Band 6 - Perinatal Specialist Practitioner - Bristol

at  Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

The Specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health Team is a multi-disciplinary team, which provides support for women /birthing parents who experience moderate to severe mental health problems or present with a high risk of relapse during pregnancy and the postnatal period. We provide multiagency training in perinatal mental health to other professionals and agencies working with women/ birthing parents in the perinatal period in addition to offering consultation and advice.
The Team works across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. We have a shared care ethos, working closely with primary care, maternity services, adult mental health teams, early years’ services and independent sector organisations to ensure that women can have access to specialist support, advice, risk assessment and care planning in relation to their mental health needs.
This is an opportunity for appropriately qualified professionals to work in this specialised field.
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.
We offer assessment, treatment and psychological interventions aimed at treating mental ill health and enhancing the parent infant relationship, where mental health needs have impacted upon this.
We provide multiagency training in perinatal mental health to other professionals and agencies working with women in the perinatal period in addition to offering consultation and advice.
The team is able to work alongside women/birthing parents and their families throughout pregnancy and following their baby’s birth.
We are now also able to accept referrals during the second post birth year.
This post is open to newly qualified social workers. In line with AWP trust policy all newly qualified social workers (NQSW) will be recruited initially at Band 5 level, regardless of advertised role banding. All NQSW’s are expected to successfully complete their ASYE within 2 years of employment, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which case it may be extended for a further 2 years.
If you have been appointed to an advertised Band 6 role this will be an automatic progression, following confirmation of your successful ASYE completion. If you have been appointed to a Band 5 post you will then be eligible to apply for a subsequent Band 6 vacancy upon successful ASYE completion.
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 1.8 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.
To undertake the full range of activities required to deliver ongoing comprehensive mental health assessment for service users with severe and enduring mental health needs living in the community and in a range of settings. This will include:
a. The use of standardised assessment tools, i.e. the Cluster Allocation SupportTool (CAST), KGV
b. Recovery Star
c. History, strengths and aspirations
d. Mental state
e. Impact of culture and diversity
f. Functional needs
g. The needs of family and carer
h. Evaluation of risk
i. Physical health
j. Complicating factors
k. The interventions and treatments required to enable positive change.
l. Social care needs
m. Safeguarding and public protection
n. Capacity under the Mental Capacity Act
To be responsible for developing delivering and reviewing comprehensive and complex treatment programmes using appropriate frameworks in line with evidence–based practice, including strategies to manage risk for service users with complex needs and carers, bringing in other resources as required.
To act as care coordinator for service users with the most complex needs, also providing defined interventions to individuals on other workers caseloads.
To plan, deliver and evaluate defined, specialist therapeutic interventions as indicated in the assessment process ,in line with personal recovery plans, including to service users who maybe on other caseloads. This might include:
a. Individual or group therapeutic intervention
b. Psychological treatments such as CBT, DBT approaches, family interventions
c. Psychosocial interventions
d. Motivational and coping enhancement strategies.
e. Medication management
f. Interventions under the Mental Health Act,
To deliver a range of defined activities/interventions to improve the carers‘ ability to support the service user and to enable them in their relationship with the service user.
To develop and maintain good partnership working with other services throughout all treatment episodes, including regular liaison within Primary Health Care Team, inpatient and intensive services, day services, voluntary sector and with nominated carers/advocates.
In collaboration with service users and carers, to be responsible for facilitating the development of complex comprehensive crisis plans, rapid access plans, advance statements etc, involving other agencies such as primary care etc. where appropriate.
To personally build and lead others to build, hope inspiring relationships with service users, which acknowledge the personal journey of each person, and focus on strengths and aspirations to allow the creation of meaningful personal recovery plans.
To be responsible for maintaining own workload, as well as planning the workload of others, on a day to day basis, ensuring that time is prioritised effectively, utilising of electronic resources such as diaries/scheduling.
To be responsible for the protection of individuals from abuse and harm in line with local safeguarding policies and procedures, including working with others in the planning development and review of protection plans, ensuring the appropriate sharing of information.
Coordinating and undertaking protective interventions which maybe required in the protection of others, as outlined in the protection plan, taking individual action where indicated.
Personally and leading others to collaboratively and sensitively work with individuals, with a range of mental health needs to develop skills to manage their own health, in accordance with their personal recovery plan, by actively promoting and using approaches which are affirming, build on strengths, identify past positive experiences and success, and use small steps to move towards the persons goal.
Undertake supervision for other colleagues within the team, covering for the manager and colleagues as required.
To maintain the single health and social care record, ensuring both paper and electronic records are kept up to date in accordance with professional and organisational standards.
Report and record within agreed timeframes, all activity relating to information reporting and performance requirements.
To participate in management, caseload and clinical supervision in accordance with trust policy.
To provide mentoring/training for others in relevant practice areas, according to professional requirements, taking a collaborative approach to practice development and evidence-based care. Specifically this means providing a safe and effective learning environment for the mentoring and supervising of students, participating in their learning objectives and assessments.
Demonstrate responsibility for developing own practice in line with professional qualifications and for contributing to the development of others, by making use of and providing, effective feedback, supervision, coaching and appraisal.
Monitor and maintain health, safety and security of self and others, undertaking assessments and taking appropriate action where required.
Develop own knowledge and practice, and contribute to the development of others, making use of available feedback, supervision and appraisal to identify appropriate areas of development for this work role, taking responsibility for accessing identified learning and training opportunities.
Lead, maintain and participate in practices which enable effective team working.
To participate in local arrangements in order to ensure consistent care to service users across the local geography.
Other Duties
The post holder may be required to perform duties other than those given in the job description for the post. The particular duties and responsibilities attached to posts may vary from time to time without
changing the general character of the duties or the level of responsibilities entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and would not of themselves justify the re-evaluation of a post. In cases,
however, where a permanent and substantial change in the duties and responsibilities of a post occurs, consistent with a higher level of responsibility, then the post would be eligible for re-evaluation

Please refer the Job description for details