Overview
The Durham and Darlington Liaison service is one of the largest liaison services in the North East and Cumbria. It covers acute hospital services in Durham and Darlington, which are provided by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT). The service encompasses patients of all ages.
The Durham and Darlington Liaison service operates on a 24/7 basis and works to national targets to see ED referrals within 1 hour and ward referrals within 24 hours.
The Liaison service offers a single seamless service across Adult Mental Health and Mental Health Services for Older People and provides mental health support to patients in both the Emergency Departments and on the wards. There is a single point of referral for patients of any age who are in the general hospitals. In order that the differing needs of working age patients and older patients are recognised, referrals are allocated within the Liaison team to clinicians who have the appropriate training and skills.
For this post, this means that the patients allocated to this post holder would be those who are appropriate for an Old Age Psychiatry service. The large majority of patients will be over the age of 65 years, although as the criteria are based on need rather than age, some younger adults (for example with early onset dementia or severe frailty) may be allocated to the post holder. The post holder will work with the acute hospital liaison team to provide specialist clinical input in older peoples mental health including seeing patients in County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust, providing specialist input to the team, and providing teaching and training for acute Trust colleagues.
Role and responsibilities
* The post holder will provide follow up appointments for patients that have previously been assessed in the ED, and work with the ward-based teams providing assessment, treatment and discharge planning.
* Provide specialised advice on capacity and risk issues, and support the acute hospital teams in recognising and managing mental health needs for patients within the acute Trust.
* Support some of the community work around the shorter term follow up of patients with delirium post-discharge and hold a small caseload of such patients.
* Work closely with the local community and inpatient mental health services in order that people leaving the acute hospital are provided with the most appropriate follow-up and support.
* Be involved in mental health act assessments within the acute trust and perform the role of Responsible Clinician for patients detained within the acute trust.
* Work with the Liaison Operational Service Manager and other clinical leads to plan and develop the services in line with the Trust Integrated Business Plan.
* Work with the acute trust to deliver the Treat as One agenda to ensure parity for patients with physical and mental health conditions.
We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country, with an annual income of £320m and a workforce of some 6,700 staff operating from around 100 sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range inpatient and community services to 2m people living in County Durham, the Tees Valley, Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale, Harrogate, Hambleton and Richmondshire. We also provide additional specialist services to other parts of Northern England.
We are a multi-award winning trust and are included within the Health Service Journals Best 100 Places to Work. The trust take a positive and proactive approach to support staff in their personal development and has embedded the Talent Management approach within the Trust.
Psychiatrists are essential contributors to the majority of our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justified to expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who work consistently as part of effective services. Our medical staffing shortage puts strain on services and puts strain on workforce wellbeing and costs extend beyond the financial. The Medical Directorate and Medical Development Team are striving to improve medical workforce recruitment and retention in a variety of ways and the cornerstone of these efforts is The TEWV Charter for the Medical Workforce - see attached Supporting Document.
The Trust welcomes a conversation about flexible working.
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