The Trust has a duty and a desire to deliver the Mental Health Act to the highest possible standard with the aim of keeping patients safe. To do this the Trust needs to ensure that its staff have a sound fundamental knowledge of the legislation and that they have access to specialist knowledge and support to help them when they are faced with complex situations.

The Trust is looking to recruit a highly motivated and knowledgeable mental health lead who will have a special focus on the Mental Health Act.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist inpatient and community mental health, learning disabilities, addiction and acquired brain injury services for the people of Liverpool, Sefton and Kirkby, Merseyside. We also provide community physical health services in Liverpool, Sefton, secure mental health services for the North West of England, the West Midlands and Wales and specialist learning disability services across Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside.

Our ambition is to deliver perfect care to become the world’s leading organisation in holistic health and well being.

Mersey Care’s vision and values of Continuous Improvement, Accountability, Respect, Enthusiasm and Support (CARES) drive our organisation and the way we work together to deliver services. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate, during recruitment and any subsequent employment with the Trust, that their behaviour supports our values.

The role will;

Lead the development and implementation of policy and procedure.

Prepare for the implementation of any new legislation/case law.

Provide bespoke and specialist advice and training to clinicians and managers across the Trust.

Undertake audits to identify any gaps in the delivery of the Mental Health Act.

Link with external agencies to ensure that partnership working is as robust as possible.

Prepare reports to Trust committees on the Trust's adherence to the Mental Health Act

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Lead in providing advice, scrutiny and audit of the implementation of the Mental Health Act and other relevant legislation for the Trust.

Keep the Trust informed of emerging developments in this area, supporting other leads to ensure the Trust support principles underpinning the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act.

Be responsible for the overall professional management of the Mental Health Act.

Interpret national policy and legislation in relation to a range of policy areas and to be responsible for the policy development of the service in regard to these areas.

Develop and deliver training strategies for staff across the organisation that is specific to their job roles.

Provide practical advice to all staff in relation to promoting best practice in line with key Mental Health legislation and professional and organisational responsibilities.

Support and give expert practical advice on decision making in this area for complex cases.