Assistant Practitioner- Health Check Liaison Team | South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Practitioner/Nursing Associate - Health Check Liaison Team This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated, skilled and compassionate Nursing Associate or Assistant Practitioner to join South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and be part of our commitment to improving the physical health of the communities we serve. South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust are committed to improving the physical health of patients with severe mental illness, and the Health Check Liaison Team plays a key role in meeting this commitment. The team is comprised of Band 4 Assistant Practitioners (APs) who provide assertive outreach support to community mental health services to improve the physical health of our service users. This is achieved by supporting teams to improve the physical health of their caseload by running clinics, outreaching into the community, liaising with primary care services and signposting to evidence-based interventions. The Assistant Practitioner/Nursing Associate will independently run physical health clinics, share outcomes and support service users to access appropriate interventions (according to local assets and service available). Data is recorded on the electronic patient record and shared with primary care. Applicants must have the ability to build positive and effective professional relationships across our health system, to work independently with remote supervision, to engage with people who have severe mental illness and to manage their workload in line with service targets. The Trust is dedicated to managing and developing a range of mental health services, working closely with service users and carers, our four partner local authorities, CCGs and NHS hospitals. Services are primarily focused on people with severe and enduring mental illness. However, it also promotes good mental health, early intervention to prevent more serious problems and provide support to primary care in dealing with people with less severe problems. The Trust has a strong community focus and our services are provided in a wide range of settings including people's own homes, GP practices, day centres, residential and nursing homes, prisons and hospitals. The Trust's core value states that 'everything we do is to improve the experience of people using our services and to promote mental health and wellbeing for all'. About the location: Our Trust headquarters is located at Denmark Hill less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2). We also provide services and operate across other locations, such as London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; and substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Lambeth, Greenwich and Wandsworth. Please note this role will involve regular travel across the geographical area that we serve. This post is part of the Health Check Liaison Team, which works across the Trust's community services. The purpose of the team is to provide health checks and support to patients with serious mental illness who are under the care of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. The post holder will be required to record comprehensive information in the electronic patient record, to produce high quality letters to share information with primary care, to produce regular reports on their progress and to set up processes to manage their workload. The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) physical health checks are the key physical health checks required and include:

• BMI
• Blood pressure and pulse
• Lifestyle, including diet and exercise
• Smoking status
• Substance misuse (drugs and alcohol use)
• Cardio-metabolic risk using tools such as Q-Risk
• Blood lipids including cholesterol
• Blood sugar (HbA1c).
Please note this role will involve working across all four boroughs that we serve (Croydon, Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth). The team works in an agile way, and is deployed on a temporary basis to teams with high need, and also involves home visiting with equipment. The need to be flexible and responsive with regards to working location is vital. The role is primarily patient-facing within community team bases.