Job summary
37.5 hours per week.
Senior Mental Health Liaison Practitioner willing to undertake
AMHP training
Liaison Psychiatry at University Hospital Plymouth (UHP) is a
fully commissioned CORE 24 service.
Liaison Psychiatry are looking for a suitably qualified
practitioner with excellent interpersonal and organisational skills with the
ability to work under pressure. Experience of working with adults of working
age and older people is desirable but not essential. Liaison Psychiatry in
Derriford provides a 24hr, 7 days a week provision and successful applicants
will be expected to work various shift patterns on a rotational basis.
The specialist function of the team is to provide
bio-psychosocial assessments for individuals aged 18 years and above within the
Derriford Hospital footprint, either attending via the Emergency Department or
being an in-patient within the hospital.
Following assessment, patients may be signposted to services in
their local area (be that Plymouth, Cornwall, Devon or further afield). The
team work with hospital staff to develop plans of care for those who may be
staying in hospital for a little longer.
We welcome applications from Registered Nurses (RMN), OTs and
Social 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 Liaison
Psychiatry Team you will be expected to assess patients who are referred from
the Emergency Department & ward areas within the acute general hospital.
The specialist function of the
team is to provide bio-psychosocial assessments for individuals aged 18 yrs &above within the Derriford Hospital footprint, either attending via the
Emergency Department or being an in-patient within the hospital. Patients seen
may present with mental health difficulties eg. psychiatric crisis or an
organic presentation such as a dementia/delirium
You will be expected to be able
to make clear clinical decisions based on the analysis of, often complex,
presenting problems. This can include being the decision maker in terms of
discharge of patients experiencing mental health needs. You will be required at
times to make clear autonomous decisions based on analysis of complex
presenting problems &clinical judgement.
You will be able to demonstrate
a high level of communication skills in terms of use of verbal, electronic &written formats.
You will be required to engage
with patients who can be challenging &/or acutely distressed.
You will have Freedom to Act as
a lone worker. Some autonomous working is expected.
The Liaison Psychiatry Service
sustains 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 members
screen all referrals received by the team.
Undertake holistic and comprehensive
bio-psychosocial assessments incorporating assessment of mental state of
patients referred to the service.
Utilise a range of highly specialised
clinical skills appropriate to the needs of individual patients and the
clinical setting in which they are seen
Conduct risk assessments on all patients
presenting to the service in line with CPA policy. The post holder will have
highly developed risk assessment skills to manage complex presentations and
challenging behaviors.
Advise ward nursing, medical and other
professional staff on the management of patients and contribute to care
planning to meet identified needs
Evaluate effectiveness of care
interventions with all disciplines of staff, adjusting care plans where
necessary.
Provide a consultation-liaison service
to clinicians and clinical teams within the general hospital. This will include
giving specialist advice on care, treatment and patients management issues.
Work in collaboration with colleagues in
the promotion of care delivery and strategic objectives and taking
responsibility/lead for specific areas of working e.g. liaison with police,
drugs and alcohol, Safeguarding.
Refer and signpost people to appropriate
mental health services as required both within and outside of the
organisations area.
Work collaboratively with social care
teams, discharge planning teams, onward care teams, community liaison teams and
community mental health teams in devising appropriate discharge plans.
Deliver care that is evidenced based and
reflecting current best practice.
Be accountable for own practice in
accordance with NMC Code of Professional practice or HCPC relevant codes of practice.
Demonstrate sound understanding of the
ethical and legal issues in caring for all adults attending the hospital. This
will include Mental Health Act (1983), Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of
Liberty Safeguarding (2005) issues as required.
Raise awareness of mental health needs
of people in acute general hospital setting through discussion and
collaborative working with staff of all levels and disciplines. Raise awareness
of the mental health needs of the general population within the acute general
hospital.
Provide support and advice for carers
and families of people with mental health needs within the general hospital
setting whenever possible. The Liaison Service is committed to the
implementation of the Triangle of Care as fully as possible.
Work collaboratively with colleagues in
the development of the Liaison Psychiatry Service.
Communicate effectively and sensitively
with patients, families and carers.
Work positively and sensitively with
challenging and hostile behaviors to enable therapeutic and productive outcome.
Have highly developed interpersonal
skills, self-awareness and empathy to engage with others and provide an
effective outcome.
Demonstrate the ability to negotiate and
problem solve in complex situations where agreement is required or communicate
clear decision making and rationale when agreement cannot be reached.
Provide comprehensive information based
on assessment to inform the care, treatment, or discharge planning process of
patients within the acute general hospital.
Demonstrate the ability to develop and maintain
good working relationships with colleagues within the Liaison Psychiatry Team
and across other statutory and non-statutory organisations.
Keep accurate and contemporaneous
electronic/written patient records and comply with professional and Trust
record keeping policies including CPA.
Liaise
with professionals from community services, who are involved in the patients care,
adhering to the principles of the Personalised Care Framework.
Demonstrate the ability to adapt
communication to take account of others needs.
Demonstrate ability to use IT systems
effectively including email, clinical systems used by the team.
Act as a role model in providing a
service for people with mental health problems for all staff within the acute
general hospital.
Demonstrate the ability to analyse,
often large amounts of complex information from a range of other specialists
and assimilate these and their relevance to a persons mental health needs,
formulate a clinical opinion including assessment of risk and advise on
appropriate care plan.
Possess a good working knowledge of
mental health legislation including Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and
Deprivation of Liberty safeguards and use this in relation to advising and
planning care, independently or with other professionals.
Assess the patients
risk/psychiatric/psychological and emotional fitness for discharge from the
hospital setting
Formulate a care pathway following
assessment, with an appropriate onward referral to other NHS professionals,
statutory and non-statutory services if necessary.
Demonstrate the ability to manage
conflicting demands on time and the ability to prioritise clinical work effectively.
Demonstrate the ability to organise the
work schedule and appropriate screening of referrals to the team each day in conjunction
with colleagues, including medical staff. Where necessary there will be a focus
on presentations to the ED. The post holder will need to be able to ensure that
the needs of other referrals are not delayed due to ED work.
Deliver formal and informal training
sessions on behalf of the team to other professionals with the acute general
hospital setting.
Take responsibility for agreed clinical,
managerial and strategic projects associated with the provision of the Liaison
Psychiatry service. This will include planning, implementing, reviewing and
revising these projects as necessary.
In the absence of a Band 7, take
responsibility for the coordination of all activities within the clinical area
or equivalent sphere. Also take responsibility for the management of the Team
and patient care provided, to the agreed local and professional standards.
Undertake line management supervision
and appraisal of other staff within the team where appropriate.
You will regularly be shift lead and
will likely also take the lead in the team on certain aspects of team function.
Participate in the mentoring and
education of a range of students on placement with the Team.
Participate in the planning, development
and delivery of educational programmes and training sessions for a range of
clinical staff within the working and learning environments.
Provide clinical supervision to
colleagues and students as required
You will need to participate in CPD regularly
and keep your mandatory training up to date. The post holder will proactively
ensure they are receiving clinical supervision.
Be able to demonstrate IT skills,
including keyboard use.
Show the ability to concentrate for
sustained periods of time in often noisy environments with frequent
interruption.
Be involved with patients who at times
present with physical and verbal aggression due to ill health, distress and/or
non-concordance with care. Post-holder will need to be aware of how to respond
appropriately and safely, with consideration to the safety of themselves and
others.
Have the ability to work effectively in
a busy and chaotic working environment of the ED.
Have an awareness of the Physical
challenges presented by disturbed patients who attend the Ed by their own free
will or via the Police.
When required to, work without
supervision and make autonomous clinical formulation and decisions in relation
to the care, treatment and safe discharge of patients with complex mental
health needs.
Demonstrate a commitment to the
improvement of patient care and the understanding of the needs of older adults and
will work collaboratively with others within the team and within mental health
and acute hospital services as required, in relation to development of the
service provided for this client group.
In the absence of the team manager take
responsibility for the management of the team and patient care provided by the
team to agreed local and national standards.
Support the team manager in the
supervision, monitoring and appraisal of the performance of registered and non-registered
staff within the team.
Exercise a duty of care in relation to
use of the Organisations equipment and resources in a cost effective manner.
With team manager ensure that rota is
maintained to enable service is operationally covered and where difficulties
are identified in maintaining service provision that this is escalated to
senior managers of the service in team managers absence.
Support the team manager in the
recording of accurate clinical activity data.
Be responsible for working with others
in maintaining safe physical environment and clinical systems and where risks
to this are identified by them of ensuring that these are escalated in the
appropriate manner.
Adhere to the Organisations risk
management policies and protocols including use of the Trust incident
electronic reporting system.
With the support of team manager identify
own professional development needs and demonstrate achievement towards meeting
these through their personal development plan.
Participate in the planning and delivery
of training, formally and informally to acute general hospital staff in
relation to the identification of, and care of people with mental health needs
and associated subjects.
Please note that this Job Description is
not exhaustive and may change as the post develops, but such change will not
take place without consultation between the post holder and his/her manager.
The post holder is required to conform
to all NHS Plymouth policies and must attend any training sessions as required.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Registered Nurse (RMN), Social Worker or Occupational Therapist (on relevant register e.g. NMC or HCPC).
- Mentorship qualification or equivalent experience.
- Willingness to undertake AMHP Training course/qualification (subject to candidate suitability, course availability and funding)
Desirable
- Post qualification experience/training in mental health and related issues.
- Leadership qualifications.
- Teaching Qualification.
- Non Medical Prescribing.
- For AMHP Training: successful completion of an AMHP training approved prerequisite consolidation module (e.g. Risk and Decision Making module, DPSP, GCPP) or previously studied at masters level (and been awarded masters level credits)
- For AMHP Training: currently working in mental health (and has been for at least 6 months)
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- Up to date knowledge of current practice with emphasis on Liaison Psychiatry.
- Evidence of post registration development.
- Understanding about how a persons physical health can affect their mental state.
- Specialist knowledge of mental disorders and their impact on physical health.
- Understanding of National guidelines and initiatives related to provision of mental health services in an acute general hospital.
- Understanding of services and their role in the provision of mental health care in the community.
- General understanding of Continuing Healthcare and the assessment process for this.
- Sound working knowledge of Mental Health Act (1983), Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (2005).
- Protection of Vulnerable Adults Policies and Procedures.
- Time management.
- Ability to manage environmental stress.
- Ability to work in a changing team.
- Articulate with a high level of communication skills.
- Ability to deal with high levels of emotional stress.
- Ability to sustain high levels of concentration.
- Motivated and committed to developing new ideas and improving patient care.
- Ability to function as an autonomous practitioner.
- IT skills.
Desirable
- Post qualification experience/training in mental health and related issues.
- Leadership qualifications.
- Teaching Qualification.
- Non Medical Prescribing.
- For AMHP Training: successful completion of an AMHP training approved prerequisite consolidation module (e.g. Risk and Decision Making module, DPSP, GCPP) or previously studied at masters level (and been awarded masters level credits)
- For AMHP Training: currently working in mental health (and has been for at least 6 months)
Experience
Essential
- 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.
- Ability to demonstrate transferable skills.
- Either experience of working with older adults with Depression and older adults with dementia.
- Or experience of working with adults with functional mental health problems.
- 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
- Previous experience of working in a community mental health setting.
- Evidence of developing and contributing to service development.
- Experience of change in health care.
Disposition
Essential
- Autonomous practitioner with ability to work unsupervised.
- Facilitative and Influencing skills.
- Flexible and adaptable.
- Tact, diplomacy and self-confident.
- Ability to meet deadlines.
- Ability to prioritise and reprioritise work to meet clinical demand.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website .
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants .
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website .
Employer details
Employer name
Livewell Southwest
Address
Psychiatric Liaison Service
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Derriford Road
Plymouth
Devon
PL6 8DH