Job Description

As a Mental Health Practitioner you will be providing specialist mental healthcare to offenders and working as part of the Mental Health In-Reach Team, plus wider mental health services. You will be required to work in a psychologically minded way with offenders in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.



Our Mental Health Team provide specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level including; referral management, screening assessment, triage, evidence-based interventions, care planning and risk assessing, plus one-to-one and group-work facilitation.



Our Mental Health Practitioners manage a mixed and challenging caseload and are required to perform robust assessment, screening and interventions to offenders with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. You will contribute to alternatives to inpatient admission and assisting with early discharge through the implementation of high intensity interventions and complex case management arrangements.

Important Sponsorship Information for this post:

We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.



One of our key aims is to ensure continuity of care for an offender on ordinary location and reduce the length of stay, both in relation to prison inpatient services and external NHS/independent in-patient services. You will work closely with community mental health teams to ensure appropriate sharing of information, continuity of care and the Care Programme Approach for all offenders as necessary.



To provide specialist mental healthcare to service users and to work as part of the Mental Health In-Reach Team and wider MDT.

To deliver a range of specialist interventions at primary and secondary care level; to include:



Referral management, screening assessment, triage, and evidence- based interventions



Care Planning and risk assessing



One-to-one and group-work facilitation



Managing a mixed and challenging caseload



Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Kent, South London, Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.



Our healthcare departments operate across six prisons in the Kent cluster each of which require a bespoke service responding to the prisoner and prison needs:



HMP Swaleside - Cat B - Population = 1,112



HMP Elmley- Cat B/C - Population = 1,252



HMP Standford Hill - Cat D- Population = 450



HMP Maidstone - Cat C - Population = 600



HMP Rochester - Cat C - Population = 695



HMP East Sutton Park - Cat D Population = 90



Our wider services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.



We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England.



Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:



We're Kind



We're Fair



We Listen



We Care



To perform robust assessment, screening, and interventions to service users with mental health and neurodevelopmental and trauma needs.

Ensure that all waiting time, assessment and interventions are delivered in a timely manner, and positively contribute to the achievement of the service's performance targets.



Ensure integrated and collaborative working with other specialist services, including continuity of care and through the gate arrangements and liaison.



Work closely with community mental health teams (CMHTs) to ensure appropriate sharing of information, continuity of care and the Care Programme Approach (CPA) for all service users where necessary.



To provide comprehensive and timely reports and mental health expertise to multi agency public protection panels (MAPPA), police, probation services, solicitors and court liaison teams as directed.



Deliver active clinical leadership and supervision within the team, covering for the manager and colleagues as required. To receive supervision as directed (line management and clinical).



To participate in resource centre services as directed, delivering psychological therapy and specialist activities under the direction of the clinical lead.



To work in a psychologically minded way with service users in achieving their agreed goals and quality health outcomes.



Close working relationships with all prison staff, to include participation in sentence planning, resettlement, safer custody, and the ACCT processes.



To develop and take on a specialist lead role as appropriate and provide peer support and training in this area.



To contribute towards support, advice, consultation, and training for prison staff.



The post holder will be part of a skilled multidisciplinary team (MDT) comprising of all healthcare staff, including strategic partners, and prison managing a single referral pathway.



The post holder will be required to undertake training to maximise uptake of screening, health promotion and prevention activity, including vaccinations.



The post holder will be required to hold a caseload and care co-ordinate services uses with secondary mental health and complex needs. Ensuring a proactive, evidence-based approach to clinical interventions, health promotion/prevention activity, and management of acute and long-term conditions using a stepped care approach.



The post holder will ensure that a single, integrated, care plan is devolved in collaboration with service users and responsible for facilitating the development of comprehensive risk assessment, crisis plans, rapid access plans, advance statements etc, involving other agencies such as primary care etc where appropriate. Ensure the individualised care is regularly reviewed and updated where necessary.



The post holder as a care coordinator will attend/contribute in a weekly MDT meeting for service uses on secondary case load and complex care needs. This will ensure a tailored individual needs approach.



The post holder will ensure that they undertake all training in evidence-based CBT approaches, to enhance consistency and quality of care delivery.



The post holder will support patients to manage all areas of their health at every stage, from oral health to long term conditions.



The post holder will ensure that health promotion embedded into every aspect of the service.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

Proof of right to work documentation



Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID



Proof of address documentation



Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

5 years address history will be needed.



Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.



Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited .



In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants



If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website ( http://www.fco.gov.uk/en ).