Mersey Care NHS Trust is the health provider for the delivery of an innovative prison-based assessment and treatment service for residents with personality related needs.

This service is based within HMP Garth which is a category B men's adult prison based in Leyland, Lancashire. The service is part of the National Offender Personality Disorder Strategy and is delivered as a partnership between HMP Garth and Mersey Care NHS Trust.

We believe that this post provides a unique opportunity to be part of a psychologically led service with formulation and integrated team working at its core. The service provides 1:1 and group based interventions based on Professor John Livesley's framework and model of interventions for individuals with personality related needs.

These structured interventions are provided as part of a therapeutic milieu which involves a focus on attachment, trauma and systemic approaches, alongside comprehensive risk assessment and management. Core aims of the service are consistent with those of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway in improving psychological wellbeing, reducing risk, improving staff skills and competencies and pathway focussed intervention.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be joining a dedicated team of clinical and prison officer staff from a range of backgrounds and experience. Team members have high levels of skill, passion and enthusiasm (and humour!) and are committed to ensuring the on-going successful development of the service and the opportunities it provides for our population.

The post holder will contribute to the systematic provision of specialised psychological services to residents within the Beacon. Applicants will have Masters level qualification in psychotherapy. You should have considerable experience of working with individuals with complex clinical and risk presentations including within institutional settings and as part of a multi-disciplinary team. This should include work with clients whose needs may meet criteria for a diagnosis of personality disorder and who may find it difficult to engage with services. Experience of working in complex service and organisational settings is required alongside an ability to constructively manage the personal, professional and ethical opportunities and challenges such work can involve.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 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.

At the Beacon service, we prioritise the development of our staff team and have proven that we value and nurture diverse clinical interests. Members of our team have been trained in MBT, CAT, EMDR, Schema Therapy, leadership, psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic models and systemic ways of working. We are committed to creating an empowered staff team. We strive to be reflective and support of each other which is vital given the challenges this work can entail.

Job description Job responsibilities

Full details of the main responsibilities of the post can be found in the job description and person specification.

For informal enquiries, please contact Simon Crowther (Clinical Lead) on simon.crowther@merseycare.nhs.uk / 01772 443367 or Debbie Brennand (Clinical Team Operational Manager) on debbie.brennand@merseycare.nhs.uk / 01772 443394.

We welcome visits to the service so please get in contact if you would like to arrange this.

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• A core mental health professional qualification and professional registration (e.g., Occupational Therapy, Social Worker, Registered Mental Health Nurse, Creative Arts Therapist)
• Completion of specialist training in psychotherapy (to Masters level) and specialist post qualification training (or significant supervised practice) in an additional modality delivered by the team (e.g., CAT / EMDR/ MBT/ Schema therapy
• Full accreditation with relevant accrediting body
• Training in supervision of others

Desirable

• Training in additional models of psychological therapy Doctoral degree or equivalent

Knowkedge / Experience Essential

• Post-graduate level knowledge (or its equivalent) in theories of psychotherapy methods.
• Knowledge of relevant NICE Clinical Guidance
• Effective Care Coordination
• Up to date clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment
• Extensive experience of clinical supervision
• Experience in assessing and working with people who have complex clinical problems.
• Experience in developing and implementing clinical group interventions.
• Experience in supporting MDT colleagues in implementing complex care plans.
• Experience in risk assessment and risk management.

Desirable

• Experience of the application of psychotherapy in different cultural contexts.
• Experience in providing specialist clinical supervision to other professional staff
• Knowledge of current psychological evidence base and best practice in working with adults.
• Audit and research methods

Skills Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychotherapy andmanagement, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical &/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional groups.
• Effective team working within a multi -agenc y framework
• Ability to formulate relevant reports
• Appreciation of the interface between personal and professional lives, high level of self -awareness and knowledge of principles of self -care.

Desirable

• High -level skills in the practice of a clinical specialisation.
• Personal experience of coping with life stressors.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi -media materials suitable for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to identify and employ methods of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintainclinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

350-SEC4508280