Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Support Worker/OT Assistant
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Job Overview
CNWL is looking to recruit 3 x Support Worker/ OT Assistant for the KCW Primary Care Service. This is a new and dynamic service offering mental health support to older adults in KCW who suffer from functional disorders and dementia.
The Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea (KCW) Older Adults and Healthy Ageing Community Mental Health Teams are developing a new primary care pathway to provide early access to support for older adults who are experiencing mental health difficulties. In line with the mental health transformation agenda, the primary care pathway will focus on the integration and development of neighbourhood-based care alongside primary care, local authorities and third sector providers. Furthermore, the service will focus on early intervention, working proactively with community partners to provide interventions to meet needs, reduce risks and prevent escalation by supporting service users to remain well in the community, thereby reducing the need for secondary care interventions and admissions to hospital.
Main duties of the job
The Band 4 Support Worker/ OT assistant will work closely with people who use our service, their families, friends and carers and play an important contribution in how people experience our services by:
- Being an active member of the multidisciplinary team and to undertake support with individuals, and their families/carers, who have acute or severe and enduring mental health issues or dementia who otherwise require intervention or input from the service.
- Providing support to an allocated group of service users in order to promote their recovery and wellbeing in the community.
- Assisting in the provision of evidence-based interventions under the guidance of a CNWL qualified Practitioner.
- Undertaking Step 2 psychosocial interventions.
- Promoting health and prevent ill health.
The postholder will be expected to have knowledge and skills in mental and physical health care in order to provide appropriate support to Primary Care colleagues.
Working for our organisation
The primary care pathways will sit within the KCW Older Adults Teams. These are well established dynamic multidisciplinary services providing mental health support to older adults in KCW with functional disorders and dementia. They are co-located with the Westminster City and Kensington and Chelsea Council mental health team, offering a holistic approach to care. The Westminster team is also involved in the CNWL Open Dialogue project, which promotes person-centred recovery-oriented care.
The teams operate using a case management, intervention-led and recovery-focused model, offering multidisciplinary assessments and interventions for service users with complex needs, as well as their families and carers. Regular multidisciplinary meetings facilitate case discussions, initial assessments, and reflective practice. A key feature of the services is the integrated older adults home treatment team, which delivers intensive support, crisis management, admission prevention, and helps ensure timely hospital discharges. The CMHT and HTT teams collaborate closely, offering a responsive and flexible service to meet the needs of service users. Coordination with older adults’ inpatient services allows smooth transitions of care.
The service promotes a friendly, respectful work environment where staff receive professional development, including supervision and appraisals. Involvement of service users and carers is a core element of the service's design and delivery.
Key Responsibilities
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To work independently with service users and carers, but under supervision and in support of lead professionals and qualified clinical staff, in the negotiated and planned delivery of a range of interventions and activities to identified service users, carers and their families.
- Contributing to the best possible clinical outcomes by using up-to-date skills and adhering to evidence-based policies and procedures when implementing care plans.
- To work with service users in accessing meaningful activities, community engagement, enhancing their daily routines and other opportunities, and to support the service users in using these to their full advantage to enhance recovery and maintain good quality of life.
- To work with service users to promote their independence, maintenance and regaining skills, preventative work in order to improve current and future quality of life.
- To contribute to all stages of the care planning process including assessing risks and needs.
- To work in a variety of locations, including service users' homes, and other non-clinical settings, e.g. cafes, sports facilities, recovery colleges, community centres, etc.
- Engage in Open Dialogue practice once trained.
- Participate in regular supervision with registered practitioners and engage in reflective practice.
- Develop skills in relation to coaching/teaching individuals/carers/other staff.
- Contributing to creating and maintaining a high performing team by:
- Communicating well with all members of the team
- Understanding how your role helps the team achieve its objectives
- Participate in team meetings and help develop the team
- Understanding the roles of different team members and how they help the team achieve its’ objectives
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Work to improve safety and the quality of care
- You will contribute to the provision of safe and high-quality services by:
- Recognising issues relating to safeguarding vulnerable children and adults and report any problems or raise concerns to the appropriate registered care professionals (including raising a safeguarding alert)
- Escalating safety concerns (including completing Datix) and by doing so acting as effective advocates for those who use our services
- Maintaining your competences and proficiencies in all the required areas for your role
- Maintaining compliance with your mandatory training requirements
- Working to the limit of your role but being clear not to work beyond your remit or scope of competency
- Identifying areas where improvements in safety or quality can be made and working closely with others to improve services
- Being open and transparent
- Maintaining accurate, legible, timely and comprehensive records
- Assist in the assessment of needs and risks, and contribute to their management across several areas within the environment where care is being administered
Provide and monitor care
- As a Support Worker/ OT Assistant have a set of skills which enables you to provide and monitor care across most health and social care settings. You will be expected to:
- Develop understanding of all elements of the nursing process/OT processes relevant to your role and be to assist the registered member of staff in the on-going assessment, planning, management and evaluation of care.
- Assist in the assessment and delivery of care as prescribed by the registered staff member
- Working with patients and families and registered staff to develop and implement care plans within the scope of your competence
- Providing skilled, evidence-based care which adheres to agreed policies and procedures
- Take responsibility for monitoring and evaluation of care
- Ensure the privacy, dignity and safety of individuals is maintained at all times
- Demonstrate the ability to recognise changing priorities seeking advice and guidance from registered staff as appropriate
- Report back and share information with the registered nurses on the condition, behaviour, activity and responses of individuals
- Recognise deterioration in patients and escalate concerns appropriately
- Demonstrate good understanding of principles of consent and ensure valid consent is obtained prior to undertaking nursing and care procedures
- Act as patient advocates in the multi-disciplinary team.
- Referring to other teams or services as appropriate.
- Develop a working knowledge of other providers’ resources and referral systems to ensure individual’s needs are met, within parameters of practice
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Promote health and prevent ill health
- Working in partnership with patients and their families and carers
- Gaining consent and, as far as possible, involving people in all decision making
- Signposting patients and carers to supportive services
- Reassurring people by being professional, responsive, knowledgeable and confident
- Escalating complaints or concerns effectively and quickly in line with the Trust policy
Person specification
EDUCATION And QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria
- Evidence of personal development in previous employment
- Must have proficient literacy and numeracy skills
- Relevant health and social care qualifications
Desirable criteria
- Qualified Open Dialogue practitioner or willingness to undertake training
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working in a mental health setting
- Experience of actively supporting individuals to identify and work towards achieving personal goals in a related social care or health setting
- Experience of liaising with other agencies
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in a social care setting
- Experience of working within a mental health community team
SKILLS And KNOWLEDGE
Essential criteria
- Knowledge and skills in mental and physical health care
- Willingness to undertake further training relevant to the role
- Ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships with all colleagues in the Healthcare setting
- Good working knowledge of IT and emails
- Able to deal with sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy
- Able to present factual information and refer questions to others where appropriate
- Able to work as part of a team
- Good organisational skills
- Able to work on own initiative
- Ability to communicate in a variety of settings with patients of varying levels of understanding
Attitudes, aptitudes & personal characteristics
Essential criteria
- Ability to work unsupervised in a range of settings
- Honest, trustworthy and reliable
- Sensitive understanding of diversity issues and an ability to promote anti-discriminatory practice/ equal opportunities
- An understanding and positive regard for the needs and rights of people with mental health problems and their carers
- Able to work well within a multi-disciplinary team
- Ability to problem solve and create innovative solutions to help empower service users
- Ability to demonstrate empathy, compassion and patience
- An ability to be non-judgemental
- An ability to act calmly and to respond in a professional manner to distress, disturbance and unpredictability
- Ability to manage stress and work under pressure
- Willingness to learn and develop; recognises the need for flexibility
Other
Essential criteria
- Ability to travel across the Trust by public transport
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