work as a highly experienced autonomous practitioner carrying out specialist needs assessments, care planning, implementation and evaluation to a significant number of adults referred to the Croydon Assessment and Liaison Team. The Senior Practitioner will assess and formulate a care plan and offer brief interventions (up to 12 weeks) with mental health service users, signpost to other services and discharge to primary care where appropriate/possible and supervise community practitioners. Communications and Working Relationships: Multidisciplinary Team, other borough teams, external agencies and primary care - daily.

The senior practitioner will support the team leader to ensure service delivery (i.e. meeting target measures, managing staff absences, supervision of junior staff) and provide management cover in the team leaders absence.

Working for our organisation

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Benefits:

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

• Generous pay, pensions and leave,we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options

• Career development,There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
• Accommodation,our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
• NHS discounts,with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Croydon Carers parking permit
• Counselling services
• Wellbeing events

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1) Offering comprehensive, specialist, initial assessments and formulations to service users. To manage the provision of appropriate interventions/treatments to a small case load of service users experiencing transitional mental health problems. To exercise autonomous professional judgement for the assessment, coordination and transfer to the relevant team of a designated caseload. To provide comprehensive ongoing assessment and outcome monitoring of all allocated clients. To participate in the team assessment and duty rota. To liaise closely with crisis services and emergency out of hours services. To provide evidence based care as outlined in NICE guidance.

2) To attend regular clinical and management supervision and appraisal. To provide specialist the teaching and training of mental health professionals and other staff working in the service. To undertake the mentorship of students working in the service.

3) To ensure the maintenance of standards of practice/Codes of Conduct according to the employer and regulating and professional bodies (NMC/HCPC). To ensure client confidentiality is maintained at all times. To attend clinical/managerial supervision on a regular basis as agreed with manager. To participate in individual performance review and respond to agreed objectives. To maintain accurate and timely written records.

4) To form and maintain effective working relationships with all services in the borough, including Home Treatment, Promoting Recovery, inpatient units and psychiatric liaison teams. Maintain and develop effective primary care liaison/link working with aligned GP practices. To ensure that the views of users and carers are sought and incorporated into all care delivered. To ensure that care is sensitive to a diverse population.

5) To contribute to the development of best practice within the service. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and procedures in relation to Mental Health and Primary Care Services. To take responsibility for their own health and safety and the health and safety of colleagues, patient and the general public. To deputise in the absence of the clinical lead. To undertake the role of duty senior on a regular basis. To undertake any other duties as appropriate to grade as requested by the Clinical service Lead.

6) All employees are expected to comply with statutory requirements and the Trust's employment policies while carrying out their work. All employees have a responsibility and a legal obligation to ensure that information processed for both patients and staff is kept accurate, confidential, secure and in line with the data Protection act (1998) and Security and Confidentiality Policies.

7) This post is one of continual development and the post holder will be encouraged to develop skills and capabilities, including participation in projects and training events. Accordingly, the range of duties and responsibilities outlined above may change from time to time to reflect the changing needs of the organisation.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity.

Welcome to your candidate journey. Our Candidate Recruitment Information Pack is designed to help you learn more about our Trust, understand the recruitment process, and prepare a strong application. We encourage you to explore the pack and use the guidance, tips and resources available to help you feel informed, confident, and ready to showcase your best self: Recruitment Toolkit - Customer Success Test

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’.