Job summary
An opportunity has arisen for enthusiastic and motivated Senior Wellbeing Practitioners to join our Halton, Knowsley and Warrington Mental Health Support Teams in schools, delivering mental health support to children and young people across education settings in Warrington.

This post is subject to an enhanced with children's and adult's barred listDisclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check.

This post requires a professional registration:

Education Mental Health Practitioner Post Graduate (PGCert) or Post Graduate Diploma (PGDip)

OR

Children & Young People's Wellbeing Practitioner PGCert or PGDip

AND

Senior Wellbeing Practitioner Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Commitment to complete the qualification once in post

AND

Registration with either the BABCP or the BPS

Main duties of the job
Provide assessment and low intensity interventions, such as psycho-educationalinterventions, one-to-one psychological therapies and parenting interventions.

Support professionals, such as school staff and third sector employees, in making appropriate referrals and in carrying out the mental health aspects of their own roles.

Make appropriate referrals to other service providers in the statutory and voluntary sectors and redirect patients to other sources of appropriate support within the local community as required.

Provide a service that is flexible as far as possible in terms of clinic hours, mode of delivery and location of contact.

Liaise as appropriate with secondary care mental health services, social care, schools, and other partner agencies.

Adhere to Trust safeguarding policies and local safeguarding procedures. Where necessary, attend social care meetings such as Team Around the Family, Child in Need, or Child Protection meetings.

Conduct risk assessments, prepare risk management plans and initiate appropriate action where indicated (including referrals to relevant secondary care or crisis services).

Undertake appropriate clinical supervision on a regular basis in accordance with therelevant professional guidelines and policies.Provide supervision to practitioners in the service line.

As the post is identified within the CYPMH strategy, it is expected the role will continue to develop in line with national and local initiatives.

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.

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.

Job responsibilities
The post-holder will be expected to:

• Support the development of the Step 2 provision within a high pressured environment
• Hold a reduced low intensity caseload and deliver evidence based interventions to clients in one-to-one and group settings
• Be familiar with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and be committed to equal opportunities.
• Develop, support and deliver training in innovative practice to Step 2 practitioners, and other workers qualified to act in Low Intensity worker role
• To develop the service and provide awareness raising with colleagues from external statutory and non-statutory organisations
• To take a lead role in a key area of Step 2 development across Talking Therapies Halton service, which may include work with long term conditions, older adults, or groups/courses
• Support the development of links with Primary Care, Secondary Care, GPs and service users in non-statutory organisations, especially services supporting minority groups
• Provide clinical case management, possible line management, and occasional clinical supervision to Step 2 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners and trainees

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Significant experience of working with people with common mental health problems
• Ability to demonstrate a range of post-qualifying experiences (min 1 year) in offering and delivering the range of evidence based IAPT low intensity interventions such as guided self-help and group psycho-education
• Consolidated and reflective supervised post-qualifying experience in a community setting
• Experience of working with clients in a primary care setting
• Experience of 'partnership working
• Substantial experience of multi-disciplinary teamwork
• Experience of working with suicidal clients and of risk management

Desirable

• Experience of screening, assessing and working with a wide spectrum of mental health issues and working with people with moderate common mental health problems
• Experience of audit and research
• Experience of and ability to provide mentor/supervisor role
• Experience of supervising others
• Experience of working with children and young people who are subject to local authority support at Early Help, Child in Need, or Child Protection levels

Knowledge
Essential

• Knowledge of different models of mental health and wellbeing
• Understanding of models of assessment, screening, referral, record-keeping and evidence-based brief psychological intervention
• Knowledge of outcome measures and their use for clinical and audit purposes
• Knowledge of safeguarding legislation and practice
• A good understanding of the Thrive model of CYP mental health and wellbeing support

Desirable

• An awareness of serious mental health presentations (psychosis, bi-polar)

Skills
Essential

• The capacity to adapt core psychological approaches to the primary care culture, incorporating a range of skills to meet a broad spectrum of presenting issues
• Ability to conduct clinical risk assessment and collaboratively create risk management plans with CYP, their families, and professionals supporting them
• Ability to be self-reflective, whilst working with service users, in own personal and professional development, and in supervision
• Able to develop productive therapeutic relationships with clients
• Ability to work within a team and foster good working relationships
• Ability to use clinical supervision and personal development positively and effectively
• Ability to work under pressure
• Able to communicate clearly and persuasively, both verbally and in writing
• Ability to liaise and network with a wide range of organisations and members of the public
• Comprehensive IT skills, including word processing and database packages
• Ability to use outcome measures for both clinical and audit purposes
• Ability to manage own caseload and time

Desirable

• Evidence of further training in psychological interventions/therapy
• Ability to carry out a range of evaluation and monitoring techniques
• Able to work through interpreters
• Fluent in languages other than English

Qualifications
Essential

• Education Mental Health Practitioner Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) or Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) for roles based in MHSTs OR
• Children & Young People's Wellbeing Practitioner PGCert or PGDip for roles based in CYPMHS teams AND
• Senior Wellbeing Practitioner Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip), or commitment to complete the qualification once in post
• Registration with either the BABCP or the BPS

Desirable

• A qualification in professional supervision
• Training in a High Intensity Modality

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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.