Job summary
Employer heading
Assistant Practitioner
Band 4
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.
At any one time, around 23,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk are receiving care and attention from the Trust. We believe in whole life care - seeing people in the context of their whole lives, understanding the importance of good physical health, friends, family, spirituality, culture, home, work, education and a sense of purpose and achievement to experience good mental health.
Nearly 3,800 full and part-time practitioners care for our service users in hospitals, in the community and in their own homes, whilst an additional 1,400+ staff provide non-clinical support, including cleaning, catering, delivering supplies, ward administration, information technology, human resources and financial services.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience.
We are committed to delivering quality driven mental health services. Every individual makes a valuable contribution. We are proud of our staff who have been commended for the care they provide. Do you value working positively, respectfully and together? If so, we’d love you to join us!
We will consider flexible working arrangements for our roles, please indicate in your application if this is something you require
JOB DESCRIPTION/PERSON SPECIFICATION
Please read the job description/person specification carefully and ensure your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience needed.
YOUR APPLICATION
It is important that you complete a formal application form as CV’s alone will not be accepted.
We can provide all our job application materials in alternative formats so that these are accessible to everyone. Should you require any documents within this job pack in an alternative format, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
PLEASE NOTE: If you use a hotmail, msn or yahoo e-mail account, you will need to check your "junk" mail regularly as these email providers will divert any communication from this Trust/NHS JOBS straight into your " junk" inbox.
Job overview
The Kingfisher Mother & Baby Unit provide specialist care for women and their babies with moderate to severe mental illness such as bipolar disorder, severe depression or psychosis during the late stages of pregnancy or in the first 12 months after birth. By providing specialist therapeutic care and opportunities parents are able to build a secure bond with their babies while also receiving treatment for their mental health.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for Band 4 Assistant Practitioner to join our team on the Mother and Baby Unit. The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, motivated and looking forward to a new challenge. They will need to be confident to look after women with moderate to serious mental health problems while also offering them support to care and bond with their babies, showing respect and compassion to the service user, their family and carers. You will be working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and provide excellent care under the supervision of a registered professional, assistant practitioner or nursery nurse on the unit. This post does require full PMA fitness training and a comprehensive induction will be provided.
Are you the person we are looking for?
Please include in your supporting statement your previous experience of working with families, any transferrable skills and what interests you in working in perinatal mental health.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for compassionate, positive and energetic individuals who believe in promoting the needs of others.
You will be an essential member of the team bringing us your personal skills and experience of caring for people to provide activity, personal support, complete observations and engage with people.
If you want to make a difference in people’s lives and change it for the better, we want you to be part of our fantastic team!
Working for our organisation
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you’ll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We’re an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This post will sit across both the Mother and Baby Unit and MBU Outreach Team. The role will predominately be based at the Kingfisher MBU but with the capacity to support service users in the community as part of the MBU Outreach Team. The hours of work will usually be Monday – Friday within the working hours of 9-5pm, but will occasionally require some flexibility to work over the 7 day week within the safer staffing numbers of the Mother and Baby Unit.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Care Certificate – or completion of the Care Certificate within 12 weeks of start date.
- Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care/mental health or apprenticeship in H&SC/mental health L5
Experience
Essential criteria
- Working with Service Users with mental health needs
Desirable criteria
- Community based experience
- Inpatient based experience
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to communicate widely in a clear manner
- Approachable, tactful and diplomatic
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate with a variety of people across all levels
- Ability to self-manage time and meet agreed deadlines
- Good verbal and written English language skills
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Extensive knowledge of mental health and related issues.
Other
Essential criteria
- Able to work flexible hours when required.
- Demonstrates a non-judgemental attitude towards service users
- Ability to travel independently
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Justine Goodale
- Job title
- MBU Ward Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01603 786745
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