Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner - Adults

Primary Care Mental Health Practitioner - Adults

North Halifax Primary Care Network (PCN) is an established and mature network serving over 38,000 patients across the geographical area of North Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The PCN comprises 4 practices:

• Keighley Road Surgery
• Plane Trees Group Practice

We are seeking to employ a qualified and experienced Mental Health Practitioner (MHP) to enhance our expanding multidisciplinary Personalised Care Team, comprising: Mental Health Practitioner, Social Prescribing Link Workers x 3, Care Coordinators x 4. The role aims to improve the experience for patients who would have otherwise sought the help of a GP or Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP). Please refer to the Essential and Desirable criteria in the Person Specification before applying.

The position is Full Time (Monday - Friday), attracting pay between £35,000 - 45,000 dependent on experience and skills; subject to 29 days holiday per year + 8 public holidays and NHS pension. Our core business hours are 08:00 - 18:30h Monday - Friday. Other benefits of the position are:

• Company laptop
• Company health care plan (after passing probation)

We reserve the right to remove this vacancy sooner than the end date of 31/12/24.

Main duties of the job

Job Purpose

• Perform as an autonomous practitioner working independently and with other health care and non-health care professionals to assess, diagnose and treat patients with a range of mental health conditions.
• Initiate direct referrals to secondary, community services and the PCN.
• Manage daily surgeries comprising face-to-face consultations and telephone follow-ups.
• Collaborate with GPs, ACPs, nursing staff and non-clinical support staff alike. Use individual skill and experience in order to make a positive contribution to the organisation and the development of a One Team approach.
• Be involved in implementing new working methods designed to manage the increasing demand in primary care.
• Provide education and training to other staff.
• Undertake research if and when required.
• Be part of the PCN team and contribute to its continued development for the overall benefit of its patients.

Job Description Agreement

This job description is intended to provide an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities and is not exhaustive. As the role and the Network evolve, there may be other duties required of you, commensurate with the position. This role will be open to regular review and may be amended to take into account development within the network and the wider health care service.

About us

We are a progressive PCN with embedded services, working in a hub-and-spoke model. In addition to the Personalised Care Team, our team comprises:

• Mental Health Practitioner with whom the successful applicant will work alongside
• 3 x First Contact Physiotherapists
• Nursing Associate
• Podiatrist
• Paramedics
• Ageing Well Worker

The team is managed by a PCN Manager and clinically led by the Clinical Director, representing the PCN board. We have adopted the Lead Practice model of PCN, which allows us to offer continuous service for NHS pension.

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Work autonomously and be accountable for own professional actions working with patients who have a wide range of mental health problems.
• Take history, make appropriate physical and mental health examinations; formulate differential diagnoses and carry through management treatment plans ensuring relevant follow up, if necessary, discuss with a relevant clinician at the registered practice or the PCN team.
• Complete assessment tools and create a management plan to ensure the individual care needs are met.
• Complete outcome measures as an evidence base for the interventions completed.
• Make referrals to other health professionals in primary, secondary care and the community services.
• If an Independent Prescriber, prescribe medication as appropriate with the support of the GPs/ACP at the practices or PCN Clinical Pharmacists.
• Attend Protected Learning Time training.
• Maintain accurate and contemporaneous record keeping.

Demand management

Be actively engaged in, and contribute to, the evolution of services, with respect to the increasing demand on general practice and the need to continue to provide a safe and equitable service for all patients.

Communication

• Communicate effectively with all members of the PCN team and external organisations, for the benefit of patient care, and promote and encourage the same practice for all team members.
• Participate in regular performance reviews, taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and professional development.
• Manage own time, workload, caseload and resources effectively.
• Participate positively and actively in clinical and PCN meetings.
• Operate a high standard of probity.
• Be actively involved in clinical governance issues.

Key Tasks

Collaborative Working Relationships

You will be required to work with a wide range of stakeholders. It is important that they:

• Demonstrate the ability to work well as part of a team and lead in specialism area.
• Recognise the roles of other colleagues to patient care and liaises with other stakeholders as needed for the collective benefit of patients including but not limited to:

o GP staff

o Other healthcare professionals

Demonstrate use of appropriate communication skills to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders within the local care network to build sustainable relationships which:

• Develop and maintain strong links with all services
• Explore potential for collaborative working
• Ensure consistency of patient care and benefit

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required

The post holder will have sufficient experience in mental health within a multi-disciplinary primary care setting and will be the initial point of contact for patients presenting with mental health issues. The role aims to improve the experience for patients who would have otherwise sought the help of a GP or Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP).

• Accountable for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision.
• Use skills in a range of routine situations requiring analysis or comparison of a range of options.
• Recognise priorities when problem-solving and identify deviations from normal patterns and is able to refer on when appropriate.
• Able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.
• Involve patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.

Professionalism

Demonstrate understanding of the role in governance and is able to implement this appropriately within the workplace.

Demonstrate understanding of, and contributes to, the workplace vision.

Demonstrate ability to improve quality within limitations of service.

Review yearly progress and develop clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.

Demonstrate ability to motivate self to achieve goals.

Performance is underpinned by strongly held values of the organisation and around equality, diversity and openness; effectively building and maintaining relationships with all individuals across the organisation.

Promote diversity and equality in people management techniques and leads by example.

Education, Training and Development

• Demonstrate self-development through continuous professional development activities.
• Participate in the delivery of formal education programmes, inspiring others to be positive in their support of continuous improvement.
• Demonstrate an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keep up to date with relevant clinical practice.
• PCN will ensure that appropriate clinical and management supervision is in place.

Special Working Conditions

You may be required to travel independently between practice sites (where applicable), and to attend meetings etc. hosted by other agencies.

Generic Responsibilities

All North Halifax PCN staff have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I)

A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I create an environment where all individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons: it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do, and it is required by law.

Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and to be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)

This PCN is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety. You have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for you, your colleagues and patients, and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. All personnel are to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999 and other statutory legislation.

Confidentiality

This PCN is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect that all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times. It is essential, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, that all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality & Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of our output, all colleagues are required to think not only of what they do, but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work. The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the PCN to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice.

This PCN continually strives to improve work processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone counts and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Induction training

At the start of employment, all colleagues complete a PCN induction programme. This is managed by the PCN manager.

Staff working for North Halifax PCN must adhere to the information contained within PCN policies and regional directives, ensuring that protocols are adhered to at all times. Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.

Security

The security of the PCN is the responsibility of all staff. We must ensure we remain vigilant at all times and report any suspicious activity immediately to the PCN manager. Under no circumstances are staff to share the codes for the door locks with anyone and they are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured.

Professional conduct

All North Halifax PCN staff are required to dress appropriately for their role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Nursing and Midwifery Registered Mental Health Professional
• Current UK Professional Registration
• Clinical Supervision Training and Experience Mentor/Teaching qualification
• Non-medical Prescriber
• Independent/Supplementary Nurse Prescribing Qualification

Experience

• Minimum 3 years post registration experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Clinical skills:
• Mental health clinical leadership skills
• Change management skills and ability to support patients to change lifestyle
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to communicate difficult messages to patients and families
• Negotiation and conflict management skills
• In-depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare
• An appreciation of the nature of general practices and primary care
• Primary care or community nursing experience of quality initiatives such as clinical benchmarking audit experience
• Ability to provide teaching and mentorship in a clinical setting
• Advanced communications skills course
• Knowledge of SystmOne and EMIS Web Clinical Systems

Other Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills.
• Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences including staff, managers and patients.
• Recognise priorities when problem-solving and identify deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade audience to comply with the recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers.
• Work effectively independently and as a team member.
• Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision.
• 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.
• Availability of a vehicle and ability to travel between PCN Hub and spoke practices and other locations to attend meetings and events.

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.