Vacancy -- Nursing Officer - Learning Disabilities and Mental Health

Working for the Civil Service

The Welsh Government's recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

Vacancy Details

Health and Social Services Group
Nursing
Grade 6 - £67,100 - £76,990
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Permanent
Pan Wales
'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.
TBC

Purpose of Post:

  • You will provide professional advice on nursing to Welsh Government and act as policy lead for: the health of people with a learning disability, including delivery of the health recommendations in the cross government programme Improving Lives; professional matters related to learning disability nursing practice and education; implementation of school nursing in special schools; professional matters related to mental health nursing practice and education; and provide professional advice to the mental health directorate and its various work programmes.
  • You will support the work to develop workforce tools to enable the extension of Nurse Staffing Levels Act to mental health and learning disability settings.
  • You will be a member of a team of professional nursing officers within the Nursing Directorate in HSS WG and will contribute to the WG’s performance scrutiny role with NHS Wales, specifically focussed on nursing services.

Key tasks:

  • Act as the policy lead for the health of people with a learning disability, work to address health inequalities

  • Lead implementation of the health recommendations from the cross government Improving Lives programme; oversee the work being led by the funded posts in Public Health Wales dedicated to the implementation of the work in services; manage the budget allocated to this work

  • Work in collaboration with the cross government team responsible for the delivery of the whole Improving Lives programme to ensure nursing contribution is provided in all areas that are appropriate.

  • Consider actions in relation to the development of specialist services that reduce the need for hospital admission and lead to the repatriation of patients with learning disabilities and mental ill health in secure units in association with WHSSC and the NHS Commissioning Group

  • Provide professional advice to Welsh Government (ministers and officials) on: learning disability nursing education and practice; and mental health nursing education and practice.

  • Provide professional advice and support to the mental health directorate to assist in delivery of their work programme.

  • Work with HE&IW on education priorities for learning disability and mental health nursing; support career development and recruitment initiatives; build relationships with the higher education providers for mental health and learning disability nursing

  • Lead implementation of the school nursing framework for special schools

  • Support implementation of the mental health and wellbeing in-reach work in all schools

  • Support expansion of the perinatal mental health services in Wales

  • Oversee the national work programme to develop workforce tools for mental health and learning disability in patient areas. Undertake preparation work to extend the Nursing Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 to these areas.

  • Take an active role in the performance management process led by Welsh Government in respect of NHS Wales

  • Act up for the Chief Nursing Officer in their absence as required

  • Lead the development of the annual CNO Showcase conference in 2021


Development opportunities:

  • You will have the opportunity to develop negotiation and influencing skills at a senior level and be able to influence change at a whole system level; will gain understanding of how to advise ministers and policy makers; will have the opportunity to build extensive external professional networks; and have opportunity to develop their communication skills through a range of mediums.
  • You will be supported to undertake the requirements set up by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to complete revalidation.

Closing Date:

11/12/2019, 16:00

Eligibility

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

Equality and Diversity

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

Disability Confident

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Welsh Language Requirements

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

Not necessary to undertake the duties of this post

Social Partnership

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

Competencies / Job Specific Criteria

Competencies:

1. Leading and communicating - Clarify strategies and plans, communicate purpose and

direction with clarity and enthusiasm

2. Collaborating & Partnering - Actively involve partners to deliver a business outcome through collaboration and co-production that achieves better results for citizens.

3. Managing a quality service - Make clear, pragmatic and manageable plans for service delivery using programme and project management disciplines

4. Managing a quality service - Ensure the service offer thoroughly considers customers’ needs and a broad range of available methods to meet this, including new technology where relevant


Job Specific Criteria:

1. Ability to manage multiple strands of work, prioritising and ensuring delivery

2. An experienced nurse with expertise in mental health and/or learning disability nursing, educated to masters level.

3. Excellent communication skills in a range of forms with experience of influencing and negotiating on the issues affecting people with mental health problems or who have a learning disability.

Assessment Process

Other Information

  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
  • For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.
  • Full time but applications are welcome from those wishing to work part-time or job share basis split equally between the mental health and learning disability portfolios.
  • The post is offered as a permanent appointment, but those wishing to do the role on a secondment basis would be considered.
Jean White - Jean.White@gov.wales - 03000 255517

How to apply

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have a disability which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to a disability in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

For further information regarding the Welsh Government recruitment process, please see the Recruitment Guidance for External Candidates (link).

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

Grievance and Complaints

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.

This vacancy is closed to applications.