Job summary
Are you looking to develop a career in mental health? We are looking to recruit compassionate, resilient and enthusiastic Healthcare Support Workers within our 20 bedded acute ward. Where we provide care and support for working adults providing assessment and treatment for various mental health illnesses and disorders.
This is an opportunity for you to develop a rewarding career where you can make a real difference to help change the lives of our service user group for the better.
This can be a challenging yet rewarding environment where as a team we strive to help our service users to overcome a variety of complex needs.
You will be able to learn and understand how to care for service users that are in mental health crisis by promoting choice and independence in the least restrictive way possible.
Main duties of the job
As a healthcare support worker the majority of your time will be spent engaging and getting know the service users on the ward. You will become able to recognise signs and symptoms of mental health illness and as a key member of the multi professional team which include Nurses, Doctors, Occupational Therapists. You will be able to support in collaborative care planning and implementation.
Although we are a mental health unit we give as much emphasis on physical health care and monitoring. The role of Health care support worker is vital in this area being able to ensure that daily well being needs and care needs are met and monitoring of clinical vital signs.
Successful applicants will also be required to undertake and complete a Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression course. This enables staff to begin building the skills to de escalate service users in peaks of distress whilst maintaining a safe and therapeutic environment for all.
About us
We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust):a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.
We provide services from a range of locations to approximately million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.
Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.
At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. To deliver high quality care and recovery interventions for service users within designated clinical areas, in collaboration with, and under the indirect supervision of, registered care staff.
These may include:Supporting individuals with fluids and nutrition, physicalwellbeing, and personal care.Assisting service users with financial or accommodation issues.Escorting or accompanying service users for planned periods of leave on hospital grounds and in the community facilitating social inclusion.Encouraging service users to talk about their experiences in one-to-one or group discussions.
2. To help maintain a clean, well-organised, safe and therapeuticenvironment that meets the needs of service users, carers andcolleagues, and to support registered care staff to perform standardised environmental assessments to monitor and improve the care setting.
3. To deliver psychosocially-informed one to one and groupinterventions aiming to positively impact service users cognitive and emotional wellbeing.
4. To work as part of a multi-disciplinary team. To assume lead orlink roles on core practice initiatives and priorities ( Essence of Care, Safewards and carer engagement) under the supervision of registered staff. To integrate areas of personal interest with clinical practice to enhance the diversity of the teams provision of care.
5. To practise planned care, and to directly participate in the development of recovery-focused interventions that address service users and carers needs and preferences. To proactively review, record and assess the on-going impacts of such interventions.
6. To participate in the on-going care planning, CPA and risk assessment processes in collaboration with service users, their carers, and other members of the care team and to contribute to all aspects of clinical record keeping.
7. To maintain a basic working understanding of both the MentalHealth Act (1983) and Mental Capacity Act (2005), and any other relevant legislation, as required by mandatory and statutory training (MaST).
8. To adhere to AWPs Code of Conduct for unregistered practitioners; promoting and embedding it through the delivery of peer support and supervision to junior, temporary and newly appointed Health Care Support Workers.
9. To observe and record interactions with service users and carers both verbally and in writing via clinical records and staff handovers.
10. To deliver a wide range of fundamental care interventionsusing evidence based clinical tools, to monitor and improve physical health and personal wellbeing and to model a high standard of dignity, respect and candour.
11. To engage in reflective practice to maintain and promoteongoing clinical practice.
12. To promote and enhance a positive learning culture, being proactive in the induction, orientation and support of juniors,temporary and newly appointed Health Care Support Workers, seeking to embed core care values into practice.
We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care. We are committed to supporting employees and staff wellbeing and development is important to the team at Poppy.
You will be learning on the job continually building new skills. There will also be developmental and learning opportunity that are accessible, which includes a comprehensive statutory and mandatory training programme. You will also receive training to complete the NHS Care Certificate and a Level 3 Healthcare apprenticeship.
The ward operates on a 24/7 shift basis and you will be required to work shifts including evenings, nights, weekends and Bank Holidays and will qualify for unsocial enhancements in addition to your basic pay.
Person Specification
Experience and skills
Essential
1. An understanding of how mental health issues can affect the lives of individuals, their families and their community, and experience of using a range of evidence-based approaches to reduce the impact of such issues.
2. Experience of working in a busy team, and an ability to use initiative at times of pressure.
Qualifications
Essential
3. Possession of, or the ability and willingness to work towards, an appropriate Level 3 vocational qualification ( Level 3 Diploma in Mental Health or Health and Social Care)
Skills
Essential
4. Ability to work with a degree of autonomy, whilst also taking direction from senior colleagues.
5. Ability to communicate in written and verbal English to a high standard, and basic numeracy skills.