***THIS JOB VACANCY HAS NOW CLOSED***
Hours: part-time (22.5) – 2 year, fixed-term contract – extendable.
Salary: £21,235 – £22,410 (£35,392 – £37,350 per year Full Time Equivalent)
Leave: 25 days + Public Holidays (pro rata for part-time)
Location: Portsmouth HQ and other VOS locations
Job Description
The Mental Health Practitioner is part of the Clinical Team, ensuring that high quality individualised care is delivered to registered service users, promoting recovery and maximising independence. The post holder will deliver recovery focused support for veterans with mental health and substance misuse challenges through both 1-2-1 and group settings, from our premises in Portsmouth and from other locations on the Isle of Wight and Solent Region.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Conduct triage, assessment, and other forms of activity, establishing service user need and clinical priority, commensurate with skills and experience.
2. Conduct initial assessments, including risk assessment as part of the referral process, liaising as appropriate with GP’s, local agencies, and other third sector services, especially when high risk issues are identified.
3. Manage individual care planning for individual service users on your case load, offering 1-2-1 support sessions; producing wellness recovery action plans, and facilitating group sessions to promote recovery and rehabilitation.
4. Develop and maintain excellent, joined-up working relationships with other external agencies, ensuring that service users have optimal levels of service and appropriate continuity of care.
5. Contribute towards the development and establishment of the standards identified in the Quality Network for Veterans Mental Health Services (QNVMHS) in VOS, working closely with the Clinical Manager towards successful accreditation.
6. Maintain a high standard of patient care records and case notes in accordance with Clinical Governance procedures and provide information and statistics to support positive service user outcomes and wider VOS reporting requirements.
7. Ensure compliance with statutory obligations and legislation, and assuring a safe environment, consistent with the principles and practice for safeguarding vulnerable adults.
8. Maintain the highest standards of practice, through active participation in continuing professional development, clinical supervision, maintaining an understanding of developments in areas of clinical practice appropriate to the role.
9. Work closely with the Clinical Manager and Clinical Lead to contribute to ongoing service improvement and development, including but not limited to, clinical governance policies and procedures, service user feedback, research and evidence-based practice.
10. Undertake other VOS duties and responsibilities commensurate with this role as may be required from time to time, including deputising for the Clinical Manager in their absence.
Essential:
1. Registered Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker, or Occupational Therapist.
2. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build strong working relationships with stakeholders.
3. Strong team player with a collaborative team ethic, especially in multi-disciplinary settings.
4. Ability to work with minimal supervision, with excellent time management and prioritisation.
5. Understanding of mental health, substance misuse and wellbeing issues.
6. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with confidence in group settings.
7. Flexible, adaptable, and responsive, to meet service demands and service user needs.
8. Recovery-focused, enabling effective service user care throughout treatment journey.
9. Competent in use of IT systems and MS Office software.
10. Strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.
11. Ability to travel independently, across VOS Locations including the Isle of Wight (IOW).
Veterans Outreach Support (VOS) is a UK registered charity that offers welfare, wellbeing, mental health and substance misuse recovery support and services to veterans of the UK Armed Forces and the Merchant Navy and their partners in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight. Support ranges from telephone and face to face welfare advice to peer-supported activity and social groups, mental health support and therapies, and substance misuse recovery support. Monthly Drop-Ins in Portsmouth and Newport (IOW) also bring together a wide range of delivery partners and other charities for the provision of comprehensive one-stop shop welfare, wellbeing, and mental health support for service users, in a warm and friendly environment.
