Overview
Are you a Band 5 practitioner (social worker/OT/nurse) or newly qualified looking for an innovative role with a good work/life balance, with no weekend working or on-call work required? Join a hardworking, passionate Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) service in Plymouth.
This is no ordinary role. The pace is fast and there is lots of variety. The service focuses on collaboration, innovation, and building relationships to transform Livewell Southwest’s Community Mental Health Services and support independence and recovery for individuals in the community.
The role is focused on assessment of needs, development, implementation and evaluation of care for patients with severe and enduring mental health conditions, including complex needs and high-risk behaviours. The Plymouth city-wide service emphasises trauma-informed practice and person-centered care, supporting service users, their carers and the wider network.
Note: this role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. All staff are expected to work across a 7-day service.
Main duties
- Provide caseload supervision for Band 3 mental health practitioners and line management. Carry out caseload reviews and support recovery processes.
- Contribute to professional development, appraisal, performance review and recruitment.
- Ensure clinical practice is based on evidence and aligns with NICE guidance.
- Maintain accountability for practice in line with NMC or HPC professional codes of conduct.
- Promote positive risk management to support client independence and autonomy of choice.
- Liaise with community resources to facilitate use of mainstream services.
- Maintain a caseload of clients with significant mental health complexity.
- Work within legal and ethical frameworks to safeguard service users’ welfare.
- Develop and maintain good relationships with service users, carers, relatives and fellow professionals involved in service delivery.
- Engage in support and care planning for those with complex needs, and assess and manage risk with the MDT.
- Work collaboratively with adult social care.
Please note that the advertisement may close earlier than the specified deadline. The role requires a 7-day service pattern, including potential nights on-call if required.
About us
Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres and health hubs.
We are guided by values including kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility and collaboration, and we focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability while empowering staff and those we serve. We involve service users and their families in shaping care to deliver the right care at the right time and place, centering on individual needs to help people lead healthy, independent lives.
We prioritise staff development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs help ensure a smooth transition into the organisation.
Livewell Southwest values diversity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neurodiverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.
Job responsibilities
The post-holder is responsible to the Practice Leads of the Community Mental Health Service (CMHS) for the assessment of needs, development, implementation and evaluation of care for patients from a specified group of GP practices. The practitioner is responsible for assessment of needs and care within agreed Personalised Care Framework procedures. The post holder may supervise junior staff within the CMHS. The post holder is accountable to the Community Services Manager through the Line Management system within the CMHS.
Completion of training as a first-level professional to gain entry onto registration (e.g., Nursing, Social Work or Occupational Therapy). The services work to enhance the quality of mental health care and outcomes for adults in Plymouth, collaborating with colleagues across departments to deliver holistic biopsychosocial assessments and support.
The teams work in collaboration with Home Treatment Team, hospital placements, crisis services and Adult Social Care. The role includes autonomous working, with high-quality mental health assessments, risk formulation and care plans in collaboration with family, friends and carers. Care is provided in patients’ homes and other community settings, across Livewell and community sites. The post holder will provide support and supervision to junior staff such as community support workers and peer support workers.
The post will include flexible working patterns over the 7-day week to cover a 24/7 service, including nights on-call if required.
MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1 Responsibility for People Management
- The post holder may be responsible for supervising some junior staff within the CMHS
4.2 Responsibility for financial and/or physical resources
- You will be responsible for physical health equipment when visiting patients within the community.
- You will be responsible for stock control of medication following Livewell Policies.
4.3 Responsibility for administration
The post holder should maintain close links with inpatient services at Glenbourne, Home Treatment Team, Social Care, Dual Diagnosis Services, Primary Care, Counselling Services. Records of patient and staff activity should be kept according to NMC/HPC guidelines and Livewell Southwest policies, including Data Protection and the Mental Health Act.
4.4 Responsibility for people who use our services
The post holder will assess all new referrals in the patient’s practice, at home or in a clinic setting, and arrange access to other parts of Adult Mental Health Services. They will act as a Key Worker for a defined group of patients and organise care under the Personalised Care Framework.
4.5 Responsibility for implementation of policy and/or service developments
The post holder will keep up-to-date with mandatory training and developments in mental health nursing or related practice. They will participate in community placements and training programs and receive regular line management and clinical supervision in line with Livewell Southwest policies. An annual appraisal will review the Job Description.
4.6 Other Responsibilities
The post holder will participate in clinical audits of CMHS, ensure practice aligns with NICE guidance and the NMC/HPC code of conduct. A full job description and person specification are attached for details.
Person Specification
Specific Skills
- Ability to travel independently between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations, including areas not served by public transport.
- Ability to work autonomously within a team.
- Communication and liaison skills.
- Self-management ability.
- Interpersonal skills; crisis management; lone working.
- Ability to plan and implement a community care package for mental health patients.
- Ability to manage a caseload with meeting Livewell Southwest record-keeping standards.
- Self-motivated, flexible, reliable and empathic.
- Ability to recognise and support stress in others; mentorship or equivalent; group interaction skills; specific therapeutic interventions.
Qualifications
- RMN/Dip HE/BSc Mental Health Nursing
- Occupational Therapy Degree
- Social Work Degree or PG Dip or MA
- Current professional registration
Knowledge
- Mental Health Act; Confidentiality; Personalised Care Framework and Key Worker responsibilities.
- Psychiatric illnesses, particularly schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum, with evidence of providing appropriate nursing care.
- Knowledge of NICE guidelines and evidence-based practice.
- Breakaway; networking with other agencies; ethical issues in mental health; System One/EPCF/EMR; Care Quality Commission knowledge.
- National and local services developments awareness.
- Good working knowledge of the Care Quality Commission.
Experience
- Multidisciplinary working.
- Relevant experience with adults with severe and enduring mental illness.
- Experience in community mental health settings and varied life experiences.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and will require a Disclosure submission to the DBS to check for any previous convictions.
Working patterns: Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working.
#J-18808-Ljbffr…