Charge Nurse (The Lotus Assessment Suite)

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South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.

We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' however we aim to be 'outstanding'.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is "making life better together".

When you join us, you'll be part of something special - an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

The post holder will work within the Trust's Psychiatric Decision Unit known as Lotus Assessment Suite. As a staff nurse, you will work within an award-winning, nurse-led service to provide interim mental health care for service users. The role involves undertaking prolonged bio-psychosocial assessments to be able to meet the holistic needs of all service users and empower them to have the optimum level of responsibility for their individual care and treatment by following recovery principles and approaches.

The post will enhance your skills in autonomous clinical decision making, assessment of mental health and physical health needs, risk management, crisis management, development of managerial skills as well as joint working with multiple agencies/services. The post will also allow you to develop skills in providing a broad range of specialist psychosocial treatments for individual patients.

Service specific training and support will be provided to successful candidates as well as access to trust wide training opportunities.

Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:

We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialties. For this role, we offer career pathways to roles within the acute and urgent care service line.

Main duties of the job

As a staff nurse you will conduct assessments, support discharges and support junior staff with decision-making. You will support and promote the fundamentals of mental health and physical health care for our patients, by carrying out needs assessments and working collaboratively with patients to develop crisis and discharge plans.

If you are a forward-thinking nurse looking to develop your assessment and risk management skills this is an exciting opportunity to consider. We are looking for someone who is clinically competent with the appropriate skills to join a diverse and experienced team. The successful candidate will be able to develop a positive team atmosphere through hard work, calmness, tolerance and consistency. They will support and lead on quality improvement initiatives and support a culture of reflection and learning. If you want to be part of a pioneering award winning service this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Agile and flexible working:

As one of the few Trusts in London we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. In this role you will be able to work a 24/7 shift pattern, Monday to Sunday, and we will aim to give you the very best of good work life balance. Please note this role is not able to be carried out from home.

Working for our organisation

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Working autonomously within the parameters of the role leading and supporting junior staff and wider care team to implement the delivery of quality nursing care, contributing to the physical, psychological, social, recreational and spiritual care in a recovery-focused way through therapeutic engagement and activities, and taking steps to address any issues that arise.
Leading on and undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met - nutrition, hydration, hygiene, comfort, emotional and social support:
Co-ordinating and evaluating collaborative patient centred care; getting feedback and improving plans with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).
Providing accurate information about care in an accessible format to patients and their relatives / carers.
Liaising and working positively with members of the multi- disciplinary team and partner organisations.
Administering, and monitoring the side-effects of, medication; monitoring service user compliance.
Safety; safe custody of medicines, sharps, clinical equipment, report all incidents following trust policy.
Leading and supporting/teaching junior staff on risk assessment and risk management that involves making decisions based on knowledge of the research evidence, knowledge of the individual service user and their social context, knowledge of the service user's own experience and clinical judgment.
Supporting and supervising junior staff to develop the management of care needs through:
Initial data collection
Monitoring of individual service user / patient progress
Feedback and discussion
Producing reports and in-care reviews
Devising a plan of care and interventions in partnership with service user, carer and MDT
Coordinating junior staff and the wider care team in providing hand‑on care to service users and evaluating processes of care delivered. This will include:
Undertaking 1-1 engagement with service users in an honest, open and non judgmental way.
Recognising and valuing service users as individuals, acknowledging the importance of maintaining the service user's respect and dignity at all times and ensure that the care provided respects equality and diversity.
Developing care plans that reflect service user needs and relevant patient care documentation working in partnership with service users, wider MDT and family/carers.
Ensuring the monitoring and recording service user clinical observations are undertaken, such as physical observations and vital signs and treating or escalating as appropriate any signs or symptoms of deterioration or that does not fulfill the personal parameters to the relevant professional for treatment. Promote healthy lifestyles and give health promotion advice and support.
Implementing the principles of 'recovery': encouraging and supporting service users to engage with healthy lifestyles, facilitating psychosocial activities and other activities of their interest. Where appropriate contributing to psychological interventions.
Escorting service users, as required, in line with Trust policies.
Advocating for service users' needs and rights within Trust policy. Encouraging and empowering service users to have an optimum level of responsibility for their individual programme of care

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications

If you have used AI to support the preparation of your application, please briefly indicate how it was used within your supporting statement or application form.

Please remember, your application is your opportunity to tell us about your skills, experience and motivation for the role. We encourage applicants to complete their application and supporting statement in their own words wherever possible. We recognise that AI tools can be helpful in supporting accessibility, and for improving spelling, grammar and structure.

Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content can become generic and fail to accurately reflect an applicant's individual experience. Applications that clearly demonstrate your own voice, reflections and experiences are often the most effective and help us better understand your suitability for the role.

Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience.

Person specification

Education and Qualification

Essential criteria

Registered Adult Nurse and/or Registered Mental Health Nurse and/or Registered Learning Disabilities Nurse
Mentorship qualification

Desirable criteria

Master's degree

Experience and Knowledge

Essential criteria

Experience of researchbased/reflective practice, e.g. understanding and ability to use supervision to reflect on skills, attitude and knowledge and develop these by using evidence based practice
Significant relevant clinical experience
Evidence of continuing professional developmentExperience as a preceptor / mentor
Knowledge of clinical governance and audit
Knowledge of relevant Professional and Clinical legislation

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of relevant Professional and Clinical legislation
Experience of engaging / supporting clinical research projects
Experience of supporting practice development in clinical areas
Experience of teaching. e.g. lecturer practitioner/preceptorship
Experience of recruitment and selection of staff

At South West London St Georges Mental Health Trust we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Committed Employer, and welcome applications from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

As part of the Trust's commitment to Equalities and Diversity, the Trust supports the establishment of Staff Networks groups to promote diversity in the workplace:

BME (Evolve) Staff Network
Christian Staff Network
DiverseAbility
Deaf Staff Network
Mental Health Staff Forum
Women's Staff Network
LGBTQIA+

We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.

Please note:

That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received
That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system
That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
That your employment is offered subject to successful completion of a Probationary Period depending on your Band (except medical roles)
That we are a smoke-free Trust
South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. The contact details published on our official website are the Trust's authorised contact channels and should be used for all recruitment communications, job applications, and verification of employment offers.