Job summary
hours per week.
Senior Mental Health Liaison Practitioner willing to undertakeAMHP training
Liaison Psychiatry at University Hospital Plymouth (UHP) is afully commissioned CORE 24 service.
Liaison Psychiatry are looking for a suitably qualifiedpractitioner with excellent interpersonal and organisational skills with theability to work under pressure. Experience of working with adults of workingage and older people is desirable but not essential. Liaison Psychiatry inDerriford provides a 24hr, 7 days a week provision and successful applicantswill be expected to work various shift patterns on a rotational basis.
The specialist function of the team is to providebio-psychosocial assessments for individuals aged 18 years and above within theDerriford Hospital footprint, either attending via the Emergency Department orbeing an in-patient within the hospital.
Following assessment, patients may be signposted to services intheir local area (be that Plymouth, Cornwall, Devon or further afield). Theteam work with hospital staff to develop plans of care for those who may bestaying in hospital for a little longer.
We welcome applications from Registered Nurses (RMN), OTs andSocial Workers who have relevant experience (NMC/HCPC registrations required).
The successful candidate will be expected to undertake AMHP training and post successful completion will work approximately 20% with AMHP Duty.
Main duties of the job
As a member of the LiaisonPsychiatry Team you will be expected to assess patients who are referred fromthe Emergency Department & ward areas within the acute general hospital.
The specialist function of theteam is to provide bio-psychosocial assessments for individuals aged 18 yrs &above within the Derriford Hospital footprint, either attending via theEmergency Department or being an in-patient within the hospital. Patients seenmay present with mental health difficulties eg. psychiatric crisis or anorganic presentation such as a dementia/delirium
You will be expected to be ableto make clear clinical decisions based on the analysis of, often complex,presenting problems. This can include being the decision maker in terms ofdischarge of patients experiencing mental health needs. You will be required attimes to make clear autonomous decisions based on analysis of complexpresenting problems &clinical judgement.
You will be able to demonstratea high level of communication skills in terms of use of verbal, electronic &written formats.
You will be required to engagewith patients who can be challenging &/or acutely distressed.
You will have Freedom to Act asa lone worker. Some autonomous working is expected.
The Liaison Psychiatry Servicesustains Core 24 compliance
"please note that this role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility"
About us
Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise providing integrated health & social care services for people across Plymouth, South Hams & West Devon, as well as some specialist services for people living in parts of Devon & Cornwall. With teams in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, health & wellbeing hubs.
As an organisation with a strong social conscience, we always value being kind, respectful, inclusive, ambitious, responsible and collaborative. Transforming services to make them sustainable, ensuring that we value, support & empower each other.
We are committed to involving the people we care for, families & carers in everything that we do, working towards co-production where we can. Helping us to deliver the right care for people, in the right place & at the right time. By putting people at the centre of what we do, we ensure to support people to lead, healthy independent lives & be the very best at helping people to live well.
Valuing our employees making an investment in their development a priority. We offer:
Protected CPD time for registered staff
Various development pathways and ongoing regular training packages for all staff
Leadership & mentoring programmes
Access & funding for training including Care Certificate, Assistant Practitioners Course & Scholarship Into Nurse Training
A Robust Preceptorship
A bespoke induction programme
Existing members of the NHS Pension Scheme can continue their membership when they join the organisation.
Job description
Job responsibilities
In conjunction with other team membersscreen all referrals received by the team.
Undertake holistic and comprehensivebio-psychosocial assessments incorporating assessment of mental state ofpatients referred to the service.
Utilise a range of highly specialisedclinical skills appropriate to the needs of individual patients and theclinical setting in which they are seen
Conduct risk assessments on all patientspresenting to the service in line with CPA policy. The post holder will havehighly developed risk assessment skills to manage complex presentations andchallenging behaviors.
Advise ward nursing, medical and otherprofessional staff on the management of patients and contribute to careplanning to meet identified needs
Evaluate effectiveness of careinterventions with all disciplines of staff, adjusting care plans wherenecessary.
Provide a consultation-liaison serviceto clinicians and clinical teams within the general hospital. This will includegiving specialist advice on care, treatment and patients management issues.
Work in collaboration with colleagues inthe promotion of care delivery and strategic objectives and takingresponsibility/lead for specific areas of working liaison with police,drugs and alcohol, Safeguarding.
Refer and signpost people to appropriatemental health services as required both within and outside of theorganisations area.
Work collaboratively with social careteams, discharge planning teams, onward care teams, community liaison teams andcommunity mental health teams in devising appropriate discharge plans.
Deliver care that is evidenced based andreflecting current best practice.
Be accountable for own practice inaccordance with NMC Code of Professional practice or HCPC relevant codes of practice.
Demonstrate sound understanding of theethical and legal issues in caring for all adults attending the hospital. Thiswill include Mental Health Act (1983), Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation ofLiberty Safeguarding (2005) issues as required.
Raise awareness of mental health needsof people in acute general hospital setting through discussion andcollaborative working with staff of all levels and disciplines. Raise awarenessof the mental health needs of the general population within the acute generalhospital.
Provide support and advice for carersand families of people with mental health needs within the general hospitalsetting whenever possible. The Liaison Service is committed to theimplementation of the Triangle of Care as fully as possible.
Work collaboratively with colleagues inthe development of the Liaison Psychiatry Service.
Communicate effectively and sensitivelywith patients, families and carers.
Work positively and sensitively withchallenging and hostile behaviors to enable therapeutic and productive outcome.
Have highly developed interpersonalskills, self-awareness and empathy to engage with others and provide aneffective outcome.
Demonstrate the ability to negotiate andproblem solve in complex situations where agreement is required or communicateclear decision making and rationale when agreement cannot be reached.
Provide comprehensive information basedon assessment to inform the care, treatment, or discharge planning process ofpatients within the acute general hospital.
Demonstrate the ability to develop and maintaingood working relationships with colleagues within the Liaison Psychiatry Teamand across other statutory and non-statutory organisations.
Keep accurate and contemporaneouselectronic/written patient records and comply with professional and Trustrecord keeping policies including CPA.
Liaisewith professionals from community services, who are involved in the patients care,adhering to the principles of the Personalised Care Framework.
Demonstrate the ability to adaptcommunication to take account of others needs.
Demonstrate ability to use IT systemseffectively including email, clinical systems used by the team.
Act as a role model in providing aservice for people with mental health problems for all staff within the acutegeneral hospital.
Demonstrate the ability to analyse,often large amounts of complex information from a range of other specialistsand assimilate these and their relevance to a persons mental health needs,formulate a clinical opinion including assessment of risk and advise onappropriate care plan.
Possess a good working knowledge ofmental health legislation including Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act andDeprivation of Liberty safeguards and use this in relation to advising andplanning care, independently or with other professionals.
Assess the patientsrisk/psychiatric/psychological and emotional fitness for discharge from thehospital setting
Formulate a care pathway followingassessment, with an appropriate onward referral to other NHS professionals,statutory and non-statutory services if necessary.
Demonstrate the ability to manageconflicting demands on time and the ability to prioritise clinical work effectively.
Demonstrate the ability to organise thework schedule and appropriate screening of referrals to the team each day in conjunctionwith colleagues, including medical staff. Where necessary there will be a focuson presentations to the ED. The post holder will need to be able to ensure thatthe needs of other referrals are not delayed due to ED work.
Deliver formal and informal trainingsessions on behalf of the team to other professionals with the acute generalhospital setting.
Take responsibility for agreed clinical,managerial and strategic projects associated with the provision of the LiaisonPsychiatry service. This will include planning, implementing, reviewing andrevising these projects as necessary.
In the absence of a Band 7, takeresponsibility for the coordination of all activities within the clinical areaor equivalent sphere. Also take responsibility for the management of the Teamand patient care provided, to the agreed local and professional standards.
Undertake line management supervisionand appraisal of other staff within the team where appropriate.
You will regularly be shift lead andwill likely also take the lead in the team on certain aspects of team function.
Participate in the mentoring andeducation of a range of students on placement with the Team.
Participate in the planning, developmentand delivery of educational programmes and training sessions for a range ofclinical staff within the working and learning environments.
Provide clinical supervision tocolleagues and students as required
You will need to participate in CPD regularlyand keep your mandatory training up to date. The post holder will proactivelyensure they are receiving clinical supervision.
Be able to demonstrate IT skills,including keyboard use.
Show the ability to concentrate forsustained periods of time in often noisy environments with frequentinterruption.
Be involved with patients who at timespresent with physical and verbal aggression due to ill health, distress and/ornon-concordance with care. Post-holder will need to be aware of how to respondappropriately and safely, with consideration to the safety of themselves andothers.
Have the ability to work effectively ina busy and chaotic working environment of the ED.
Have an awareness of the Physicalchallenges presented by disturbed patients who attend the Ed by their own freewill or via the Police.
When required to, work withoutsupervision and make autonomous clinical formulation and decisions in relationto the care, treatment and safe discharge of patients with complex mentalhealth needs.
Demonstrate a commitment to theimprovement of patient care and the understanding of the needs of older adults andwill work collaboratively with others within the team and within mental healthand acute hospital services as required, in relation to development of theservice provided for this client group.
In the absence of the team manager takeresponsibility for the management of the team and patient care provided by theteam to agreed local and national standards.
Support the team manager in thesupervision, monitoring and appraisal of the performance of registered and non-registeredstaff within the team.
Exercise a duty of care in relation touse of the Organisations equipment and resources in a cost effective manner.
With team manager ensure that rota ismaintained to enable service is operationally covered and where difficultiesare identified in maintaining service provision that this is escalated tosenior managers of the service in team managers absence.
Support the team manager in therecording of accurate clinical activity data.
Be responsible for working with othersin maintaining safe physical environment and clinical systems and where risksto this are identified by them of ensuring that these are escalated in theappropriate manner.
Adhere to the Organisations riskmanagement policies and protocols including use of the Trust incidentelectronic reporting system.
With the support of team manager identifyown professional development needs and demonstrate achievement towards meetingthese through their personal development plan.
Participate in the planning and deliveryof training, formally and informally to acute general hospital staff inrelation to the identification of, and care of people with mental health needsand associated subjects.
Please note that this Job Description isnot exhaustive and may change as the post develops, but such change will nottake place without consultation between the post holder and his/her manager.
The post holder is required to conformto all NHS Plymouth policies and must attend any training sessions as required.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
1. Registered Nurse (RMN), Social Worker or Occupational Therapist (on relevant register NMC or HCPC).
2. Mentorship qualification or equivalent experience.
3. Willingness to undertake AMHP Training course/qualification (subject to candidate suitability, course availability and funding)
Desirable
4. Post qualification experience/training in mental health and related issues.
5. Leadership qualifications.
6. Teaching Qualification.
7. Non Medical Prescribing.
8. For AMHP Training: successful completion of an AMHP training approved prerequisite consolidation module ( Risk and Decision Making module, DPSP, GCPP) or previously studied at masters level (and been awarded masters level credits)
9. For AMHP Training: currently working in mental health (and has been for at least 6 months)
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
10. Up to date knowledge of current practice with emphasis on Liaison Psychiatry.
11. Evidence of post registration development.
12. Understanding about how a persons physical health can affect their mental state.
13. Specialist knowledge of mental disorders and their impact on physical health.
14. Understanding of National guidelines and initiatives related to provision of mental health services in an acute general hospital.
15. Understanding of services and their role in the provision of mental health care in the community.
16. General understanding of Continuing Healthcare and the assessment process for this.
17. Sound working knowledge of Mental Health Act (1983), Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (2005).
18. Protection of Vulnerable Adults Policies and Procedures.
19. Time management.
20. Ability to manage environmental stress.
21. Ability to work in a changing team.
22. Articulate with a high level of communication skills.
23. Ability to deal with high levels of emotional stress.
24. Ability to sustain high levels of concentration.
25. Motivated and committed to developing new ideas and improving patient care.
26. Ability to function as an autonomous practitioner.
27. IT skills.
Desirable
28. Post qualification experience/training in mental health and related issues.
29. Leadership qualifications.
30. Teaching Qualification.
31. Non Medical Prescribing.
32. For AMHP Training: successful completion of an AMHP training approved prerequisite consolidation module ( Risk and Decision Making module, DPSP, GCPP) or previously studied at masters level (and been awarded masters level credits)
33. For AMHP Training: currently working in mental health (and has been for at least 6 months)
Experience
Essential
34. 18 months + recent experience as a Band 5 Nurse or AHP equivalent either working with older adults or within dementia/complex care environments or with functional mental health issues.
35. Ability to demonstrate transferable skills.
36. Either experience of working with older adults with Depression and older adults with dementia.
37. Or experience of working with adults with functional mental health problems.
38. Suitable Candidates will show a clear willingness to develop skills in the areas of both functional mental health problems and older peoples/complex care mental health needs.
Desirable
39. Previous experience of working in a community mental health setting.
40. Evidence of developing and contributing to service development.
41. Experience of change in health care.
Disposition
Essential
42. Autonomous practitioner with ability to work unsupervised.
43. Facilitative and Influencing skills.
44. Flexible and adaptable.
45. Tact, diplomacy and self-confident.
46. Ability to meet deadlines.
47. Ability to prioritise and reprioritise work to meet clinical demand.