Lead Mental Health Practitioner in Pool

Do you want to work within an innovative forward-thinking PCN? We are seeking a senior mental health practitioner with leadership experience to join us as a Band 7/8a equivalent (dependent upon experience) as the professional lead for our Mental Health & Wellbeing team. You will be a qualified Nurse, with the relevant professional registration (NMC). You will be a prescriber or willing to work towards this once in post. You will be employed directly by the PCN.

You will be responsible for providing clinical leadership for our Mental Health & Wellbeing team who sit across both practices within our PCN. Part-time, full-time and job-share applications will be considered though we anticipate you would need to be working at least three days a week to establish effective relationships with both the mental health and wider teams. You will have a key role in supporting pre-referral discussions with secondary care, contributing to transformation work, and strengthening collaborative working across the local system. You will work closely with our GP mental health lead. Your experience will have been gained within primary care or another healthcare setting. You will be working in a diverse and highly supportive clinical team with an emphasis on training and development. This is an evolving role with considerable scope for development, offering the opportunity to help shape the future of primary care mental health, including closer integration with community and neighbourhood-based services.

Main duties of the job

• Your primary role will be to provide clinical leadership to the team whilst also managing your own clinical workload.
• You and the team will be supported by a lead GP and work collaboratively within a larger multidisciplinary team which has a reputation for being highly supportive and committed to professional development.
• You will work closely with, and lead the PCN social prescribing team as part of the PCN mental health and wellbeing provision.
• You will have a vital role in supporting colleagues to provide an excellent first primary care contact for patients experiencing poor mental health, ensuring they receive timely, holistic and evidence-based support based on need.
• You will enjoy building partnerships to strengthen the primary care mental health offer, working with multiple partners across the system.
• As part of the role, you will also contribute to broader system working, including developing links with community, voluntary and neighbourhood teams to improve access to care, support early intervention and help address health inequalities within the local population.

We are currently involved with an exciting neighbourhood development for a proposed mental health and social care hub within North Kerrier.

About us

The PCN patient population is circa 40k, covering a large area of mid-west Cornwall from coastline to moorland. Member practices include Carn to Coast Health Centres and Godolphin Health. Our PCN is innovative and embraces Modern General Practice. We were early adopters of digital and AI-supported approaches to patient triage and navigation and continue to be forward-thinking. We are keen to explore and implement new and effective ways of working to improve both patient and staff experience.

Our mental health & wellbeing team supports practice duty teams in managing on-the-day demand. There are opportunities within the role to support triage activity, as well as managing patients who can be safely and appropriately supported within primary care. We are also continuing to strengthen our collaborative working across primary care, community services and voluntary sector partners, supporting more joined-up, person-centred care at a local neighbourhood level. The post holder will be well supported within the PCN and will work alongside a dedicated GP Lead. The team currently employs three mental health practitioners and two social prescribers, so you will be joining an established team. This role is directly employed by the PCN. We offer an excellent package including generous annual leave and access to the NHS Pension Scheme. Both practices are training practices and we strongly support personal and professional development.

Job responsibilities

• To provide clinical leadership to the PCN mental health practitioner team and social prescribers, including supervision, support and professional guidance.
• To provide a lead role in supporting the PCN in triaging mental health concerns raised through on the day patient requests, including support to practice duty teams.
• To assess and manage patients presenting with a range of mental health needs, providing specialist advice, formulation and evidence-based interventions.
• To undertake comprehensive risk assessment and management, including safeguarding responsibilities where appropriate.
• To offer brief interventions as required, including problem solving, decision making, resilience building and medication advice (including prescribing where qualified).
• To work as a core member of the Primary Care MDT, contributing to shared decision-making and supporting development of mental health knowledge across the team.
• To provide a navigation and interface role, supporting GPs to make appropriate referrals and strengthening pathways between primary care, community, voluntary and secondary care services.
• To build effective working relationships with partners across the system, contributing to more integrated and collaborative ways of working.
• To contribute to the ongoing development and improvement of the PCN mental health service, including transformation work and service redesign.
• To support delivery of training and development for PCN staff in relation to mental health.
• To coordinate and contribute to team meetings and participate in practice MDTs as appropriate.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experienced working within a mental health setting.
• Experience working with people with serious mental health problems.
• Experience of clinical triage and referral management.
• Experience of staff leadership and supervision.
• Demonstration of collaborative working with MultiDisciplinary Team / other services.
• Working knowledge of Mental Health Act 2007, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Care Programme Approach, Safeguarding adults and children and other relevant legislation / government developments.
• Demonstration of personal development.
• Previous experience working in primary care.
• Previous experience of primary care clinical systems: EMIS Web and Docman.

Qualifications

• Registered mental health qualification or equivalent.
• Relevant professional registration (NMC).
• Educated to degree level (or equivalent).
• Non-medical prescribing qualification (or willing to work towards this qualification once in post).
• Post qualification study to Master's level (or equivalent level thinking evidenced through experience).

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.