Job summary
PLEASE NOTE: This is a community based role with will require the successful postholder to travel regularly between multiple sites in order to perform duties.PLEASE NOTE: Due to a genuine occupational requirement, this role is currently restricted to male applicants only.

Our Community Mental Health Team supports individuals who have severe and enduring mental health difficulties. 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 since qualifying.

The role will include providing high quality evidenced based care, formulating risk management plans, supervising risk assessments, monitoring medication, administration of depots, providing expertise and advice, care co-ordination and supervising junior staff. In addition, we require a strong commitment to working with service users with complex needs, to assist them plan and take steps towards their recovery as well as promoting signposting to additional services such as Psychology, Liferooms and wider resources available in the community.

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 teams working hours.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will be based within the Community Mental Health Team and :

• Act as the lead professional for a caseload of complex people with dementia and people with mental health problems
• Provide assessments and develop treatment plans for service users on caseload
• Supervise band 5 staff and support workers
• Participate in team meetings, MDT meetings and training opportunities
• Provide support and advice for service users and carers
• Support people with complex needs and provide advice and guidance as people's needs change
• Participate in delivery of group interventions
• Liaise with colleagues and coordinate care for service users on caseload
• Support and monitor the service user whilst commencing medication
• Work collaboratively with other members of the MDT
• Attend regular supervision meetings

About us
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. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

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.

Job responsibilities
The post holders will manage a caseload of 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 operates a 7-day shift pattern between 8.00am and 9.00 pm.

The Memory Service forms an integral part of the Community Mental Health Team, providing a range of interventions for people living with mental health conditions. The team works across Liverpool and the post holder will be expected to deliver interventions for people in a variety of settings. The team operates a system of regular supervision and there is also peer supervision available within the team.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Appropriate professional qualification or experience at Degree Level e.g. RMN, AHP, Social Worker
• Evidence of post registration study / continuing professional development e.g. Mentorship in Practice

Desirable

• Working towards master level education

Experience
Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post registration experience in mental health.
• Evidence of leadership and management skills
• Evidence of experience of managing cases & case loads
• Evidence of supervising staff.
• Experience of working in partnership with other agencies and service users and carers
• Experience of audit/research and working knowledge of clinical governance.
• Experience in change management and policy formulation

Knowledge
Essential

• Ability to work autonomously across the organisation/boundaries and with other agencies
• Experience of using Incident Reporting Systems e.g. DATIX
• Experience of undertaking and involvement in Serious Untoward Incident Reviews
• Evidence of experience of working with a range of people with mental health problems in a variety of health care settings.

Desirable

• Knowledge of right care right person

Skills
Essential

• Able to communicate effectively both verbally and non -verbally.
• Being responsive and flexible, seeing change as an opportunity to improve services
• Ability to lead the process of standard setting and audit
• Leadership Skills
• Ability to work within a divisional management team, be able to generate own workload and ability to work to strict deadlines.
• Ability to build purposeful relationships with a range of both internal and external to the organisation.
• Proven knowledge of relevant mental health legislation.
• Demonstrate knowledge of CPA ECC guidelines.
• Demonstrate knowledge in the concepts of mentorship, preceptorship and supervision and ability to provide education and supervision to junior staff
• Demonstrate a good knowledge of professional Codes of Conduct and Staffs' responsibility to identify gaps in their knowledge base

Additional information
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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.