Job Summary
Are you ready to unlock your potential within a challenging, creative and fast paced work environment? Do you want to escape your current job role and work with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past? Now is the time to break into offender healthcare and develop your career.
As part of the South West Prison Healthcare contract awarded to Oxleas NHS trust in 2022, we are able to expand recruitment and are looking for a compassionate, knowledgeable and motivated Mental Health Support Worker to join our friendly team at HMP Ashfield
Our healthcare team have a real impact on promoting health and well-being to those in prison and we pride ourselves on using skills and strategies that instil hope for patients future resettlement back into the community. We directly deliver Mental Health, Physical Health, Pharmacy and Clinical Substance Misuse in an integrated healthcare delivery model to provide effective and responsive care to improve wellbeing and support better outcomes in the future.
As part of our mental health team, you will enjoy all the benefits of NHS AfC employment (inc pension) with the opportunity to work within a forward-thinking service, who encourage career and personal development to all staff to increase their clinical and interpersonal skills.
Main duties of the job
This role is focussed on supporting people in prison with a range of acute mental health needs. The individuals may be in crisis, and their carers (including friends and relatives) and supporters will also require support to enable and assist them to meet daily health, social care and wellbeing needs. These needs will need to be met in line with personal recovery goals and facilitating engagement with mainstream services.
Always under the overarching framework of CPA, the postholder will contribute to the ongoing assessment, planning, delivery and review of activities and interventions against identified health, social care and wellbeing needs. You will be acting as the care/recovery coordinator for an allocated group of service users. The role will also require undertaking and delivering defined activities and interventions for a wider group of identified service users, in accordance with the agreed personal recovery plan. This maybe either on a one-to-one basis, or as part of a group activity. Regular out of hours working, including nights will be required.
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To undertake the role of care/recovery coordinator for an allocated caseload of service users organising and participating in the ongoing assessment, planning delivering and review of care to meet identified physical and mental health social care and wellbeing needs.
- Organising and participating in defined assessment methods/activities.
- Arranging CPA meetings in line with trust policy.
- Developing and reviewing appropriate care plans identifying and organising other resources as appropriate.
- Providing defined interventions/ activities as part of the care plan.
- Completing relevant paper and electronic documentation in line with the care coordinator role.
- Plan and undertaking defined interventions and treatments to enable the individual to meet and develop their ongoing daily living skills, to increase confidence and independence in line with agreed personal recovery plans.
- Preparing for and delivering defined self-help groups.
- Therapeutic activities to improve and individuals coping skills eg, improving sleep, anger, anxiety, stress management, assertiveness or relaxation.
- Therapeutic activities to improve an individuals physical health such as exercise programmes, diet or nutritional planning.
- Planning and undertaking activities to enable the individual to meet and develop their daily living skills, to increase confidence and independence in line with agreed personal recovery plans.
- Emotional support to individual focusing on motivation and encouragement.
- Information and advice to maintain good physical health by encouraging a good diet and exercise.
- Information on rights under the mental health act.
- To work collaboratively with service users and their carers to understand and manage their mental health needs in line with their personal recovery plan and relapse prevention strategies.
- To undertake specific activities and interventions in the support of carers including engagement and involvement, assessment and provision of support or services.
- Organise and participate in the development of risk assessments and crisis management plans, rapid access plans, within the appropriate framework, ensuring that when trigger points are reached these are reported appropriately to a registered practitioner, and that immediate or direct action is taken in line with these, or in the event of a crisis.
- Respond to the needs of individual with sensitivity with regard to their age, culture, race, gender, ethnicity, social class or disability, modifying behaviour to optimise the helping relationship.
- Promote the rights of individual by recognising differences and acting in accordance with the relevant legislation, recognising and reporting discriminatory behaviour, and taking appropriate action.
- Promoting independence and increasing confidence by providing appropriate self help materials, information about available resources/services, facilitating identified group work and educational workshops.
- Contribute to the protection of individuals from abuse and harm in line with local safeguarding policies and procedures.
- Develop own knowledge and practice, making use of supervision/ appraisal and available learning opportunities.
- Promote, monitor and maintain health, safety and security in all workplaces.
- Maintain accurate, confidential records of patient activity, writing reports and letters, utilising electronic record and other systems available within the organisation.
- To participate in local arrangements in order to ensure consistent care to service users across the local geography.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ: All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.
You will need to provide:Proof of right to work documentationProof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic IDProof of address documentationNon-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.
Address History: 5 years address history will be needed. Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited. In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicantsIf the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en)
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- NVQ Level 3 completed in a mental health setting or equivalent qualification
Experience
Essential
- Relevant experience of working in any health, social care setting or any related voluntary organisation.
- Demonstrates a clear understanding of recovery principles and the role of secondary mental health services in the delivery of care.
- Able to demonstrate some awareness of theories underpinning health and social care.
- Able to articulate a clear knowledge of policy and legislative frameworks within which mental health services are delivered including a persons rights under the MHA , CPA Mental Capacity Act.
Desirable
- Prison or secure environment experience
Skills
Essential
- Good communication and an ability to form positive relationships with patients, carers and other professionals.
- Developed IT literacy with an understanding of Microsoft office
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 18 June 2024
