Mental Health Nurse

The Primary Care Gambling Service (PCGS) is seeking atrained Mental Health Nurse with some experience supporting patients affected bygambling harm or addiction.

Gambling harm can affect anyone, not only the person who gambles, but also their families, friends, and wider communities.

It can impact mentalhealth, relationships, finances, and overall well-being.

Services like the Primary Care Gambling Service (PCGS) support individuals experiencinggambling-related difficulties and those affected by someone elses gambling, helping them access early intervention and specialist care.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be required to

• Provide evidence based mental health and addiction interventions for patients who suffer from gambling harm
• Case manages a group of patients who may or may not be in active treatment elsewhere.
• Internal and external oversight of non-clinical care coordinators
• Prepare reports for external agencies (including the regulators).
• Effectively manage risk and share concerns with the wider team, and report back to a lead clinician as necessary.
• See patients in active addiction and support them towards a gambling free lifestyle.
• Contribute towards wider PCGS activities and projects as requested.
• Work with the medical and clinical directors in the stop gambling service.
• You will be required to provide appropriate clinicians with summary information on a regular basis for team meetings/ report writing/ and occupational liaison, and to provide these yourself where you are the lead clinician.

You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team which includes primary care GPs, operational lead, psychiatrists and therapists.

• You may be required to work a mixture of social and unsocial hours, including evening sessions and Saturday clinics, as well as potentially working across several different sites.

About us

PCGS is an established national service with potential for further expansion.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop expertise in the field of gambling harm.

The service aims to bridge NHS primary care and specialist services, enabling GPs and trained healthcare professionals to refer patients directly for support with problem gambling.

The successful candidate will work closely with external agencies, the voluntary sector, and peer support networks, and contribute to the weekly multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings.

• Job responsibilities
• To undertake MH assessment and formulate a plan of care
• To provide mental health follow up, management, and treatment functions to patients referred to the PCGS.
• To support patients in their recovery from ill health or related gambling issues.
• To promote health through interventions, empowering patients, offering appropriate health education, information and advice to patients, relatives and carers and relevant supporting agencies.
• To challenge and improve current practice where appropriate, ensuring practice is evidence based.
• To work closely with PCGS lead clinicians ensuring complex cases are supported and managed appropriately
• To assist in the use of relevant information technology to collate accurate and timely information as and when required by commissioners.
• To work appropriately with key stakeholders (internal and external), attending meetings as required and contribute to the decision-making process.
• To provide expertise on assessment, management and care planning for patients who have complex/mental health problems and/or problematic gambling addiction.
• To refer patients with complex needs to the most appropriate, NHS service or another provider.
• To provide a first port of call for all patient with a gambling issue in absence of lead clinician.
• To assist in outcome screening as required.
• To offer guidance to the admin team surrounding clinical queries that cannot be handled directly by the administrative team.
• To present concise and accurate written and/or verbal information at regular team meetings relating to treatment being delivered and the patients response.
• To maintain accurate records of all episodes of care
• To manage risk and understand points of escalating for this risk
• Work with other members of theteam to raise the profile and understanding of the PCGS
• To work closely with GPs in SELondon to raise their awareness of gambling addiction/problems.
• To contribute to the writingand publication of articles and research about the work of theprogramme.
• To assist with the organisationand the delivery of multi-disciplinary education and training
• To contribute to identifyingthe professional needs of core team members and to assist with makingrecommendations for meeting those needs.
• To promote the use of healthpromotion and referral protocols with stakeholders
• To contribute to the agenda ofthe PCGS Educational Strategy to assist with the development ofeducational programmes for organisations, staff, patients, relatives andcarers.
• Be familiar with the prevalenceand epidemiological data for PCGS in relation to mental health, substance misuse and alcohol.
• To understand the Regulatoryframework which the PCGS service will work within.
• To link in with formalmechanisms to share good practice in the PCGS and elsewhere sharingknowledge, skills and clinical expertise.
• To support securing externalcontracts as necessary.
• In the course of your employment, you willhave access to confidential information relating to PCGS business.

You are required toexercise due consideration in the way you use such information and should notact in any way which might be prejudicial to the PCGS interests.

• Information for extra consideration includesaccess to the general business of the service and any information regardingindividuals.
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers, or the business of PCGS may only be divulged to authorisedpersons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating toconfidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data,
• If you are in any doubt regarding the use ofinformation in the pursuit of your duties you should seek advice from yourline manager before communicating any information to any third party
• Please refer to the JD uploaded for more details regarding job responsibilites

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered with the NMC
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Evidence of postgraduate study in substance misuse Experience or equivalent such as other specialist psychiatric experience in a related field e. g., eating disorders

Experience

• Experience of working in mental health and/or addiction
• Experience of working with, or commitment to sick health professionals
• Experience of producing reports, assessments and presentations involving highly complex information.
• Experience of providing, receiving and processing sensitive or contentious information and communicating this effectively.
• Experience of building and developing effective working relationships and networking with senior professionals
• Personal clinical supervision

Skills, Abilities and Knowledge

• Able to utilise different and innovative modalities to consult with patients including text, email and Teams
• Knowledge of the needs of problem gamblers, including knowledge of relevant epidemiology, assessment, treatment, and prognosis
• Understanding of help seeking behaviour and access to health care by problem gamblers
• Be aware of the full range of treatment models for the management of different mental health problems
• Have a knowledge of behavioral, medical, social, and psychological factors that are particularly prevalent in problem gamblers
• Have an awareness of boundary issues when dealing with problem gamblers-patients
• Understanding of the roles of other health professionals
• Understanding of the professional regulation and standards t for nurses
• Be able to raise the issue of mental health problems sensitively either in response to a particular presentation or opportunistically
• Able to refer problem gamblers to appropriate treatment services
• Able to minimise risk of mental health problems/addiction in self and support personal wellbeing
• An ability to work in an integrated multi-professional team
• Be able to provide support and advice to other practitioners on the management of patients suffering from gambling harm
• Specific Aptitudes and Abilities
• To be able to maintain confidentiality at all levels
• Have a non-judgmental attitude
• Support and encourage normalisation of mental health discussions by health professionals
• Have an awareness of how cultural, gender, sexual or spiritual differences may impact on assessment and engagement
• To be solution focused and consider innovative approaches to problem solving
• Have an ability to work as part of a team and to communicate effectively and shared ownership of care with team members
• Have a flexible approach to delivery of care including use of technology
• Ability to work across several sites as required
• 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.