About this role
Job summary
Are you looking to develop your clinical skills within a fast-paced and rewarding mental health crisis service?
The Mental Health Single Point of Access (MH SPA) and NHS 111 Mental Health Service is seeking motivated and compassionate Band 5 Telecoaches to join our growing team in Ealing.
This is an exciting opportunity to work within a dynamic frontline crisis service supporting individuals experiencing mental health distress across telephone, digital and face to face settings. You will play a key role in triaging referrals, undertaking mental health assessments, delivering brief psychologically informed interventions and supporting individuals to access the most appropriate care at the right time.
Working within a supportive multidisciplinary team, you will gain valuable experience in crisis assessment, risk management and brief intervention whilst developing your confidence in responding to a broad range of mental health presentations.
Main duties of the job
As a Band 5 Telecoach within the MH SPA and NHS 111 Mental Health Service, you will support the assessment and management of individuals experiencing mental health crisis.
Your role will include:
Undertaking initial triage and mental health assessments via telephone, digital and face-to-face contact
Providing brief psychologically informed interventions to support de-escalation and emotional regulation
Completing structured risk assessments and contributing to crisis care planning
Signposting and referring individuals to the most appropriate services and support pathways
Escalating high-risk or complex presentations appropriately to senior clinicians
Liaising with internal and external professionals including police, ambulance services, GPs and mental health teams
Maintaining accurate and defensible clinical documentation
Supporting junior colleagues, new starters and students within the team
Contributing to service development, audit and quality improvement initiatives
This is a highly varied role requiring emotional resilience, sound judgement and the ability to manage competing demands in a busy crisis environment.
The applicant must have completed the six-month preceptorship program or a mentorship course
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.
The Trust is rated as 'Good' overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
Job description Job responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person Specification
Qualifications & Training Essential
Qualified to degree level in a relevant subject (nursing, OT, Social Worker, Psychologist with BPS approved post graduate certificate, counselling, psychological therapy) or equivalent experience. Psychological Therapy qualification (or currently working towards). PWP training course qualification Significant demonstrable equivalent experience in specific area or practice.
Desirable
Masters level training in relevant Psychological or Mental Health area. Post-graduate training in relevant mental-health / psychological / recovery discipline. Qualified psychological therapist
Experience Essential
Demonstrable experience of work with people with moderate to severe mental health problems. Experience in psychological interventions - CBT or interpersonal therapy / dialectical behaviour therapy interventions or other evidence based approaches. Experience of NHS procedures and structures. Experience of multi-agency working. Experience of working within and multi-disciplinary team.
Desirable
Experience delivering psychological therapies via telephone. Experience in applying specialist psychological therapies. Previous experience of working within a crisis team.
Knowledge & Skills Essential
Knowledge of legislation related to mental health and social care e.g. Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, Care Act, Care Programme Approach etc. Knowledge and skill in assessment, formulation of need and evaluation of presenting problems Competency in delivering clinical skills i.e. assessment, therapeutic interventions and management of mental health Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals. Ability to work under pressure and manage distressing and challenging situations. Ability to challenge existing practice and promote continuous quality improvement. Influencing and negotiating skills as well as adept at conflict resolution Presenting skills and IT literate - specifically in the MS office suite of programmes. High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive. Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, cares and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance. Ability to feedback and discuss cases within the multi-disciplinary team. Ability to interact sensitively with people with mental health problems. Excellent report writing skills. Excellent documentation of duties performed. Confidence to work autonomously. Ability to communicate information on formulation, risk and intervention to staff from other disciplines.
Desirable
Knowledge of RiO patient record system. Previous experience of assessing people who present in an acute mental health crisis
Personal Qualities Essential
Good range of problem solving skills. Good range of information gathering skills. Ability to assess and manage risks. Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively. An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with learning disability, problems or other disabilities. An ability to sustain empathy and personal engagement with individuals experiencing mental health problems or challenging behaviour. Willingness to embrace integrated model and new ways of working. Driven, reliable and methodical
Other Requirements Essential
Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing a service to clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week may include some on-call work Fit and able to undertake patient facing work as and when required.
Desirable
Possession of a valid UK driving license.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name West London NHS Trust
Address St Bernards
Uxbridge Road London
Southall
UB1 3EU
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)