Senior Mental Health Practitioner

We are seeking to recruit experienced and motivated Band 6 Senior Mental Health Practitioners with significant post qualifying experience to join our dynamic team in the Torbay Liaison Psychiatry Service.

We welcome applicants who may consider a part time or full time contract and actively support Flexible Working Arrangements within the service.

This is a 24/7 role and there is an expectation to cover night duties on a rolling rota. In recognition of this, all staff received enhanced pay rates for unsocial hours.

Liaison Psychiatry is the branch of psychiatry that specialises in the interface between medicine and psychiatry in a general hospital setting.

Liaison Psychiatry Services nationwide are experiencing significant investment and we are in the privileged position in Devon of being able to further enhance and develop our already well-established Liaison Services at Torbay District General Hospital in Torquay, South Devon.

You will have a key role in contributing to the mental health care of people in the general hospital and we welcome applications from all mental health professionals, including Nurses, Occupational Therapists and Social Workers.

You will be well supported within the team and encouraged to develop your clinical skills and knowledge base within a stimulating learning environment.

Relocation package is being offered for this post - see "supporting documents" for more info

Main duties of the job

You will be working within a Senior Mental Health Practitioner role helping support referrals from colleagues within Torbay General Hospital. You will be working within a busy team who complete both assessment and consultation work with people who require support for their mental health needs.

It will be your job to make specialist mental health assessments and devise interventions that will help people to recover. You will play a key role in a dynamic multidisciplinary team, working with multiple agencies on a daily basis.

You will be confident working with supervision, with the knowledge to devise individual recovery plans for the people you see. It is important that you can communicate effectively, not only with your colleagues, but the people you care for, their families and carers.

You will be an experienced mental health professional with a professional mental health qualification (RMN, CQSW / ASW, BSc/Diploma in OT, SROT)

We have a track record of supporting team members to grow in the role and can provide a range of training opportunities, including CPD modules that can help you develop the skills you need to thrive in the job and develop your career. At Torbay Liaison Psychiatry Service, we actively support staff career and professional development.

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

The Liaison Psychiatry Service provides a 24 hour, 7 day a week in and out of hours comprehensive service to patients, clinicians and carers at the local District General Hospital (DGH). This includes specialist mental health assessment and intervention to people of all ages from the age of 18 who present or, are admitted to the DGH.

We provide a specialist consultation-liaison service to referring clinicians and clinical teams, assisting them in decision-making in difficult and complex cases, and providing both formal and informal education to qualified and unqualified staff, and offer a broad range of specialist psychosocial treatments for individual inpatients.

Staff within the service are also representing the Devon Partnership Trust in the general hospital setting and will play a vital role in communicating and maintaining a good working relationship between the two organisations.

Through consultation, assessment and interventions, the Liaison Psychiatry Service aims to -

• Arrive at a formulation which will identify the correct care pathway and ensure this is implemented
• Improve the quality of mental healthcare for all patients
• Improve quality of life for both patients and carers
• Identify and manage risk
• Reduce the length of stay in the general hospital
• Prevent hospital admissions
• Reduce the number of incidents and complaints
• Measure improvements of health outcomes
• Determine service needs

A key aim of the service is to contribute to the acute care pathway, ensuring that those persons who present to the DGH receive a timely specialist mental health assessment by a specialist mental health worker. A significant proportion of these presentations will be those who present with acts of self-harm and suicidal behaviours.

In Torbay, our service incorporates the following areas:

Acute Care Pathway (ACP) Ensuring a timely response to people who attend the Emergency Department and facilitating discharge from the Acute Medical Unit and other wards.

Inpatient Assessing and reviewing patients who are kept on caseload for a period of monitoring whilst they remain in-patients in Torbay and South Devon DGH. This will include dementia, delirium, depression, eating disorders, psychosis, medication management & support for patient and ward in challenging situations, ongoing risk assessment and monitoring.

Integrated Psychological Medicine Service (IPMS) Ensuring pathways are in place to allow access to the right treatment at the right time for those who present with both complex physical and psychological needs.

There are high rates of mental health problems among people with long-term medical conditions and people with severe mental illness have a reduced life expectancy which can be due to physical health issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

• Contribute to the team and engage with a wide range of stakeholders including staff, service users, their carers and other statutory and voluntary sector agencies.
• Impart complex and sensitive information to:
• Patients and families/carers re assessment, care planning, treatment and review
• Multi-disciplinary teams to ensure the provision of consistent well-coordinated care
• Primary care teams regarding client care
• External agencies also involved in the provision of care eg: voluntary and private sector, police, social services, housing, employment etc
• Services user and carer groups
• Liaise with a wide range of other professions and agencies.
• Contribute to the safe and effective day to day operations of the services including the handling of clinical enquiries.
• Present information, some of which may be contentious, to patients and their families and carers.

Planning and Organisational Skills

• Attend management and professional meetings as directed by their line manager and professional lead.
• Responsible for planning and co-ordinating own day to day workload in collaboration with the needs of the service users and the wider needs of the service. This requires excellent prioritisation skills.
• Plan and organise case conferences liaising with other agencies as required to meet the needs of their clients.
• Ensure that interventions are planned in an integrated and coordinated manner particularly where dependent on other external agencies.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Undertake bio-psycho-social assessments, developing a working formulation and diagnosis which will identify onward care pathways. As part of the bio-psycho-social assessment completion of risk assessment and formulation will determine risk management plans.
• Further assessments/reviews may be required and adjustments made to care pathways where appropriate.
• Understands and recognises own limitations and seeks supervision when necessary.

Responsibility for Research and Development

• Participate in research and development in line with service delivery & development.

Freedom to Act

• Work without direct supervision and take accountability for your own actions.
• When tasks are delegated, ensure that the person you have delegated these tasks to is appropriately skilled to undertake the tasks.
• Work within the operational policies and service specifications of the team.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

• Responsible for developing care whilst service users are in the DGH. This will include assessing, planning, intervention and evaluation.
• Ensuring active involvement of service users and their carers.
• Triage/prioritise referrals by assessing and advising on eligibility criteria.
• Provide specialist advice to referrers/other multi-disciplinary staff in relation to the care of the patient.
• Participate in safeguarding adults and children.
• Act in an advisory and collaborative role in interpretation of clinical, professional and technical policies relating to adult mental health.
• Appraise current practices and standards in light of new research findings and introduce evidence based techniques as appropriate.

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

• Participate in programmes of audit and research within the team and implement the findings.
• Contribute to professional clinical governance arrangements in order to ensure the quality of the service provided.
• Participate in the development of Mental Health Services.
• Work collaboratively on the formulation of, and review of policies, standards, guidelines and procedures within DPT and the DGH.
• Attend and participate in relevant groups to include policy implementation, networking, peer review to promote benchmarking and sharing of best practices.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• Responsible for care of own equipment.

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

• Supervision of junior qualified and non-qualified staff.
• Provide clinical supervision.
• Co-ordinate the activity of the team and facilitate handover meetings.
• Provide mentorship to students allocated to the team.
• Take a clinical lead in the absence of the team leader / practice lead.
• Participate in clinical & managerial supervision as well as annual PDR.
• Participate in team staff support.
• Support staff within the DGH to holistically manage people presenting with complex mental health issues and offer appropriate therapeutic interventions.
• To actively participate in producing and delivering training packages to our colleagues in the DGH and acting as a point of reference as required.
• Keep up to date with all Core and Essential Training requirements.

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

• Maintain up to date clinical records in a timely and accurate manner in line with standard operating procedures.

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

• The postholder works towards complying with the core competencies for mental health liaison practitioners as described in the Competency Framework for Liaison Mental Health Nursing.

Professional Duties

• Practice in a way that actively minimises dependency and promotes recovery.
• Communicate information in a way that makes it relevant and understandable for service users and carers, working to the principles of the functions policy implementation guidelines and practice in line with the standards and values set out in them.
• Work co-operatively with staff colleagues within the Acute Hospital, other parts of the mental health services, primary care & other statutory and non-statutory organisations.
• Ensure a duty of care to your patients and clients, who are entitled to receive safe and competent care. The Service User wishes, feelings, values and beliefs should be taken into consideration as well as the views of the people close to them.
• Take personal accountability for your own practice. This means that you are answerable for your actions and omissions, regardless of advice or directions from another professional in accordance with the NMC Professional Code of Conduct.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• A professional mental health qualification eg: RMN, CQSW / ASW, BSc/Diploma in OT
• A current registration with a professional body ie NMC.
• Post graduate qualification relevant to specialism.

Experience

• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.
• Assessment experience (particularly mental health & risk).
• Working within a community mental health setting in either the statutory or voluntary sector.
• Participation in user involvement in services.
• Working in a primary care setting and/or GP practice.

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.

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