The FA Independent Mental Health Expert Panel

Our Organisation The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England. We are responsible for promoting and developing the game at all levels; from grassroots through to the professional game, The FA Cup and the England Teams, and we have two world class assets: Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park. Our vision is to inspire positive change through football; our national game that breaks down barriers and unites people from very different backgrounds. Today, we are the governing body of a national community that includes more than 15.7 million football participants, almost 30 million fans and more than 90,000 grassroots teams. At The FA mental health and wellbeing is a core enabler of everything we do, personally and professionally, on the field and off the field, in how we perform, deliver, and navigate the world around us. The Role As an organisation we are increasingly responding to a range of complex mental health related cases that often involve ethical, psychosocial, and occupational challenges that impact individuals as well as presenting, in some cases, increased organisational risk. As we continue to evolve our internal support structures, we recognise the value that an independent expert panel will bring. The purpose of the Independent Mental Health Expert Panel (IMHEP) is to bring together specialists to provide independent multidisciplinary oversight, consultation, reflective supervision and expert guidance regarding complex mental health cases. The focus of the panel is to support our internal workforce of c.1000 colleagues, for whom we have a duty of care to support and protect mental health and wellbeing. We are looking for individuals with a strong passion for delivering human centred, multidisciplinary mental health care, and a broad knowledge of the mental health challenges faced by individuals working in high performance sport cultures. We are seeking individuals with a sound understanding of the modern game of football in its various forms, and who have a comprehensive working knowledge of the most up to date policy and research progressions in their respective field. Key Accountabilities As a member of the IMHEP you will be required to: Provide twice yearly independent expert case consultation for the Mental Health and Wellbeing (MH&WB) and HR teams Improve quality and consistency of internal case management Strengthen safeguarding and risk management Ensure the safety of, and ethical practice by, internal practitioners and the organisation Identify common themes and learning opportunities Support the MH&WB and HR teams (and in some cases line managers) in managing particularly complex cases (where such support is requested by the MH&WB and HR teams) Offer advisory recommendation, observation and learning Where appropriate support psychologically informed governance and policy The panel will offer recommendation only and The FA retains operational, legal, clinical, safeguarding and managerial accountability for all decisions. The MH&WB team will be responsible for coordinating the panel, chairing meetings, recording and securely storing/sharing relevant information, and remain accountable for all case related decision making. There will be two formal meetings per year where a selection of complex cases will be taken to the panel for review and discussion. Examples of selected cases might include: High-risk mental health concerns Suicidality or self-harm concerns Repeated safeguarding concerns Complex interpersonal challenges or behavioural risk Significant psychological or emotional trauma Ethical uncertainty Multidisciplinary or cross function conflict of interest Organisational risk Longstanding mental health and/ or performance support needs What we are looking for Members of the Panel will include: Consultant Psychiatrist Clinical Psychologist Occupational Psychologist or Organisational Consultant Neurodiversity Specialist Health and Safety Representative Human Resource Specialist Members of the Panel will be expected to participate independently and objectively, and within the boundaries of their professional competence. Any conflicts of interest (case specific or in relation to the organisation whole) must be declared to the Chair of the Panel prior to participation. Contributions must be constructive and offered for the good of The FA and its employees. Members are expected to promote safe and ethical practice at all times and maintain confidentiality throughout ( The panel may decide that confidentiality be broken where there is a legal obligation to disclose information, where there is a risk of serious harm to an individual or others, or where the sharing of information is needed to safeguard an individuals welfare) Time Commitment As a minimum, IMHEP members should attend two scheduled meetings per year to review and discuss a selection of identified complex cases. Meetings will usually be face to face on weekdays at The National Football Centre St G