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Job summary

Main area
Mental Health Clinical Advisor
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Shifts to cover 24/7 rotation)
Job ref
335-A-0884-F
Employer
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Horizon Place
Town
Nottingham
Salary
£35,392 - £42,618 per annum, pro-rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
11/08/2024 23:59

Employer heading

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust logo

Mental Health Clinical Advisor - Nottinghamshire

NHS AfC: Band 6

We are East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), an organisation focused on delivering a high standard of emergency and urgent care to our patients across the region.

The East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) provides Emergency, Urgent and Non-Emergency pre-hospital care and transport across six counties (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire & Rutland and Northamptonshire).


 

Job overview

Are you looking for a new and challenging role?  Do you have experience of working in Mental Health?

As part of our new Mental Health Strategy, EMAS have exciting opportunities for enthusiastic applicants to join our Clinical Assessment Team (CAT) working within a multi-disciplinary team based in our Emergency Operations Centres to deliver quality care to our patients and provide advice to the wider EMAS team.

We are looking for Registered Clinicians/Occupational Therapists /Social Workers with an extensive background in supporting Mental Health

Our Mental Health Strategy enables us to meet the objectives of the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) which identifies ambulance services as being integral in supporting people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.  That is why we are recruiting more mental health staff into our emergency operation centres so that patients can be supported via ‘hear and treat’, appropriate pathways/appropriate signposting.

The CAT comprises paramedics, nurses, midwives, and mental health practitioners. Team members provide advice to patients and operational staff referring or signposting them to services and places where alternative, more appropriate care can be provided. This allows our ambulance crews and hospital colleagues to provide face-to-face care and treatment to those who are in most need.

Our Emergency Operations Centres (EOC) are based in Nottingham and Lincolnshire and on average receive one call every 34 seconds.

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the role include:

  • Provide urgent telephone triage assessment of patients.
  • Provide high quality and evidenced based clinical care to patients in Crisis by signposting to appropriate MH teams/pathways.
  • Ensure appropriate and accurate entry to records and documentation.
  • Provide a calm and confident resource to colleagues in stressful situations, providing leadership in mental health.
  • Exercise advanced skills in de-escalation of distress, and anger.
  • Demonstrate appropriate control and leadership in situations where people may be frightened, aggressive and/or violent.
  • Actively make your experience available as a resource for advice and support to other members of the team.
  • Liaise with other Healthcare Professionals, including Paramedics, Doctors, GP’s, Nurses, Allied Healthcare Professionals and Social Care Professionals from Primary and Secondary care as well as third sector organisations.
  • To Support 999 Call Handlers in the assessment of emergency calls where required.

 

Working for our organisation

The post holder will report to the Clinical Assessment Team (CAT) Manager for Mental Health. They will be part of a wider Multi-Disciplinary Team across both CAT and the wider Emergency Operations Centre.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main responsibilities:

  • Provide urgent telephone triage assessment of patients.
  • Provide high quality and evidenced based clinical care to patients in Crisis by signposting to appropriate MH teams/pathways.
  • Ensure appropriate and accurate entry to records and documentation.
  • Provide a calm and confident resource to colleagues in stressful situations, providing leadership in mental health.
  • Exercise advanced skills in de-escalation of distress, and anger.
  • Demonstrate appropriate control and leadership in situations where people may be frightened, aggressive and/or violent.
  • Actively make your experience available as a resource for advice and support to other members of the team.
  • Liaise with other Healthcare Professionals, including Paramedics, Doctors, GP’s, Nurses, Allied Healthcare Professionals and Social Care Professionals from Primary and Secondary care as well as third sector organisations.
  • To Support 999 Call Handlers in the assessment of emergency calls where required.
  • Be aware of the importance of safeguarding and accurate / timely escalation within the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

 

The team will where appropriate, provide signposting and facilitate access to appropriate services in the community.

 

  • Provide a service, which is in line with Local Working Instructions, i.e. patient focused, accessible and responsive on a 24-hour basis.
  • Demonstrate respect for all team members, maximising potential through the diverse roles within the team.
  • Attend team meetings as required.
  • Maintain and develop expertise in the acute care of people with a serious mental health problem, including the management of people at risk of suicide.
  • Liaison with other teams and services to ensure that quality and timely services are delivered.
  • Provide profession-specific interventions relevant to the needs of service users.
  • Actively seek to improve own practice by seeking new and innovative ideas for the delivery of care and maintain CPD.
  • Actively address areas of concern and report any areas of concern to the clinical duty and operational managers
  • Maintain an up to date knowledge of other relevant Crisis and Emergency Services.
  • Participate in supervision, as per the Trust policy, on a regular and formal basis.
  • Manage time and resources effectively within available constraints.
  • Practice within NMC/HCPC/Trust/Professional bodies guidelines where appropriate. 

Service Development and Improvement

  • To bring about a reduction in the numbers of calls and the duration of calls made by patients calling with Mental Health related needs. This will be achieved by:
    • Improving signposting to appropriate alternative care pathways.
    • The Mental Health Clinical Advisor will screen 999 calls and triage those that are from callers about mental health issues, to enable the best possible care outcomes for patients with mental health problems. They will make dynamic triage decisions and refer patients on to local MH services as appropriate.
    • Support management team and contribute to continuous improvements and development of services for Mental Health Clinical Advisors.
  • They will prioritise workload to ensure that all patients receive a timely intervention. This will be achieved by:
    • Providing expert mental health advice, including that relating to clinical risk, Mental Health Act or Mental Capacity Act.
  • Support the development of innovative ways of working within and across organisations to improve the delivery of care.

 

 

Person specification

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Post registration experience of working with people experiencing acute mental health problems.
  • Experience of working with people at risk.
  • Excellent assessment of clinical risk and experience of risk management.
  • Experience and ability to work within and across a multi-disciplinary teams.
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of dual diagnosis and substance misuse.
  • Experience of working with patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
  • Experience within telephone triage.

Qualifications and Professional Development

Essential criteria
  • Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) Registered Mental Health Nurse, HPC Occupational Therapist or Mental Health Social Worker.
  • Minimum of 2 years post registration with relevant clinical practice as a mental health practitioner in either Acute Inpatients, Crisis Teams, Emergency Department Liaison, Single Point of Access or as a Community Psychiatric Nurse. Evidence of post qualification development and current registration.
  • Can demonstrate a sound working knowledge of the whole system and relevant care pathways.
  • Evidence of undertaking regular update training and continuous personal/professional development in accordance with NMC/HPC regulations and Trust requirements as amended from time to time.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria
  • A clear understanding of the professional role, both profession specific and the generic nature of a crisis practitioner.
  • A good understanding of the needs of people with mental health problems who are in acute crisis.
  • Medically fit, the role requires applicants to work rotating shifts to provide 24/7 cover and possible operational incidents.
  • Strong listening and communication skills with a caring and compassionate approach.
  • Highly organised and priority conscious.
  • Excellent computer skills
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of NHS pathways
  • Knowledge of ambulance service working and clinical policies and procedures.

Personal Sttributes

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrate respect for all service provision/team members, maximizing potential through the diverse roles across services.
  • Will know, maintain and constantly strive to improve, all standards of care.
  • Ability to consult, liaise and negotiate with service users, carers/family members, other professionals and the wider community.
  • Commitment to the delivery of services that are responsive to service users, culture, gender and families.
  • Able to assess people at risk and seek appropriate advice and support.
  • Can demonstrate ability to act on own initiative.
  • Ability to work in partnership with other teams and services.
  • Capacity to embrace change.
  • Calm and confident with people who are in distress.
  • Reflective and considered approach to problem solving.
  • An awareness of the limitations of the role and when to escalate to senior staff.
  • Maintain an up to date knowledge of professional, legal and ethical standards of practice, in accordance with professional codes of conduct.
  • Demonstrates an awareness of professional development needs in relation to this post.
  • Demonstrate compassion and alignment with the Trust’s Values.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

We are a Living Wage EmployerVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Care quality commission - GoodMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerHappy to Talk Flexible Working

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
James Smith
Job title
Mental Health Senior Clinical Lead
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07385085568
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