Clinical Practitioner inLondon inLondon PUBLISHED 25 MAY 2024

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust provides local, regional and national award-winning healthcare services. We have more than 3.300 staff working out of 20 main sites serving a population of 1.2 million people. We provide community health services and mental health services for young people, adults and older people. Our North London Forensic Service treats and cares for people in the criminal justice system who have mental health conditions. We also provide one of the largest eating disorders services in England, as well as drug and alcohol services.

We are an organisation that is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion; one that prides itself in developing the leadership capabilities of its employees, looking after their health and wellbeing, creating safe spaces for staff to speak up and providing opportunities to mentor and be mentored. Our employees are the reason for delivering Good CQC ratings, excellent outcomes and outstanding patient experiences, so it is our aim to create a happy and healthy working environment where you can thrive and succeed.


Job overview


This is an exciting opportunity to take on a Clinical Practitioner post with a specialism in substance misuse within a service with a national reputation for quality and innovation. London Pathways Partnership (LPP) is a consortium of five NHS Trusts co-delivering a pan-London Integrated Community Pathway Service (ICPS) for the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway alongside Probation Service London (PSL) colleagues. The OPD Pathway programme provides services to men and women with complex psychological difficulties and serious offending histories, and to the multi-agency professionals working with them. LPP also co-delivers OPD services in four prisons in partnership with HM Prison Service staff. The ICPS delivers consultation, training and joint casework to PSL, and case management and therapeutic interventions to service users, and has active social inclusion and user involvement programmes developed in partnership with service users and the PSL in line with desistance principles. LPP's Social Inclusion projects include the development of community 'Hubs' in north and south London offering a range of socially inclusive activities and support to service users.

The postholder will work autonomously within professional guidelines, policies and procedures of LPP's services, and overarching objectives of LPP and the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway.

The postholder will have to undertake HMPSS security vetting as well as DBS checks.


Main duties of the job


The successful candidate will be part of a specialist service to the pan-London Integrated Community Pathways Service, working together with PSL colleagues and service users to deliver the desistance and stabilisation phase of the ICPS and take a lead in areas of substance misuse. The postholder will work directly with complex, high-risk personality disordered service users provide specialist consultation, assessment, advice and training to NHS and PSL staff and other agencies.

The postholder will contribute to workforce development by providing consultation and training to practitioners across NHS, PSL and other agencies to support confidence and competence working with substance misuse. The post holder will also provide supervision to ICPS clinical practitioners and provide appropriate psychologically informed psychosocial and risk management advice to involved staff across agencies. The postholder will liaise with probation, third sector and other agencies to address the support and wellbeing needs of involved service users and workers, working within a framework informed by best practice and the literature on working with personality disordered offenders and effective risk management, with an emphasis on desistance. They will contribute to the development and implementation of effective governance frameworks, and to the audit and evaluation of developing services.


Working for our organisation


LPP is committed to providing a comprehensive training package to all staff in order to promote continuing professional development. Recent training events have focused on structured professional judgement tools, cultural competency and resilience. The service also provides opportunities for developing specialism in particular aspects of service delivery, e.g. working with women or young people, or promoting trauma-informed approaches.


Detailed job description and main responsibilities



The postholder will work as a Clinical Practitioner and have experience and expertise working with individuals with substance misuse



KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES



Clinical/Professional

• To provide specialist psychosocial interventions, risk management and advice for highly complex service users with significant psychological difficulties following their release from prison; integrating highly complex information from a variety of sources addressing both risk and personality difficulties, and requiring analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.
• To provide enhanced substance misuse support to people screened in to the OPD Pathway. This should be delivered in conjunction with, and avoiding duplication with, mainstream support available to people on probation, e.g., through the Dependency and recovery service for people on probation (London) - Forward Trust.
• To identify services and play a key role in building relationships with substance misuse services across East London
• To ensure that case formulations consider the function and role of substances in individuals' offending behaviour and personality difficulties.
• To formulate and implement plans for service users' effective support and management, based upon an appropriate theoretical and evidence-based framework of the client's problems, and employing methods based upon evidence and practice and professional guidelines.
• To provide specialist substance misuse advice and consultation on resettlement to probation and prison staff, mental health services, and other relevant criminal justice, health and third sector agencies.
• To plan, organize and implement a range of specialist psychosocial interventions and activities requiring formulation and adjustment in response to service users, and where appropriate carers and involved professionals; co-working with clinical and non-clinical colleagues as appropriate.
• To evaluate and make decisions about interventions and support, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To communicate highly sensitive information and decisions in situations where there may be barriers to acceptance and a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for assessment and interventions with service users whose problems are managed by psychosocially informed care/pathway plans within the OPD Pathway.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users in community settings, and to provide advice to other professions on psychosocial aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• To take responsibility for initiating planning and review of psychosocial interventions and care/pathway plans including service users, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.
• To provide specialist psychosocial advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users' formulations and pathway plans.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychosocially-based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all users of the service, across all settings and agencies.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner information concerning the assessment, formulation, intervention and support plans of service users within the OPD Pathway and to monitor progress during the course of multi-agency pathway delivery.
• 
  Teaching, training, and supervision
  
  
  
  1. To offer consultation and training to substance misuse providers in order to reduce exclusion on the grounds of organisational anxiety.
  
  
  2. Support and training for OPD Pathway staff to increase confidence and competence in working with people with substance misuse problems
  
  
  3. To receive regular supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and/or relevant senior professional colleague, and line management from the identified line manager.
  
  
  4. To continue to gain post-qualification experience in psychosocial interventions and management, within and beyond the principal service area where the post-holder is employed.
  
  
  5. To develop skills in teaching, training and supervision.
  
  
  6. To contribute to external and internal training programmes.
  
• 
  Policy and service development
  
  
  1. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team's operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
  2. To adhere and contribute to the development of the service's governance and strategy, and to implement and monitor policy and practice initiatives as required.
  3. To work closely with partner agencies to ensure treatment planning and review is in line with sentence and risk planning, and clinical interventions are integrated with psychosocial interventions.
  4. To signpost individuals into a range of health, social care and wrap-around services to support treatment and recovery goals, ensuring mapping of a wide range of internal and external referral partners.
  5. To support information sharing and shared processes with key partners.
  6. To regularly undertake research and development projects to continually improve service delivery.
• 
  IT responsibilities
  
  
  1. To be proficient in the use of IT for email, intranet and clinical record purposes. To be familiar with word processing and database packages; to use appropriate computer software to develop and create clinical or other service-related reports or documents.
  2. To ensure all service activity and service user information is recorded to a high standard using the required case management platforms, and within agreed timeframes.
• 
  Research and service evaluation
  
  
  1. To use theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
  2. To contribute to the evaluation, monitoring and development of the service, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service, to help develop and improve services to all service users.
  3. To contribute to the evaluation, monitoring and development of the multi-disciplinary team.
  4. To contribute to the development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Directorate's and Trust's operational policies and services.
• 
  General Duties:
  
  
  1. To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder's professional and service manager(s).
  2. To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice across the service, by continuing to develop relevant professional skills taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the relevant disciplines.
  3. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and Trust policies and procedures.
  4. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.

Person specification



Training and Qualification



Essential criteria

• Degree in a relevant subject or equivalent experience
• NVQ level 4 in Health and Social Care, and/or equivalent professional qualification (e.g. Health Care, Social Work, equivalent overseas qualification).
• Training in a model or approach relevant to drug and alcohol intervention, e.g. Motivational Interviewing, or CBT, or other psychosocial interventions.

Desirable criteria

• Training in psychological formulation
• Training/courses in substance use and related issues
• Training/courses in management or supervisory practice
• Evidence of continuing professional development post-qualification

Experience



Essential criteria

• Minimum of 1 year's clinical employment within a forensic service, substance misuse team or dual diagnosis team.
• Clinical risk assessment and management of vulnerable service user groups
• Experience of working within a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of delivering individual and group interventions
• Working with service users with co-existing mental health and substance use problems

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with service users with complex personality difficulties.
• Experience of inter-agency working.
• Experience of working with offending behaviour and with criminal justice agencies

Knowledge, Skills and abiliy



Essential criteria

• Knowledge of the theoretical frameworks of care of forensic service users with substance use problems and mental health problems
• Knowledge of current legislation and initiatives within substance misuse and mental health
• Knowledge of the legal and ethical issues relating to issues around substance misuse in a forensic setting
• Competence in the assessment of risk
• Ability to establish rapport and appropriate therapeutic relationships with service users
• Ability to ensure comprehensive assessments, formulations and reviews.
• Ability to appropriately share information with professionals in pursuance of shared goals.
• Ability deliver and monitor structured interventions to service users with a range of needs
• Ability to organise, coordinate and prioritise caseloads.
• Ability to ensure own and others' high quality and defensible case records and documents
• Ability to communicate effectively, with colleagues and partner organisations
• Resilience to work in an often hostile environment
• Ability to make effective decisions, and escalate, applicable to the level of the role.
• Ability to work independently and flexibly, to manage workload and meet service needs.
• Ability to manage emotionally challenging situations or discussions appropriately.
• Ability to deal with emergency situations/crises safely and effectively; frequent exposure to highly distressing/emotional situations; exposure to verbal aggression and risk of physical aggression.
• Ability to work with diverse populations including high-risk and complex offenders.
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing in complex, contentious and sensitive situations.
• Commitment to confidentiality, professional boundaries, and safeguarding procedures.

Desirable criteria

• Specialist knowledge of the theory and practice of desistance with offenders

EQUAL OPPORTUNITES



Essential criteria

• An understanding of Equality and Diversity.

References will be required to cover your last 3 years of employment/training. One has to be from your current or most recent employer and the others from your previous employer. The references should be from persons with management responsibility or HR.

If you have been unemployed for a period of four years or more, please give the details of your last employer and one character referee of your choice (not members of your family). If more applicable, references will be requested from your teacher or head of faculty. Please ensure you provide full contact details.

Vacancies that are advertised as Fixed Term Contracts will also be available as secondment opportunities for substantive internal staff.

Please be aware that your documents eg. Passport/NI Card, will be electronically scanned using Home Office accredited Verification System.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts, we will close vacancies before the stated closing date once the first
50
applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible.

All non-medical posts with the Trust are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the Trust's satisfaction, your suitability for the position in which you will be employed.

Should you not hear from us within three working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted.


By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at improving efficiencies within the NHS both to make costs savings for NHS organisations but also to save you time when your employment transfers.



Employer certification / accreditation badges



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

• Job Description and Person Specification (PDF, 744.3KB)
• Functional Requirements (PDF, 258.2KB)
• Applicant Information Pack (PDF, 1.6MB)