Clinical Assessment and Intervention

The Post Holder Will:

• Undertake comprehensive and timely mental health nursing assessments.
• Assess mental state, risk, physical health, psychosocial circumstances, cognitive functioning, and daily living needs.
• Use clinical knowledge, professional judgement, and evidence-based practice to assess complex presentations and identify appropriate interventions.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary formulation and clinical decision-making.
• Deliver a range of recovery-focused nursing interventions, including psychoeducation, brief interventions, relapse prevention, medication support, and health promotion.
• Work effectively with service users who may have multiple diagnoses and complex mental health, physical health, and social care needs.
• Recognise changes in presentation and take timely action to reduce the risk of deterioration, crisis, hospital admission, or harm.
• Make appropriate referrals and support access to other services when required.

Caseload Management and Care Coordination

The Post Holder Will:

• Manage and coordinate a complex caseload, ensuring care is safe, planned, responsive, and regularly reviewed.
• Prioritise workload according to clinical need, level of risk, and agreed team processes.
• Ensure assessments, interventions, reviews, and follow-up actions are completed within required timescales.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary care and maintain effective communication with all professionals involved.
• Support safe transitions between services and ensure information is shared clearly and promptly.
• Identify and respond to barriers that may affect engagement, access to care, or achievement of recovery goals.

Care Planning, Recovery, and Social Inclusion

The Post Holder Will:

• Develop, implement, and evaluate person-centred, strengths-based, and outcome-focused care plans.
• Ensure care plans reflect each person’s goals, preferences, cultural needs, communication needs, and recovery priorities.
• Actively involve service users, carers, and families in assessments, care planning, and reviews, where appropriate.
• Promote choice, independence, self-management, and shared decision-making.
• Embed the NELFT and local authority Recovery and Social Inclusion agenda within daily practice.
• Support service users to access employment, education, housing, social networks, and meaningful community activities.
• Promote equality and challenge stigma, discrimination, and barriers to accessing services.

Duty and Operational Responsibilities

The post holder will:

• Participate in the MHWT South duty rota between 9am and 5pm.
• Provide senior clinical advice and leadership to the duty function when required.
• Respond to incoming referrals, urgent clinical queries, and emerging risks.
• Support the prioritisation and allocation of clinical tasks.
• Liaise with service users, carers, primary care, crisis services, emergency services, and partner agencies.
• Maintain clear documentation of duty contacts, clinical decisions, advice provided, and agreed actions.
• Escalate significant clinical or operational concerns to the appropriate senior clinician or operational lead.

Medicines Management, Clinics, and Physical Health

The Post Holder Will:

• Support the safe administration and monitoring of medication within their professional scope of practice and level of competence.
• Participate in depot and Clozapine clinics in accordance with relevant training, competencies, and local procedures.
• Monitor medication effectiveness, adherence, and potential side effects.
• Escalate medication-related concerns to the prescriber or appropriate clinician.
• Undertake physical health observations and screening in line with clinical need and local pathways.
• Promote access to primary care, physical health screening, and specialist services.
• Provide clear information and education to service users and carers regarding medication, physical health, and healthy lifestyle choices.
• Recognise and respond appropriately to physical health deterioration or adverse medication effects.

Risk Management and Safeguarding

The Post Holder Will:

• Undertake and regularly review comprehensive risk assessments and risk management plans.
• Develop collaborative crisis, contingency, and relapse prevention plans with service users and carers.
• Support positive risk-taking while protecting service users, carers, staff, and the wider public from avoidable harm.
• Recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns involving adults and children.
• Raise safeguarding concerns in accordance with local and Trust procedures.
• Participate in safeguarding enquiries, meetings, and reviews as required.
• Provide advice and guidance to junior staff regarding risk management and safeguarding practice.
• Escalate serious or immediate risks without delay.
• Work in accordance with relevant legislation, including the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act.

Clinical Leadership and Staff Development

The Post Holder Will:

• Act as a positive clinical role model and demonstrate high standards of professional practice.
• Provide day-to-day clinical advice, guidance, and support to junior staff and colleagues.
• Contribute to the induction and development of newly appointed staff.
• Provide supervision to junior staff where appropriately trained and authorised.
• Support students and learners and contribute to a positive learning environment.
• Identify learning needs and support colleagues to develop their clinical knowledge, confidence, and competence.
• Promote an open, respectful, and psychologically safe working culture.
• Deputise for senior colleagues within agreed areas of responsibility when required.

Multidisciplinary and Partnership Working

The Post Holder Will:

• Work collaboratively with professionals across mental health services, primary care, social care, housing, voluntary organisations, and community services.
• Contribute effectively to multidisciplinary meetings, clinical reviews, safeguarding meetings, and professional discussions.
• Communicate complex and sensitive information clearly, respectfully, and accurately.
• Advocate for service users and support their involvement in decisions about their care.
• Maintain professional boundaries and manage differences in professional opinion constructively.
• Promote coordinated care and reduce unnecessary duplication, delay, and fragmentation.

Quality Improvement and Service Development

The Post Holder Will:

• Contribute to clinical audit, quality improvement, service evaluation, and agreed team objectives.
• Use feedback, outcome measures, incidents, complaints, and clinical learning to improve practice.
• Support the development and implementation of clinical pathways, policies, and procedures.
• Identify gaps in service delivery and contribute to practical solutions that improve access, safety, experience, and outcomes.
• Promote equitable access to mental health services.
• Contribute to service transformation and support the implementation of agreed changes.
• Participate in investigations, reviews, and learning processes following incidents or concerns, where required.

Documentation and Information Governance

The Post Holder Will:

• Maintain accurate, clear, timely, and contemporaneous clinical records.
• Ensure assessments, care plans, risk management plans, reviews, and clinical decisions are fully documented.
• Provide effective verbal and written