Mental Health Practitioner in Rochester

We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for a Mental Health Practitioner to join our team at HMP Rochester and HMP Cookham Wood. This role provides a unique chance to gain valuable experience working in a prison environment. As a Mental Health Practitioner, you will be providing specialist mental healthcare to offenders and working as part of the Mental Health In Reach Team, plus wider mental health services. You will be required to work in a psychologically minded way with offenders in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.

Our Mental Health Team provides specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level including referral management, screening assessment, triage, evidence based interventions, care planning and risk assessing, plus one-to-one and group work facilitation. Our Mental Health Practitioners manage a mixed and challenging caseload and are required to perform robust assessment, screening and interventions to offenders with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. You will contribute to alternatives to inpatient admission and assist with early discharge through the implementation of high intensity interventions and complex case management arrangements.

• To provide specialist mental healthcare to service users and to work as part of the Mental Health In Reach Team and wider MDT.
• To deliver a range of specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level; to include referral management, screening assessment, triage, and evidence based interventions.
• Care planning and risk assessing.
• One-to-one and group work facilitation.
• Managing a mixed and challenging caseload.
• To perform robust assessment, screening, and interventions to service users with mental health, neurodevelopmental and trauma needs.
• Ensure that all waiting time, assessment and interventions are delivered in a timely manner, and positively contribute to the achievement of the services performance targets.
• Ensure integrated and collaborative working with other specialist services, including continuity of care and through the gate arrangements and liaison.
• Work closely with community mental health teams (CMHTs) to ensure appropriate sharing of information, continuity of care and the Care Programme Approach (CPA) for all service users where necessary.
• To provide comprehensive and timely reports and mental health expertise to multi agency public protection panels (MAPPA), police, probation services, solicitors and court liaison teams as directed.
• Deliver active clinical leadership and supervision within the team, covering for the manager and colleagues as required.
• To receive supervision as directed (line management and clinical).
• To participate in resource centre services as directed, delivering psychological therapy and specialist activities under the direction of the clinical lead.
• To work in a psychologically minded way with service users in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.
• Close working relationships with all prison staff, to include participation in sentence planning, resettlement, safer custody, and the ACCT processes.
• To develop and take on a specialist lead role as appropriate and provide peer support and training in this area.
• To contribute towards support, advice, consultation, and training for prison staff.
• The post holder will be part of a skilled multidisciplinary team (MDT) comprising of all healthcare staff, including strategic partners, and prison managing a single referral pathway.
• The post holder will be required to undertake training to maximise uptake of screening, health promotion and prevention activity, including vaccinations.
• The post holder will be required to hold a caseload and care coordinate services uses with secondary mental health and complex needs.
• Ensuring a proactive, evidence based approach to clinical interventions, health promotion/prevention activity, and management of acute and long term conditions using a stepped care approach.
• The post holder will ensure that a single, integrated, care plan is devolved in collaboration with service users and responsible for facilitating the development of comprehensive risk assessment, crisis plans, rapid access plans, advance statements etc, involving other agencies such as primary care etc where appropriate.
• Ensure the individualised care is regularly reviewed and updated where necessary.
• The post holder as a care coordinator will attend/contribute in a weekly MDT meeting for service users on secondary case load and complex care needs. This will ensure a tailored individual needs approach.
• The post holder will ensure that they undertake all training in evidence based CBT approaches, to enhance consistency and quality of care delivery.
• The post holder will support patients to manage all areas of their health at every stage, from oral health to long term conditions.
• The post holder will ensure that health promotion embedded into every aspect of the service.

• All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting.
• Proof of right to work documentation.
• Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID.
• Proof of address documentation.
• Non‑UK passport holders must provide correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home Office Share code.
• 5 years address history will be needed.
• Applicants that are UK Passport holders who lived abroad for more than six months during the last three years must provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English.

£41,959 to £50,117 a year PER ANNUM RECRUITMENT & RETENTION INCENTIVE INCLUDED.

• Education/Qualifications: Diploma level/Degree in relevant health/social care profession, e.g. RMN, RLDN OT, Social Worker. Current relevant registration with the NMC or HCPC. Desirable relevant, post registration training in one of the following areas: Learning disability, Personality disorder, Substance misuse/dual diagnosis, Psychological therapies.
• Experience: Two years substantive post registration experience gained working in a range of frontline adult mental health services, undertaking assessment and delivering interventions. Experience gained in a wide variety of settings.
• Skills/Abilities/Knowledge: Commitment to CPD, able to deliver from a range of possible key therapeutic interventions CBT, Psychosocial interventions, Family Interventions, DBT approaches. Demonstrates a developed understanding of the recovery principles, and the role of secondary mental health services in the delivery of care. Experience of undertaking carers' assessments.