Duty Community Mental Health Nurse in St Helens

This is a part-time Duty Practitioner Role over 3 working days which may be split through the week. Our Older Adults Community Mental Health Team supports individuals who have severe and enduring mental health difficulties and cognitive problems. The team is a busy and skilled multi-disciplinary group which actively promotes close partnership working within the wider community. If you feel you possess the values of Mersey Care NHS Trust we would welcome an application from you.

Applicants should hold the professional qualification of a Registered Mental Health Nurse and have experience working in this field. The role will include providing high quality evidenced based care, formulating risk management plans, supervising risk assessments, monitoring medications, administration of depots, providing expertise and advice, care co-ordination in the form of key worker and supervising junior staff members. We require a strong commitment to working with service users with complex physical and mental health needs, to assist them plan and take steps towards their recovery as well as promoting signposting to additional services such as local community groups, Alzheimer's society and voluntary sectors. As well as managing a caseload you would be expected to be a part of the duty rota responding to service users in crisis during the team's working hours, alongside supervising junior members of staff and supporting student nurses.

Main duties of the job:

• To be a point of contact for complex people with dementia and functional mental health illness.
• Supervise band 5 staff and support workers within the team.
• Participate in team meetings, MDT meetings and training opportunities.
• Provide support and advice for service users and carers and their families.
• Support people with complex needs and provide advice and guidance as people’s needs change.
• Liaise with colleagues and coordinate care for service users on colleagues' caseload if required.
• Support and monitor the service user whilst commencing medication.
• Work collaboratively with other members of the MDT and wider team.
• Attend regular supervision meetings and support student nurses on placement.

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands. We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so. Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

The post holders will manage our Duty process for clients with mental health conditions including dementia, acting as lead professional, providing nursing assessments and interventions on an individual and group basis. The role involves providing supervision for junior staff / students. The Service forms an integral part of the Community Mental Health Team, providing a range of interventions for people living with complex mental health conditions and a diagnosis of organic illness.

Person specification:

• Qualifications: Appropriate professional qualification or experience at Degree Level e.g. RMN, AHP, Social Worker Working towards master level education.
• Experience: Minimum 2 years post-registration mental health experience, Case and caseload management; Supervision of staff, Audit and clinical governance.
• Knowledge: Knowledge of mental health legislation, CPA, Safeguarding, Equality and human rights, Clinical governance and professional codes of conduct.
• Skills: Effective communication, Risk assessment and management, Leadership and supervision, Multidisciplinary working.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles. The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role and work in Children’s & Young People services to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration.