Mental Health Officer Senior Practitioner

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Job Details

As part of a new investment additional Senior Practitioner MHO posts have been created. The main base will be Wemyssfield, Kirkcaldy. The successful candidates will join the existing Fife Wide MHO team for a training and bedding in period. This will eventually result in East and West dedicated MHO teams being created. You will be asked at interview what your East/West preference will be, and for the successful candidates we will try to accommodate this as far as possible.

Adult Social Work Service.

The Dedicated Mental Health Officer Team is integral to providing a high-quality Mental Health Officer Service in Fife.

The Dedicated MHO Team works to a Service Level Agreement within service hours, responding to all new requests for assessment under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (and if consequently required application for short term detention and the associated social circumstance report), and Criminal Procedures (Scotland) Act. The Dedicated MHO Team also complete reports to accompany application for local authority and private AWI applications.

Senior Practitioner status reflects the role all MHOs within the Dedicated MHO Team have in relation to mentoring all MHOs out with the team and supporting MHO student placements each year.

This is an exciting opportunity to bring your knowledge, skills and abilities to the Mental Health Officer Service and improve outcomes for people affected by mental illness.

This post offers the opportunity to work with a team of colleagues who are highly skilled and experienced, opportunities to develop specific learning/developments needs and aspirations and regular supervision.

Please consider this exciting opportunity to be involved in delivering and shaping Mental Health Services for the people of Fife.

The Person

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, proactive and resilient MHO to join our team. As the role is senior practitioner, we are looking for applicants who can demonstrate positive leadership qualities.

The successful applicant will:

• be an accredited MHO
• be registered with the SSSC and maintain the CPD requirements for this
• carry a caseload in relation to the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and Criminal Procedures (Scotland) Act, as well as providing duty service on a rota basis.
• provide regular mentoring for MHO’s in locality teams and provide guidance and support to area teams in relating to the Acts when required.
• contribute toward the learning and development of the team as well as supporting trainee MHOs.
• have extensive experience of Social Work Assessment and Care Management ideally from a range of backgrounds and demonstrate the ability to apply this to the role where required e.g. undertaking Outcome focussed assessments and responding to Adult Protection enquiries.
• be able to approach performance positively and demonstrate the ability to use systems accurately to record and report on practice.
• have the ability to travel throughout Fife and on occasion out with in line with requirements for the role.

The Team Manager Mental Health Officer Team will provide direct line management, supervision and support.

You may be required to obtain a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Membership or Disclosure Check for this role.