Street Triage Clinician

The Hertfordshire Street Triage Team is a small team of experienced mental health clinicians - Nurses and Social Workers - who work with the police in assessing persons that come to the attention of police and who may have mental health issues. The Street Triage clinicians also offer information and advice to Police, within an information sharing agreement, on service users known to HPFT who may then come into contact with police. The Team works across 3 shifts: daytime 8am to 6.30pm, the late shift is 5pm to 3.30am and the night shift is from 7pm to 5.30am. These shifts are 8 1/2 hours with police and 1 1/2 hours to complete essential paperwork, that may be completed remotely. The late car operates from an East of England Ambulance Service Trust vehicle with a paramedic working alongside ST and the police. There will be a new service operating from January 2025 - Mental Health Response Vehicles - two ambulance cars of paramedic and a MH Clinician working within Herts from 2pm to 2am. The ST workers can/may volunteer to cross cover this service as operationally needed., The successful candidate will:

• work within an emergency response framework (Blue Light) to attend to the immediate mental health crisis presented.
• work autonomously as an experienced mental health professional with the ability to give specialist mental health triage assessment and advice
• liaise with clinical services and relevant agencies as a member of the Mental Health Triage team
• contribute to the development of the Mental Health Triage service across Hertfordshire
• provide expert mental health advice to the Hertfordshire Police, British Transport Police and East of England Emergency Ambulance staff (EEAST)
• work with a Police Officer/Paramedic assessing people in often complex situations, who the police feel, may be suffering from a mental health problem
• assess any risks that may be presented and formulate effective plans and strategies to meet and manage the risk involving liaison with the service user, their family, mental health services, the Police and possibly the EEAST
• prevent the use of a section 136 where possible and appropriate
• prevent referral to A&E for mental health assessment where possible and appropriate., To demonstrate highly developed clinical skills in relation to triage Mental Health assessment, in-situ risk assessment, advice and interventions for service users with acute mental health issues, adolescents 16 to 18 and their families, older people with functional and organic mental health issues, people with a learning disability who may be in crisis and people with drug and alcohol misuse dependency and currently intoxicated (with the added complexity due to intoxication) including people with dual diagnoses, and people in custody.
• To exercise high levels of judgement and decision making in the care and treatment of people with acute mental health issues.
• To autonomously formulate, implement and ratify immediate plans of care for short term intervention and management of a person's mental health needs which are based upon an appropriate conceptual framework. Such plans will usually involve sharing of complex, sensitive and, at times, contentious information.
• To meet the aims of the Mental Health Triage Service to ensure that any person who does have a mental health issue receives the most effective care and treatment, either signposting to appropriate services or referring to mental health services. And in so doing, prevent the use of a Section 136 detention & A&E attendance whenever possible.
• To carry out Mental Health triage assessments and advise/support the police and paramedics about the service users mental health status; seeing people in their homes and in the community, public places across the whole of Hertfordshire County and in the custody suites for the purpose of providing a S136 MH consultation.
• When with EEAST attend urgent/999 physical health situations. And give assistance as appropriate to your professional training and competencies.
• To promote the rights and entitlements of service users to ensure equality of access to services. Ensuring that the needs of service users and carers are meaningfully considered during the care process and act as an advocate for the Service user carer/family to receive the most appropriate care at a time of crisis.
• You will be required to work shifts as a as an autonomous mental health practitioner. The service will run 7 days a week covering 20 hours a day; The shifts may be subject to change to meet the evolving needs of the multi professional service and its service users.
• Within your shift you will be accountable for keeping comprehensive and contemporaneous electronic patient entries and for communicating effectively with other teams to ensure safe and effective care and treatment for the service users triaged.
• To work within the strict parameters of GDPR when outside agencies are requesting sensitive and confidential information and making decisions on what information to share and to whom ensuring the ultimate decision making is clear, justifiable, legal and clearly documented
• To collect shift based quantifiable data and information required for effective evaluation of the service.
• To be conversant with the Mental Health Act/Mental Capacity Act and the requirements relating to Section 136 and any other sections that people may be subject to in the course of your work including safeguarding adults and children.
  
  Relevant Professional Qualification, i.e.
• RMN or Dip/BSc (Hons) in Mental Health Nursing or, Occupational Therapy Degree/ Diploma or Degree or equivalent in Social Work.
• Up-to-date Professional Registration
• Evidence of further post graduate level development/training.
Desirable criteria
• AMHP
• Nurse prescriber
• Social work placement supervisor
• BSC/Hons Specialist Community Nursing Practice (Mental Health) or similar training or relevant experience
• DBT, CBT, Solution focused brief interventions, BFT, or other associated skillsbased training
Experience e.g. work related experience to be taken into account,
• Extensive and varied post qualification experience in several areas of mental health with a significant period at a band 6 or equivalent level.
• Experience of working in a crisis setting.
• Experience in acute and community areas.
• Significant experience in a specialist area of mental health such as: Substance misuse, CAMHS, working with the older adult, working with people with personality disorders, PATH
• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Experience of providing and receiving supervision
Desirable criteria
• Experience of working as an AMHP.
• Experience of teaching or training, Ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of people in various situations.
• Ability to negotiate and liaise with others, who may have a difference of opinion maintaining a good working relationship and securing appositive outcome for the service user involved.
• Ability and confidence to work autonomously and use own initiative and make decisions in complex situations.
• Ability to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or contentious information where persuasive, motivational, negotiating, training, empathic or reassuring skills are required.
• Ability to deal with highly distressing circumstances, threatening, aggressive and challenging behaviour.
• Experience of risk assessment in an acute / community setting.
• Ability to work well with other organisations and within the Police office base.
• Ability to cope with an unpredictable work pattern and frequent interruptions and respond to urgent situations immediately.
• Understanding of legal framework, capacity, DOLS and social factors involved in community care., Ability to work flexibly according to client/service needs.
• Receptive to changing environments and an ability to promote positive approaches to implementing plans according to service and client need. Leadership abilities.
• Ability to work in partnership with the police and other organisations.
• Ability to remain calm in very difficult and challenging situations.
• Positive approach to work
• Attention to detail.
• Good time management., You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
  
  Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission.
Our family of over 4,000 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout, HPFT supports people with mental ill health, learning disabilities and autism across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk and Essex. We employ around 4,500 people who deliver these services within the community and in inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services and medium and low secure learning disabilities services. We have operated as a NHS Foundation Trust since our authorisation in August 2007.