Support Worker

As a Support Worker, you will gain a variety of experience as a key member of the community healthcare team and be part of a multi-disciplinary service that other teams call on for help. Working in this service places you on the frontline of crisis community mental health service and will enable you to respond to a variety of clinical needs at short notice.

Our goal is to develop highly motivated, professional staff who will work in partnership with patients. As a service we want to promote and encourage positive community relationships. We believe in embracing the expertise of our staff and making a difference to the lives of our patients.

The role in CATT consists of supporting initial mental health assessments and also brief home-based treatment to people with mental health problems at risk of admission to hospital. We also provide what we consider as brief intervention for those presenting with low need mental health difficulties for up to three months.

As a member of CATT, you will work closely with local services Single Point of Access who provide triage for every new referral to the service.

The post holder will work within a 24 hour rota system –- ensuring that a comprehensive service is provided to patients 365 days a year, an excellent interface with the Single Point of Access and other significant interfaces is maintained and robust gatekeeping at all times.

The post holder will be responsible for supporting crisis care practitioners in the assessment and treatment of patients in the borough of Ealing. Additionally, in the delivery of a high quality mental health service for patients under the care of CATT who required assessment by secondary mental health services for pathway planning, brief crisis interventions in the community, or gate keeping for the inpatient wards and community recovery house with the emphasis for potential providing home treatment.

The post holder will be involved in the on-going development of services, to ensure that the most relevant care pathway and care plan is devised to provide access to urgent and crisis care. They will be active in the promotion and use of evidence-based practice through the provision of clinical advice and support; acting as a role model; and providing education and training where appropriate.

They will liaise closely with carers, both statutory and non-statutory services, emergency services, and 3rd sector services. They will liaise closely with local services Single Point of Access providing rapid response to mental health crisis situations where necessary and appropriate to decrease the number of unnecessary presentations to A&E.

The post holder will work within a 24 hour 7 day a week rota system, ensuring that a comprehensive service is provided to patients and robust gatekeeping is maintained.

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.

Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.

We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.

We’re rated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.

We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
1. To develop and maintain communication with individuals or groups of patients, carers, and staff about difficult or complex matters, overcoming any problems in communication in a difficult situation

• To communicate with people in a manner which:
• is consistent with their level of understanding, culture, background and preferred ways of communicating
• acknowledges the purpose of the communication
• is appropriate to the context
• encourages their participation
• responds to communication of any kind from them.• To improve communication through:
• changing the methods of communicating
• changing the environment
• modifying the content and structure of communication
• reflection on the barriers to effective communication.• To confirm that you have accurately interpreted communications.
• To provide feedback to other staff on their communication at appropriate times.
• To maintain accurate patient records consistent with legislation and, policies and procedures.