Mental Health Practitioner

We are looking for experienced Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers, or Occupational Therapists with a genuine passion for supporting those in mental health crisis to complete the recruitment to our Connection team. We value all our team and offer a financial recruitment and retention premium worth over £3000 on this post.

Connection is moving forward, and this is an exciting time to join us for the next stages of our service development, increasing face-to-face community assessment work, and working collaboratively with partner agencies to ensure people in mental health crisis receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

Based at St Ann's Hospital, with a sea view from the office, Connection is Dorset's 24/7 open access mental health crisis service.

This is a diverse role with new challenges each day: Direct clinical assessments, advice and support, supervising our fantastic mental health support workers, giving clinical advice to other agencies and emergency services, coordinating urgent and emergency responses, and liaising with a range of internal and external services.

We are committed to professional development and support, offering internal and external training/education programmes and supervision.

This is a 24/7 service with shift patterns including weekends, bank holidays, and nights. All reasonable flexible working requests will be considered. This is an on-site only post with no option for working from home.

Main duties of the job

Telephone and face-to-face mental health assessments, brief clinical interventions and support, signposting and referrals.

Validating, de-escalating crisis, and coaching people in distress tolerance and emotional regulation strategies. Using a range of brief interventions, you will empower patients, carers, and families to manage distress and crisis effectively.

As well as telephone-based work, the role also includes the opportunity to complete urgent face-to-face assessments across Dorset when indicated.

Providing clinical information, advice, and support to other professionals and emergency services. Supporting police and ambulance service in accessing the most appropriate support for those presenting in mental health crisis.

The team is part of the Trust Access Mental Health services and works closely with a range of other teams and services, including Home Treatment teams, Liaison Psychiatry, and the Retreats. Overnight, Connection covers the Home Treatment Team caseload and manages any referrals.

Supervising and supporting the Mental Health Support Workers within the team providing guidance and support.

About us

This role includes a £3,000 Recruitment Premium lump sum on commencement of employment and thereafter a further £1,500 Retention Premium per annum (pro-rata), paid in equal monthly instalments provided you remain in post and subject to review by the Trust.

At Dorset HealthCare, we're on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We're a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities, and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here - it's one of the reasons the CQC rated us 'outstanding' in 2019. It's also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We're an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us, you'll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don't know. And you'll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion, and expertise in all we do.

Job description
Job responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role, please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse, and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills, and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please contact dhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net.

If you are interested in moving to Dorset, we also offer a generous relocation package of up to £10,000. For further details on relocation expenses please email dhc.careers@nhs.net.

Recommend a friend

Recommend a friend or family member and earn cash!

Do you have a friend or family member you would recommend to join us? Or do you know someone who wants to return to practice in the NHS? If the person you refer is appointed by the Trust and completes their probationary period you will receive £500 reward payment for the introduction! Please contact the recruitment team if you require further info!

Person Specification
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND TRAINING
Essential

• Registered practitioner to degree/diploma level supplemented by post-registration diploma level specialist training and/or short courses or demonstrable extensive experience in the relevant specialty.
• Membership of the relevant Professional Body.
• Learning and Assessing in Practice Qualification or equivalent practice assessors training.
• Evidence of recent professional development in an up-to-date portfolio.

Desirable

• Non-Medical Prescriber (if professionally appropriate).

JOB SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE
Essential

• Experience at Practitioner Band 5 level.
• Experience of specialist working.
• Experience of managing change.
• Experience of developing specialist programmes of care for an individual or groups of patients/clients and of providing highly specialist advice.
• Ability to prioritise and organise workload effectively.

Desirable

• Recent previous experience within a comparable role.

MANAGERIAL / SUPERVISORY
Essential

• Experience of providing clinical supervision and mentoring to junior staff.
• Experience of devising and delivering training.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Essential

• Experience of using electronic patient/service user record systems.
• Able to analyse data and produce reports using Microsoft Excel and Word.

PERSONAL QUALITIES/ATTRIBUTES
Essential

• Experience of planning and organising complex activities, e.g., organise own time and that of junior staff and learners, planning off-duty rotas and undertaking discharge planning involving coordination with other agencies.
• Knowledge and understanding of legislation relevant to practice.
• Demonstrable leadership qualities and the ability to perform as a role model.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Essential

• Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English to a standard which enables the post holder to carry out the full range of duties and responsibilities of the role effectively.

Employer details
Employer name
Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust
Address
St Ann's Hospital
69 Haven Road, Canford Cliffs
Poole
BH13 7LN
Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.