Position overview

Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol and Drug Services (MHJHADS) provides support to people via inpatient and outpatient settings, community health centers, justice health facilities and other community settings, including people’s homes.  These services include:

• Adult Acute Mental Health Services
• Adult Community Mental Health Services
• Alcohol & Drug Services
• Justice Health Services
• Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

Adult Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS) includes:

Intake services:

• Access Mental Health Service
• Home Assessment & Acute Response Team (HAART)

Community Recovery Services:

• Gungahlin
• Belconnen
• City
• Woden
• Tuggeranong

Community Specialty Services:

• Assertive Community Outreach Service (ACOS)
• Older Persons Community Mental Health Team
• Mental Health Link
• Therapies
• Neuropsychology

This position is primarily located within the Community Recovery Services (CRS) but staff may be required to work across all of Adult Community Mental Health Services to meet operational demands. CRS teams operate across the Australian Capital Territory, adhering to the Adult Community Mental Health Model of Care.

CRS are a multi-disciplinary team of Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Psychiatry Registrars and Consultant Psychiatrists, and Administration Service Officers.

CRS provide a recovery-focused, strengths-based approach to clinical case management to improve wellbeing and enhance functioning in the community for adults who:

• Are experiencing complex mental illness/disorder or psychological distress which is associated with significant functional impairment and/or significant risks.
• May be subject to a Psychiatric Treatment Order under the Mental Health Act 2015.
• Have multidisciplinary treatment needs that cannot be met elsewhere in the community or less intensive service.
• Require regular service contact over a medium to longer-term episode of care.

The successful applicant will be responsible for a caseload of clients with support from an allocated psychiatrist and the multidisciplinary team they work in as well as high quality governance structures/supports.  The applicant will also be required to fulfill the role of Mental Health Officer, executing processes under the MH Act.  The successful applicant will deliver face to face care and treatment to clients over a sustained period to enable the person to improve in social and other areas of functioning, require less hospital admissions and engage more actively in treatment. The participation of the people who use the service, including families and carers, is encouraged in all aspects of a person’s care and you will work in partnership with a range of government and non-government service providers to ensure the best possible outcomes for clients.

At this level, the successful applicant will provide high quality interventions and achieve sound outcomes for people under limited supervision, contribute to the multidisciplinary team processes, undertake professional development and professional supervision including the provision of supervision to staff at level HP1 & HP2, Allied Health Assistants and students, and participate in quality initiatives and strategic planning.

Please note:

• This position is open to Social Workers or Occupational Therapists.
• Where this is a temporary position, it may lead to extension.
• Selection may be appointed using the written application alone.

Key Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Under limited direction of the Team Leader and delegate, you will perform advanced clinical activities in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team and the people who access the service. You will:

1. As a member of a multidisciplinary team, provide advanced assessment, care and relapse prevention planning, and evidence-based interventions to consumers presenting with complex and high-risk mental health conditions to enable the person to improve in social and other areas of functioning, require less hospital admissions and engage more actively in treatment.  Be a Mental Health Officer.
2. Whilst upholding privacy and consent laws, work collaboratively with the persons family, carers, government and non-government sector and work with, GPs with the aim of recovery and stepping down care to a less intensive level of care.
3. Exercise advanced independent clinical reasoning and judgement on routine matters and perform complex or critical tasks, generating innovative solutions to problems whilst producing a range of options.
4. Work collaboratively with the Team Manager and Medical Officers to promote and work within the governance structures and policy frameworks relevant to this position and influence others to do the same, including the completion of routine key performance indicators.
5. Develop and maintain collaborative cross-agency relationships and attend meetings and committees within the focus of your team.  Provide supervision to and support of HP1, HP2, and allied health assistant colleagues as well as students.
6. Actively contribute to the implementation of clinical governance activities, quality improvement projects, divisional safety and quality initiatives, research programs, and health promotion.
7. Complete clinical and administrative data collection and evaluation to a high standard and undertake other administrative tasks upon request.
8. Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

Competencies

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to the following.

• Already be, or agree to become, a Mental Health Officer.
• Work with people living with complex and high risk mental health conditions.
• Ability to manage confidential and sensitive information whilst working towards achieving positive outcomes for people who access the service.
• Ability to respond to and prioritise competing and often urgent requests in a calm and efficient manner while also maintaining high work standards and accuracy.
• Exercise independent professional judgement on moderately complex matters, generating innovative solutions to problems, producing a range of options
• Provide routine supervision of allied health level 1 and 2 staff as well as Allied Health Assistants and students.
• Accept responsibility for work performed with a medium level of accountability or discretion and will work under limited supervision, either individually or in a team.
• Undertake duties independently.
• Adhere to risk management processes and identify risks, suggest mitigating actions and escalate issues appropriately.
• Comply with and contribute to development of policies, procedures and practice guidelines, and identify opportunities for and to lead professional development, quality improvement
• Identify opportunities for and lead professional development, quality improvement and and/or participate in research activities.

Qualifications

Essential

• Tertiary qualifications in Occupational Therapy or Social Work.
• Where relevant, unconditional registration or eligibility for registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) or eligibility for membership with the AASW.
• Hold an ACT drivers’ licence.

Desirable

• Post Graduate Qualification in relevant discipline or another relevant stream.
• Sound understanding of adult community mental health services.
• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum three years post qualified experience.

Desirable

• Mental Health Officer.
• Prior experience working in community mental health will be highly desirable.
• Proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems.
• Experience or knowledge of the CHS Exceptional Care Framework, and all other related frameworks.

Prior to commencement

Appointment to this position is conditional on being granted and retaining appropriate clearances:

• Pre-employment National Police Check.
• Current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 is required.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.
• Comply with CHS credentialing and scope of clinical practice requirements for allied health professionals.

Important information

All employees are required to:

• Adhere to the Canberra Health Services Values and the ACT Public Service Code of Conduct.
• Act in accordance and comply with all relevant Safety and Quality policies and procedures.
• Comply with all relevant clinical and/or competency standards.

CHS is leading the drive to digitally transform health service delivery in Australia through the implementation of a territory wide Digital Health Record. Computer literacy skills are required which are relevant to this role as you will be responsible for completing required documentation and becoming a proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems; once proficient, you will need to remain current with changes, updates, and contingencies.

What you Require (Key Selection Criteria)

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your resumé and experience and must be addressed in your application:

1. Under limited supervision, demonstrated ability to undertake relevant advanced mental health assessment, collaborative care and relapse prevention planning, and delivery of evidence-based interventions to people with complex and high-risk mental illness and demonstrated good judgement about when to escalate a deterioration in a client’s condition.
2. Demonstrated ability to manage a large caseload of people with complex mental health conditions, within and whilst utilising the multi-disciplinary team, and responding to unexpected clinical and operational demands that demonstrates an advanced level of clinical and operational reasoning and judgement as well as advanced time management and problem solving.
3. Effective communication skills and an understanding of and willingness to participate in, research, quality improvement activities and clinical supervision.  An ability or willingness to use an electronic health record and using it to assist with and to improve service delivery, trends, or needs.
4. Demonstrated well-developed understanding of legislative and policy frameworks relevant to this position.
5. Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, work, health and safety (WH&S) and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful and kind.

Work environment description

The following work environment description outlines the inherent requirements of the role and indicates how frequently each of these requirements would need to be performed. Please note that the ACT Public Service is committed to providing reasonable adjustments and ensuring all individuals have equal opportunities in the workplace.