Senior Practitioner in Social Work

The Forensic Personality Disorder Service (FPDS) is an experienced multi-disciplinary team working with service users with a primary diagnosis of personality disorder (PD) within AWP’s Secure Services, based at Blackberry Hill Hospital, Bristol. It is one of the eight provider organisations within the South West Provider Collaborative who are commissioned to deliver Adult Secure Services. The Service has close working links with the local community based Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway service and Nexus, the OPD Pathway Service at HMP Eastwood Park.

The post-holder should have a relevant qualification, and experience of working with service users with PD and complex needs. Experience of working within a forensic setting would be advantageous, although not essential.

We can offer opportunities to develop your specialist clinical skills through training, profession-specific support and development supervision. The team meet regularly for group case discussions and reflective practice, which is an essential part of the work. There is an established team culture of strong multidisciplinary working, clinical supervision, reflective practice and Continuing Professional Development.

A visit to the service is an essential part of the recruitment process.

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the job

The main responsibilities of the Service are to:

- Gatekeep assessments of service users with a primary diagnosis of PD who are referred for a secure in-patient admission
- Provide care pathway management of the clinical cohort who are admitted to secure services across the South West Region (and beyond for Out Of Area placements)
- Provide specialist clinical advice and recommendations about the most appropriate care pathway for these individuals
- Support teams in secure services to work with these service users through providing consultation, training, reflective practice and clinical supervision

There will be some opportunity for direct clinical interventions in conjunction with related services and the opportunity to build relationships with partner agencies.

Wellbeing is prioritised. The team meet regularly for group case discussions and reflective practice, in addition to individual clinical supervision, which is an essential part of the work.

We work to a multi-disciplinary model where all members perspectives and views valued within a trauma informed, psychologically-minded service.

Working for our organisation

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care. We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset. Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical
1. Develop agreed protocols for working with people with a personality disorder across the pathway
2. Link with and provide specialist support at points of referral via agreed protocols within the service.
3. Support the assessment of identifying suitable interventions for service users with a personality disorder
4. Formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes for clients, with a particular focus on people with personality disorder.
5. Educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying formulations
with sensitivity in easily understood language.
6. Adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the number of client contacts offered, and clinical sessions carried out per week in order to establish the delivery element of the role.
7. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.
8. Complete all requirements relating to data collection within the service and develop data collection as appropriate to auditing programmes of interventions.
9. Keep coherent records of all clinical activity in line with service protocols.
10. Work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to develop a stepped care approach of interventions for people with personality disorder.
11. Carry out clinical audits of service performance, including service user surveys and evaluations, training needs analysis and help to collate and disseminate the results for feedback.

Training and Supervision
1. Audit current provision of personality disorder training for community staff.
2. Provide training and development relating to personality disorder as required within the local service but also with wider stakeholders.
3. Provide reflective practice and formulation support around personality disorder to colleagues both within the service and wider stakeholders.

Professional
1. Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (eg BPS, UKCP, BABCP), and keep up to date on new
recommendations/guidelines set by the department of health (e.g NHS plan, National Service Framework, National Institute for Clinical Excellence).
2. Ensure that client confidentiality is protected at all times.
3. Be aware of, and keep up to date with advances in the spheres of agreed psychological therapies as appropriate to working with people with personality disorder.
4. Ensure clear professional objectives are identified, discussed and reviewed with senior therapists on a regular basis as part of continuing professional development.
5. Attend clinical/managerial supervision on a regular basis as agreed with Manager.
6. Participate in individual performance review and respond to agreed objectives.
7. Keep up to date all records in relation to C.P.D. and ensure personal development plan maintains up to date specialist knowledge of latest theoretical and service delivery models/developments.
8. Attend relevant conferences / workshops in line with identified professional objectives.

Advisory / Liaison
1. Provide an advisory service on matters related to the practice and delivery of interventions for personality disorder to individuals/groups/committees across the locality, awp, the Clinical
Commissioning Group and with other stakeholders.
2. Promote and maintain links across Primary Care, Secondary and Tertiary Care Staff to help coordinate the provision of an effective service for people with personality disorder.

General
1. To contribute to the development of best practice within the service.
2. To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and procedures in relation to Forensic Mental Health Care Services.
3. All employees have a duty and responsibility for their own health and safety and the health of safety of colleagues, patients and the general public.
4. All employees have a responsibility and a legal obligation to ensure that information processed for both patients and staff is kept accurate, confidential, secure and in line with the Data Protection Act
(1998) and Security and Confidentiality Policies.
5. It is the responsibility of all staff that they do not abuse their official position for personal again, to seek advantage of further private business or other interests in the course of their official duties.
6. This Job Description does not provide an exhaustive list of duties and may be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder in light of service development.