SPOA Mental Health Practitioner

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Worthing; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health service provider in Worthing seeks a Band 6 Mental Health Practitioner to join their Single Point of Access team. You will be responsible for providing high-quality screening of referrals, directing families to appropriate services, and working collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams. The ideal candidate will have a registered professional qualification and experience in mental health support. This role offers flexible working to promote a positive work-life balance.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Experience supervising staff and students.
• Knowledge of managing and working with people with complex needs.
• Ability to formulate individualized care plans.

Responsibilities

• Screen referrals swiftly and inform referrers of outcomes.
• Direct children and families to appropriate services.
• Undertake risk assessments and provide clear communication.

Skills

Screening referrals

Excellent verbal and written communication

Managing risks

Ability to prioritize caseload

Education

Registered professional Qualification

Evidence of post Registration Training

Completion of mentorship course or equivalent

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity for a Band 6 Mental Health Practitioner to join the new Single Point of Access (SPOA) in West Sussex.

The SPOA is designed for children, young people, their families, carers and relevant professionals to ensure that they can access the most appropriate emotional wellbeing, mental health support and intervention which meets their needs at the earliest possible stage and with the minimum delay.

The SPOA aims:

• An integrated aligned and co-ordinated service is in place
• More CYP have access to appropriate mental health services first time
• More CYP have positive experiences of care and support
• Time taken to receive treatment and support is reduced
• Improved data collection and evaluation of CYP's outcomes

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the job:

• Offer high quality screening of referrals, discussing with referrers as required and ensuring they receive an appropriate and clinically sound response.
• To direct children and their families to the most appropriate service in order to meet their emotional and mental health needs.
• The SPOA clinicians will also be required to undertake risk assessments, ensure appropriate signposting for referrals that do not meet the criteria for services within the SPOA, with clear written responses containing a rationale for the decision, liaise with agencies receiving referrals from SPOA, identify opportunities for support whilst waiting for the referral to be processed and respond to any queries or concerns from professionals / parents.
• To decide on an appropriate course of action alongside other professionals involved, providing advice, support and knowledge of appropriate resources for the emotional well-being and mental health of children, young people and their carers.

About us

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across West and East Sussex and Brighton & Hove.

West Sussex CAMHS services build on CYP-IAPT learning. Users of our services help shape continuing service transformation with their lived experience.

Supported by our Clinical Academic Groups (CAGs), we work to put research, innovation and learning into practice. We offer a career, not just a job, in a team and a Trust committed to delivering the best possible care to the community and to supporting the wellbeing of our staff, who are our greatest asset.

Working in Sussex:

• Travel easily between coast and stunning countryside
• Easy access to Brighton, London, Gatwick and Heathrow

We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/ life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part time hours, flexible start/ finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.

Job responsibilities

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Skills and experience in screening referrals is desirable.
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency SPOA team ensuring that referrals are screened swiftly and referrers are contacted and informed of referral outcomes.

Please refer to Job description for further responsibilities.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered professional Qualification
• Evidence of post Registration Training
• Completion of mentorship course or equivalent

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience supervising staff and students
• Knowledge of interventions specific to service area
• Awareness of Trust Policy and Values
• Knowledge of managing and working with people with complex needs
• Able to effectively manage risks
• Able to formulate individualised care plans
• Lived experience of mental illness

Communication/interpersonal

• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Communication effectively with other parties (carers, relatives, other professionals etc
• Work effectively with other services
• Able to work to service objectives

Management/organisational

• To have a good knowledge of service objectives
• Able to manage and delegate tasks
• Able to lead clinical discussions
• Provide supervision to staff
• Work well within a team

Skills/values

• Able to work well under pressure
• Able to prioritise caseload
• Able to deal with incidents effectively
• Able to travel between sites
• Awareness of human rights
• Flexible and punctual
• Non-judgemental

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.