This Mental Health Specialist Practitioner post sits within the London Ambulance Service's Emergency Operations Centre and its Mental Health Joint Response Car. The role centres on specialist telephone assessment of 999 callers in mental health crisis, advice to ambulance crews, and face-to-face assessment on the response car. It is an autonomous clinical role on a rolling rota, at times working as a sole resource and leading the care of complex, challenging cases. Current NMC or HCPC registration and a mentorship qualification are required.
What the job involves
- Carry out telephone-based assessments of 999 patients presenting with a mental health crisis in the Emergency Operations Centre, with clinical safety oversight
- Provide remote mental health advice and support to ambulance crews across London
- Carry out face-to-face assessments on the Mental Health Joint Response Car, as primary or additional resource
- Work as an autonomous practitioner, at times as sole resource, making advanced assessment and clinical decisions
- Lead clinical coordination in complex and challenging mental health crisis cases
- Maintain consistently high CPI scores for clinical care in line with audit procedure
- Deliver regular training sessions to LAS staff
- Build local links with mental health providers and work collaboratively with internal and external partners
- Support the Consultant Nurse and Paramedic Mental Health in service development
- Champion evidence-based mental health care and parity of esteem for patients in mental health crisis
Qualifications
- BSc in a relevant degree or equivalent experience
- Mentorship qualification and experience of mentoring students
- Commitment to continuing professional development
Registration & licences
- Current NMC or HCPC registration with significant post-registration experience
Experience
- Significant experience in acute mental health care
- Significant experience working within a positive risk-taking framework
- Experience managing first episodes of suspected mental illness and agitated or hostile patients
- Experience of autonomous practice with patients in mental health crisis
Skills & knowledge
- Advanced biopsychosocial assessment, formulation and differential diagnosis
- In-depth knowledge of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act
- Understanding of how alcohol and street drugs affect presentation
- Dynamic risk assessment, brief interventions and sound evidence-based clinical decisions
- Clinical leadership, influencing, negotiation, conflict resolution and partnership working
- Analysing complex problems and developing workable solutions, including policy and protocol development
Other
- Coordinating and advising staff who are not from a mental health background
- Time management, prioritising a clinical caseload, and accurate record keeping
Nice to have
- Willingness to undertake the Advanced Practice Course
- Masters degree in a healthcare subject or equivalent experience
- Experience of telephone-based assessments
- Experience of mental health nursing in non-traditional settings
- Ability to stay calm in a busy environment
- Ability to handle personal and sensitive information confidentially
- Ability to use own initiative and work within a multidisciplinary team
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills
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Contact Details:
The Methodist Church in Britain Recruitment Team
