Specialist Keyworker | East London NHS Foundation Trust

Heads Up offers a service for people who are at risk of developing psychosis. The remit of Heads Up is to identify, assess and provide support to people aged 18-35 with an At Risk Mental State (ARMS) for psychosis and has an open referral system whereby anyone can contact the team to make a referral or ask for advice. Heads Up works with people who want to access the service for up to 2 years. The team work closely with EQUIP, which offers a service to adult residents of Hackney and the City aged 18 - 65 following a first episode of psychosis.

The role involves offering specialist assessment via the CAARMS assessment tool, acting as a keyworker to accepted residents, providing individual and family interventions as appropriate, engaging in community outreach with GPs and other statutory and voluntary agencies in order to improve early detection, and providing training and feedback to the EQUIP team. There is also a shared duty rota between EQUIP & HEADS UP, to which the postholder will make a reduced contribution as duty senior.

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

• Assessment of local residents aged below 35 who may be at risk of developing psychosis


• Provide psycho-social interventions appropriate to the needs of individuals receiving a service


• Liaison with referrers and other professionals


• Provide consultation to actual and potential referrers


• Work collaboratively and effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team, including maintaining oversight of the caseload


• Demonstrate an awareness of issues of diversity and inclusion, and operate from a basis of anti-discriminatory practice


• Identify carers and ensure their needs are assessed and support offered as necessary


• Develop positive working relationships with local community groups and partner agencies in order to improve understanding of At Risk Mental State and to reduce barriers to accessing services


• Demonstrate presentation skills and teaching ability


• Work collaboratively with the Operational Lead for both services (Heads Up and EQUIP)


• Provide supervision and line management to more junior staff as delegated by the Operational Lead


• Act as duty senior for the EQUIP and Heads Up duty rota on a pro rata basis, providing practice leadership and oversight of referrals


• Maintain data on referrals, outcomes, contextual data to enable assessment of the service's functioning


• Maintain own professional registration and knowledge, including of current/emerging good practice in relation to community mental health services and Early Intervention/At Risk services in particular


• Initiate or participate in QI projects as agreed with the Operational Lead