Counsellor | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

We are looking for a counsellor to work at our HMP Cookham Wood site one day a week who will be responsible for the autonomous provision of counselling interventions within a psychological therapy service for service users in prison experiencing a range of mental health problems.

As part of the mental health team, the Psychological Therapies Service provides psychological therapies and counselling to individuals experiencing mental health difficulties and emotional distress within Kent Prisons. We are looking for an experienced and dynamic counsellor who has the personal and professional qualities to take on challenging work within prisons.

Responsible for the autonomous provision of counselling interventions within a psychological therapy service for service users in prison experiencing a range of mental health problems, working to NICE guidelines for Depression, OCD, PTSD, Anxiety and other mental health problems, using a stepped-care model. To communicate outcomes and suggestions for alternative care back to GP's, mental health and criminal justice professionals. This work to be undertaken in line with the policies and procedures and service standards of Oxleas N.H.S. Trust.

Expected to contribute to the development of the service by giving feedback to manager and clinical lead about own areas of work.

Routinely collect session by session outcome measures, review and feedback of outcome data, ensuring that activity targets are adhered to.

Maintains good relationships with personnel of partner organisations.

It will be a requirement of this role to participate in job planning.
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We're Kind


• We're Fair


• We Listen


• We Care


IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

Proof of right to work documentation

Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID

Proof of address documentation

Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code., Contribute to the provision of the forensic mental health service, Specialties Directorate, by undertaking counselling/therapy with individual clients, or when appropriate, in groups. Using communication and relationship skills to undertake assessment of clients referred to the service by GP's, probation officers or other professionals including risk assessment, to develop an appropriate model in which to work and, where necessary, to refer on to appropriate services. This client group includes those with diverse and complex psychological and mental health needs and on occasion, clients may present with aggression, hostility or verbally abusive behaviour.

• To prioritise and manage own client caseload.


• To exercise professional responsibility for the assessment, intervention and discharge of clients, using highest level of interpersonal and communication skills when presenting and receiving complex, sensitive and contentious information to clients, family, support workers and other professionals


• To maintain up to date clear client records and case notes in line with the policies and procedures and service standards of the Trust.


• To provide psychological therapy/counselling, collaboratively with clients

including:
a) Assessments: Psychometric assessments required of the service ; observational assessment; assessment by interviewing; assessment by analysis of archive material, multi-disciplinary notes and discussions, reviews, and supervision.
b) Interventions: Counselling and other psychological therapies as appropriate;
c) With a range of presenting problems primarily including Anxiety, Depression, trauma but including the full range of primary and secondary care mental health difficulties.


• To provide guidance and advice to relevant significant others (such as prison staff and other criminal justice professionals ) in order to improve the psychological health of clients.


• To provide advice to other professionals within and external to the multi-disciplinary team, and agencies that provide services to this client group


• To keep adequate clinical records in accordance with Trust guidelines, the BABCP/UKCP/BACP or BPS Division of Counselling Psychology and DoH guidance


• To frequently sit in a restricted position for substantial proportion of working time during clinical sessions and meetings, requiring long periods of concentration


• Dealing with frequent highly distressing situations i.e. clients with severely distressing mental health experiences, past and current abuse. Dealing with unpleasant working conditions i.e. verbal aggression, physical threats from client, family or others.


Management responsibilities
1. To provide information and guidance to other primary care and mental health staff on the issues of psychological therapy.
2. To attend meetings when required, within the working times of your post.
3. To maintain statistical data.
4. To liaise, collaborate and communicate with GPs and other criminal justice practitioners in the care and treatment of clients. This may also include the communication of sensitive information requiring knowledge and skills of data protection issues.

Leadership


• To provide courses/seminars/workshops/presentations relevant to counselling.


• To sit on relevant working groups of the service as required.

Clinical Governance

• To implement and maintain the principles of Clinical Governance, including risk management.


• To implement and maintain good information governance in respect of British Psychological Society's (or other relevant professional bodies) and Department of Health's codes and guidance's on the proper management of client information, the Caldicott principles and the Data Protection Act.


• To maintain up to date clear client records and case notes in line with the policies and procedures and service standards of the Trust, using the electronic clinical record system.


• To abide by the postholder's appropriate Code of Professional Conduct and to follow guidance from NICE and the Department of Health.


• To engage in ongoing personal professional development.


• To maintain professional accreditation with relevant professional body eg the BPS, BACP, keep an updated CPD log and attend training to maintain therapy skills and competencies as appropriate.


• To collect session by session outcome measures.


Research and service development


• To use published research and information on good practice regularly to keep clinical practice up-to-date and evidence based


• Participate in discussion and review regarding the development and evaluation of the locality counseling service.


• To undertake clinically relevant evaluation within the locality psychological therapy service.


• To provide information relating to the post-holders clinical and administrative activities as determined by the management of the Trust and the psychological therapy service.


Teaching, Training and Supervision.


• To provide when appropriate, induction and clinical supervision to counsellors on trainee clinical placement.


• Attend for regular supervision as agreed within the locality counseling service and professional ethical framework.


• To keep abreast of current developments in the professional field of psychological therapy through reading and attendance at appropriate training courses and CPD in accordance with the requirements of your own professional accrediting body.

Communication

• Clinicians within forensic psychological therapies and clinicians within Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; mental health practitioners within inarch services


• Senior Trust Officials, when indicated or appropriate i.e. service development


• General Practitioners and GPs with special interest.


• Service providers from both statutory and voluntary organisations e.g. Adult Mental Health Services, CAMHS, Social Services, criminal justice system
  
  Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.


Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited., Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.