Older Peoples Mental Health Psychiatric Liaison Nurse

Job summary

General Hospital services exist to meet the physical health needs of the population. However, significant numbers of older people admitted or referred to the general hospital will also have cognitive impairment and/or mental health problems in addition to their physical conditions. Such cognitive impairment and mental health problems in older people can influence care in a number of ways, including:

o Increased length of stay o Increased risk of accidents, infection and confusion o Repeated admissions The Dementia and Older People's Mental Health Liaison provide mental health assessments and care planning services to patients over the age of 65, and for all patients who present with significant cognitive impairment problems. This involves providing a broad range of specialist psychosocial assessments and treatments for individual patients, a specialist consultation liaison service to referring clinicians and clinical teams, assisting them in decision making in difficult and complex cases.

Main duties of the job

o To provide skilled specialist bio-psycho social assessments of individuals with a suspected or confirmed dementia and/or mental ill health, (frequently associated with some form of dementia) who are inpatient at RCHT.o To build strong and effective working relationships and communicate effectively with all agencies involved in the older person's care, including the primary care team, Adult Care and Support, and all organisations that support the person within their own community to provide high quality and continuity of care.o Work collaboratively with health care professionals in the general hospital setting to meet the mental health needs of the older person and promote patient cantered care and that ensuring physical and mental health needs are considered holistically.o To reduce the length of stay in the acute general hospital setting (for people with dementia and people over the age of 65 with mental health problems).o Work within the integrated discharge team (The Onward Care Team) at RCHT in effective and safe discharge planning and mental health component, including involvement in assessment, risk assessment and best interests meetings and advising around appropriate legal frameworks

About us

We're an NHS community and mental health provider Trust based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We deliver community and hospital-based care to improve people's physical and mental health. We also provide specialist support to people with dementia or a learning disability.

We are a people organisation and people matter to us. As part of the team, you'll help support the health and wellbeing of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the UK.

Over 4,000 people make up the Trust. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, plus admin and support staff.

We work in people's homes, in community clinics and bases. Some staff work from one of our 13 community hospitals. Our aspiration is to have great people, provide great care, be a great place to work and a great partner.

Just over 532,000 people live here. A third of people who live in Cornwall are supported by acute hospital services in Devon. As a result, we also work closely with our partners in Devon. In the summer, and during other holidays lots of people choose to visit the area. This increases the numbers of people who use our services.