Nurse, OT, or Social Worker

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Nurse, OT, or Social Worker who will be responsible for ensuring safe and focused decision‑making to determine the most appropriate clinical pathway for each referral arriving in West Kent MHT. You will ensure that processes support the timely assessment and treatment of all referrals, and efficient transition to MHT+ or other services when required. The post holder must hold a full, valid UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

• Act as a senior decision‑maker for patients referred to the Mental Health Together Service, ensuring the most appropriate onward pathways are identified and prompt assessment and interventions offered.
• Act in a supervisory capacity to support practitioners in decision‑making for the most complex and/or high‑risk referrals.
• Offer expert advice and support to all professionals referring into the Mental Health Together service and maintain excellent relationships with all internal and external partner agencies, including primary care, adult social care and the third sector.
• Work in collaboration with the Mental Health Together Team Manager to ensure the highest standards of practice and service delivery.
• Contribute to the transformation of community mental health services in line with the Trust's strategic objectives.
• Support decision‑making at all stages of a person's journey through Mental Health Together and deputise for the Team Manager in their absence.
• Have a track record of effective networking and relationship building, essential for working effectively with external partners who provide MHT assessment and intervention, & MHT+ and specialist services in Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust.

• Full, valid UK driving licence and access to a vehicle for business purposes (unless you have a disability defined by the Equality Act 2010).

• Open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.

Mental Health Together (MHT) is a revolutionary initiative of multi‑agency collaboration to deliver primary care services to the people of West Kent, which aims to promote the meeting of all life domains that affect service users' mental health. We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway.

Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.

Our vision is simple:
We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

In Kent and Medway, the community mental health transformation has created a new service model called Mental Health Together. It is a multi‑agency offer, which means bringing all the services and agencies that support people with varying mental health needs much closer together. This ensures that people get the right care, without having to navigate service boundaries and without repeatedly telling their story.

Mental Health Together will add new roles, as part of a new joined‑up model of care which bridges the gap that currently exists between primary (i.e., GPs) and community mental health (i.e. Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust). It will treat people with complex mental health needs by:

• Providing someone with support in a person‑centred, holistic way
• Removing barriers to access, and thresholds across services, working together
• Involving service users and carers as equal partners in their care
• Building in involvement and co‑production at all levels of service design delivery

Do you want to be part of something new and exciting, a person‑centred mental health revolution? Together, we're stronger. Join the multi‑agency drive for better mental health care. If you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together, we would love to hear from you.