Care Coordinator (CPN / OT / Social worker)

at  South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

We have an exciting opportunity for a care coordinator to join an experienced and supportive multidisciplinary team at Croydon Older Adult CMHT. The CMHT has a key role in promoting metal wellbeing and engaging service users and carers to meet their mental health needs; avoiding the need for more restrictive treatment options such as inpatient care.
The team is well regarded by service users and carers with 100% of respondents on recent patient and carer experience questionnaires rating their experience of the service as ‘very good’. The team reflects the diversity of the local community and team members are passionate in their desire to support each other to provide high quality patient care. As a care coordinator you will have opportunities to work both independently and as a core part of a team and the flexibility to structure your time according to the needs of your caseload.
We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress across different specialties. For this role, we offer career pathways to clinical specialist and team manager roles. In addition, we offer ongoing training and development, with staff across our CMHTs currently accessing training in dual diagnosis, family interventions in psychosis, structured clinical management, medication management, physical health and leadership.
You will promote and deliver evidence-based care for older adults with mental health problems living in the community. You will support a caseload of older adult clients across a full range of mental health needs, including people with dementia, mood disorders, schizophrenia and personality disorder. Some will have had ongoing contact with mental health services, whereas for others it may be their first presentation, so you will need to employ a range of strategies to engage with and support service users, their families and carers.
You will act as a care coordinator under the Care Programme Approach (CPA), working closely with other members of the MDT and other relevant teams and agencies. You will also carry out initial assessments for clients new to the service, and participate in shared team tasks such as duty and triage. The team has regular clinical meetings to support with care planning and risk management as well as forums to discuss service development and quality improvement.
You will have a genuine enthusiasm for working with older people, appreciating the richness of their life experiences and valuing each of your service users as an individual. You will be committed to exploring psycho-social models of care. We welcome applications from those looking to move from other mental health settings and specialisms and from people who can bring their values and enthusiasm to the role and demonstrate the transferability of their current skills and experience.
The team is made up of a number of experienced clinicians with a team manager, clinical nurse specialist and clinical specialist occupational therapist all on hand to offer supervision in your role. The team also includes three consultant psychiatrists, a number of care coordinators (community psychiatric nurses and occupational therapists), trainee CBT therapists, a mental health and wellbeing practitioner, and team administrators.
You will be based at Heavers Resource Centre which is located at 122 Selhurst Road, SE25 6LL; within walking distance of both Selhurst and Norwood Junction stations. As well as local public transport links, there is on-road parking nearby and access to a shared team pool car for carrying out patient visits. Heavers Resource Centre is a spacious team location, with office space for both the older adult CMHT and Croydon Memory Service, as well as council-run day services and a residential home for older people. Crystal Palace Football Ground and Croydon Town Centre shops are both within a few minutes’ drive.
We would welcome informal conversations and visits to the team base from prospective applicants – please use the contact details below to arrange this.
Care Coordination and engagement
To be personally responsible and professionally accountable for managing a designated caseload of service users as part of the community team and within the framework of the Care Programme Approach (CPA).
To work collaboratively with service users focusing on a recovery approach and providing support and advice in relation to issues concerning them
Assertively outreach difficult to engage clients and employ a range of strategies to assist with engagement and encourage participation in treatment delivery
Meet service users regularly, within the timeframes required within their care plans, and follow through promptly on any actions agreed
Ensure a flexible approach in care provision with a focus on social inclusion opportunities and supporting service users to make informed choices

Please refer the Job description for details