An exciting opportunity has arisen for a professional to join our close-knit team, here in the Harrow and Hillingdon Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service.

You will work with children and adults between the ages of 14 to 35 who present to mental health services with a presentation of First Episode of Psychosis (FEP). You will be providing tailored and bespoke packages of care that promote mental well-being, a recovery focused approach and a range of interventions in order to facilitate this.

At CNWL we are fully committed and proud to develop our own workforce through training and development opportunities and this post is no different.

If you are an enthusiastic RMN, Social Worker or OT who is keen to try and upskill themselves and advance into becoming a more established community practitioner then we want to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

The role requires you to care coordinate a varied caseload to patients between the ages of 14-35. You will require excellent engagement skills, demonstrating an anti-oppressive and enabling approach to co-production with your patients. You should be skilled in assessing mental health, creating risk assessments, safety plans and crisis and contingency plans.

Our EIP Practitioners are specially trained and committed to using these skills to offer nursing which is centred around working with an individual's strengths in order to maximise autonomy and to deliver NICE concordant care for First Episode Psychosis.

About us

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of our benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance, in addition to assurances around training and development. We can offer;

• Flexible working with the opportunity forworking from home
• Our highly successful 6-months Family Intervention training which upon completion will allow you to co-facilitate Family Therapy sessions within the team
• Opportunities to train in delivering CBTp (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis)
• Monthly Reflective Practice sessions allowing you the opportunity to share your learning and reflect on your experiences with your colleagues
• Monthly supervision sessions focussed on your development into this role
• Opportunities to shadow our wide-ranging, specialised services with the Trust such as perinatal services, prison services, HTT, CMHT and many more
• Career mapping and development programmes

Job description Job responsibilities

See attached JD and PS

The Harrow and Hillingdon EIP service prides itself on working as a team, ensuring that the bio-psycho-social model is utilised to the fullest with input and support from our strong multi-disciplinary team; Consultants, Psychologists, Employment Specialists, Activity Coordinators and Peer-Support Workers.

If you want to make a difference to those experiencing their first episode in psychosis and be a part of their recovery journey then we want to hear from you.

We would be happy to welcome you for a visit or an informal chat to discuss the position further.

Overview of Main Responsibilities1. To be accountable for the co-ordination of individualised care plans for people who are in the early stages of psychotic illness between the ages of 14-35, for a 3-year period,2. To assess health and social care needs and negotiate care plans with service users and their carers, remaining objective when working with diagnostic uncertainty.3. To work with dual diagnosis providing interventions for mental health need and substance misuse problems including the use of stimulants, alcohol and cannabis.4. To undertake risk assessments, according to Trust policy.5. To ensure delivery of care plans in partnership with multi-disciplinary colleagues and a range of health and social care agencies, within the CPA structure.6. To engage with service users and carers assertively and offer care/interventions within the least restrictive setting, in normal community environments.7. To provide a service sensitive to age, culture, ethnicity and gender, sexuality and disability.8. To offer a range of evidence based psycho-social interventions and pro-active risk management approaches to help the service user and their family to reduce and manage symptoms, high risk behaviour and other disabling effects of psychosis and enable, as far as possible, full and sustained recovery.9. To ensure CNWL Child Protection Guidelines and procedures are fully understood by self and others. To ensure the safety needs of children are met at all times and take appropriate action when a child is felt to be at risk or in need.10. To monitor treatment, support concordance and ensure prompt action is taken to alleviate unwanted effects.11. To provide access to, and ongoing, psycho-education regarding first episode psychosis to service users and families.12. To ensure basic needs are addressed i.e. housing, income, support in accessing education or training etc.13. To recognise the developmental needs of service users and enable avocational/educational assessment within a specified time of their contact with the service, and to ensure the service user is supported in progressing plans made for education, training or employment.14. To provide interventions and to work with other disciplines/agencies/teams in the care of service users experiencing co-morbid problems with substance use/misuse.15. To engage the service user and their family in relapse prevention and crisis planning and provide and coordinate interventions that maximise the service users ability to resolve crises, remain at home and avoid the need for hospitalisation.16. To deliver a flexible and responsive service through working practices that are dictated by service user/carer need and contribute to the provision of service continuity including outside normal working hours when necessary.17. If admission to hospital becomes necessary, to provide regular, formal, joint inpatient review to ensure the service user is transferred/discharged to the lowest stigma/least restrictive environment as soon as clinically possible.18. To be participate in developing early detection strategies with a range of agencies and in developing public awareness of first episode psychosis.19. Eventually to work in a shift system between 8am and 8pm including weekends and public holidays.20. To take part in an on-call system to offer telephone contact for the service users and carers out of hours, should this be decided upon in the future.21. To maintain standards of professional conduct at all times and observe the legal requirements of the MHA (1983), its Code of Practice, The Children Act (1989) and other relevant legislation and guidance.22. The post holder will be required to work flexible hours within this role, inclusive of evening and weekend hours as required.23. To work within a multi-disciplinary context to provide holistic and individualised care to users and their family network.24. To identify areas of need to develop training packages for a range of staff, stakeholders, users and carers.25. Actively involved with proving health promotion and education for users and families.

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Current Professional Registration as a Registered Mental Health Nurse/Occupational Therapist or Social Worker.
• Evidence of post registration training and CPD.
• ENB998/Slice/Mentorship in Practice/Practice Teacher course or professional equivalent

Desirable

• Training in Psychosocial Interventions;
• Family Therapy/Work training;
• Other relevant training, eg substance misuse, work with adolescents.

Experience Essential

• post-registration with experience working with people experiencing psychosis and with complex health and social care needs. Or at experience with first episode psychosis in a Community or inpatient setting.
• Experience of working in multidisciplinary mental health team in community as a Care Co-ordinator under the Care Programme Approach

Desirable

• Work with adolescents
• Work with families
• Work with people experiencing mental health crisis
• Supervision of students and junior staff.
• Audit and research.
• Teaching - staff, service users, other agencies
• Working with people who use substances

Knowledge Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including report writing and presentations.
• IT skills.
• Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate a comprehensive care package for the identified client group, using a wide range of resources.
• Able to develop a comprehensive programme of intervention and support for the identified client group and their families
• Skills in risk assessment and management
• Can demonstrate understanding of psychosis and its impact on service users and carers.
• Knowledge of current legislation and guidance applicable to this client group
• Can demonstrate understanding of the needs of particular groups, e.g. young people, residents of inner city; black and minority ethnic groups, and skills in engaging with them.
• Skills in psychosocial interventions
• Able to build constructive relationships with warmth and empathy, using good communication skills.

Desirable

• Skills in leadership: ability to motivate others, use initiative and manage change.
• Basic counselling and group work skills
• Dual diagnosis/substance misuse

Other Essential

• Willingness to work shifts between 8am and 8pm including weekends and Bank Holidays and to be on call by phone if and when necessary outside those hours

Desirable

• Holder of full UK Driving Licence/Car Driver

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

333-G-HM-0489