ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations. Job overview The post holder will work as part of the Tower Hamlets Older People's Mental Health Service to provide a specialist in-reach service to care homes and extra-care housing settings for people with behaviours that challenge associated with dementia or mental health conditions. The post holder will work with the Tower Hamlets care homes and extra-care sheltered housing schemes, supporting with the development and delivery of dementia and mental health care for their residents. They will apply a biopsychosocial approach to assessment and intervention, and advocate for non-pharmacological approaches to supporting people with behaviours that challenge. The post holder will assist with the design and delivery of dementia and mental health training for the care settings. They will be required to work independently and will have sufficient experience to perform at a high level with minimal supervision Main duties of the job • Work with the care home and extra-care staff to support residents living with dementia and/or mental health conditions with behaviours that challenge • To use a biopsychosocial approach to identify unmet needs, and to promote non-pharmacological interventions to meet unmet needs • Provide general consultation and advice to care home staff to support with the management of people with dementia and mental health conditions • Maintain strong working relationships with the care homes and extra-care housing schemes, and key stakeholders such a GPs • Participate in MDT meetings including Integrated Care MDT meetings and care home MDT meetings • To support with the design and delivery of dementia and mental health training to care home and extra care staff Working for our organisation Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations. Detailed job description and main responsibilities Kindly refer to the job description and person specification that is attached to the vacancy profile. Person specification Education/ Qualification/ Training Essential criteria Degree in Occupational Therapy Professional registration with HCPC Substantial post-registration experience Short specialist courses relating to dementia and/or older adult mental health Desirable criteria RCOT membership Post-graduate diploma level equivalent training (ie., Dementia Care Mapping or Best Interest Assessor) Student Educator Training Experience Essential criteria Experience of autonomous caseload management, including assessment, intervention planning and evaluation Experience of assessment and intervention planning for older adults with dementia and/or mental health conditions Experience of working in partnership or liaising with care homes Experience of being involved in a service or quality improvement project Experience of providing training/education and presentations Documented evidence of CPD Demonstrable experience of having received and engaged with clinical supervision Desirable criteria Experience of supervising staff and/or students Knowledge and Skills Essential criteria Ability work autonomously, and manage a complex caseload with minimal supervision Ability to communicate with a wide range of professionals Ability to effectively prioritize workload Ability to collect biopsychosocial information from a variety of sources and independently make clinical judgments and create care plans based on the analysis of the information Understanding of biopsychosocial issues that can impact the health and wellbeing of older people Effective written, oral and communication skills Knowledge of specific legislation and policies pertinent to older adult mental health and dementia Understanding of team dynamics and ability to work effectively as part of a team Knowledge of word-processing, powerpoint and spreadsheet applications, and electronic record-keeping systems Making Things Better Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don't stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services. We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel. Our Community We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care. Aiming High We were rated 'Outstanding' by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated 'Outstanding' again in 2018 and continue to be rate 'Outstanding' in 2021 We were named in the HSJ's Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018. Staff and Service Users United We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us. We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients. Diversity ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace. Other reasons to apply As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's job share, part time or another flexible pattern. As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply. What Next? If you like the sound of ELFT, don't waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now! As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly. Find us online at www.elft.nhs.uk | Find us on Facebook | Follow us on @NHS_ELFT Employer certification / accreditation badges Applicant requirements You must have appropriate UK professional registration. This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service. Documents to download JD/PS band 6 OT care homes (PDF, 336.6KB) ELFT at a glance (PDF, 151.0KB) Staff Benefits (PDF, 7.1MB) ELFT Strategy (PDF, 153.5KB) Trust Demographic Information (PDF, 1.5MB)