Job summary
12 month Secondment:
Due to maternity leave, we are seeking to recruit an experienced and motivated Band 6 Senior Mental Health Practitioner with significant post qualifying experience to join our dynamic team in the Liaison Psychiatry service on a secondment / fixed term period until 31st December 2025.
We welcome applicants who may consider a part time or full time contract and actively support Flexible Working Arrangements within the service.
Liaison Psychiatry is the branch of psychiatry that specialises in the
interface between medicine and psychiatry.
Liaison Psychiatry Services nationwide are experiencing significant
investment and we are in the privileged position in Devon of being able to
further enhance and develop our already well-established Liaison Services at Torbay District General Hospital in Torquay, South Devon.
You will have a key role in contributing to the mental health care of
people in the general hospital and we welcome applications from all mental
health professionals, including Nurses, Occupational Therapists and Social
Workers.
This post covers a Core 24 service,
working 7 days a week.
You will be well supported within the team and encouraged to develop
your clinical skills and knowledge base within a stimulating learning
environment.
Main duties of the job
You will be working within a Senior Mental Health Practitioner role helping support referrals from colleagues within Torbay General Hospital. You will be working within a busy team who complete both assessment and consultation work with people who require support for their mental health needs.
It will be your job to make specialist mental health assessments and devise interventions that will help people to recover. You will play a key role in a dynamic multidisciplinary team, working with multiple agencies on a daily basis.
You will be confident working with supervision, with the knowledge to devise individual recovery plans for the people you see. It is important that you can communicate effectively, not only with your colleagues, but the people you care for, their families and carers. You will be at the centre of their care.
You will be an experienced mental health professional with a professional mental health qualification (RMN, CQSW / ASW, BSc/Diploma in OT, SROT)
We will help you grow in the role and can provide a range of training opportunities, including CPD modules that can help you develop the skills you need to thrive in the job. At Torbay Liaison Psychiatry Service, we actively support staff career and professional development.
About us
About Devon Partnership Trust
We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.
We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do
Our values
We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.
We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Liaison Psychiatry Service provides a 24 hour, 7 day a week in and out of hours comprehensive service to patients, clinicians and carers
at the local District General Hospital (DGH). This includes specialist mental
health assessment and intervention to people of all ages from the age of 18 who
present or, are admitted to the DGH.
We provide a specialist consultation-liaison
service to referring clinicians and clinical teams, assisting them in decision
making in difficult and complex cases, and providing both formal and informal
education to qualified and unqualified staff, and offer a broad range of
specialist psychosocial treatments for individual inpatients.
Staff within the service are also representing
the Devon Partnership Trust in the general hospital setting and will play a
vital role in communicating and maintaining a good working relationship between
the two organisations.
Through
consultation, assessment and interventions, the Liaison Psychiatry Service aims
to -
- Arrive at a formulation which will
identify the correct care pathway and ensure this is implemented
- Improve the quality of mental health
care for all patients
- Improve quality of life for both
patients and carers
- Identify and manage risk
- Reduce the length of stay in the
general hospital
- Prevent hospital admissions
- Reduce the number of incidents and
complaints
- Measure improvements of health
outcomes
- Determine service needs
A key aim of the service is to contribute to
the acute care pathway, ensuring that those persons who present to the DGH
receive a timely specialist mental health assessment by a specialist mental
health worker. A significant proportion
of these presentations will be those who present with acts of self harm and
suicidal behaviours.
In Torbay, our service incorporates the following areas:
Acute Care Pathway (ACP) Ensuring a timely response to people who attend
the Emergency Department and facilitating discharge from the Acute Medical Unit
and other wards.
Inpatient Assessing and
reviewing patients who are kept on caseload for a period of monitoring whilst
they remain in-patients in Torbay and South Devon DGH. This will include dementia, delirium,
depression, eating disorders, psychosis, medication management & support
for patient and ward in challenging situations, on-going risk assessment and
monitoring.
Integrated Psychological Medicine Service (IPMS)
Ensuring pathways are in place to allow access to the right treatment at the
right time for those who present with both complex physical and psychological
needs.
There are high rates
of mental health problems among people with long-term medical conditions and
people with severe mental illness have a reduced life expectancy which can be
due to physical health issues.
Duties and Responsibilities
Communication
and Working Relationship Skills
- Contribute to the team and engage with a wide range of stakeholders
including staff, service users, their carers and other statutory and
voluntary sector agencies.
- Impart complex and sensitive information to:
- Patients and families/carers re assessment, care planning, treatment
and review
- Multi disciplinary teams to ensure the provision of consistent well
coordinated care
- Primary care teams regarding client care
- External agencies also involved in the provision of care eg: voluntary
and private sector, police, social services, housing, employment etc
- Services user and carer groups
- Liaise with a wide range of other professions and agencies.
- Contribute to the safe and effective day to day operations of the
services including the handling of clinical enquiries.
- Present information, some of which may be contentious, to patients and
their families and carers.
Planning
and Organisational Skills
- Attend management and professional meetings as directed by their line
manager and professional lead.
- Responsible for planning and co-ordinating own day to day work load in
collaboration with the needs of the service users and the wider needs of the
service. This requires excellent
prioritisation skills.
- Plan and organise case conferences liaising with other agencies as
required to meet the needs of their clients.
- Ensure that interventions are planned in an integrated and co-ordinated
manner particularly where dependent on other external agencies.
Analytical and
Judgemental Skills
- Undertake bio-psycho-social assessments, developing
a working formulation and diagnosis which will identify onward care
pathways. As part of the
bio-psycho-social assessment completion of risk assessment and formulation
will determine risk management plans.
- Further assessments/reviews may be required and adjustments
made to care pathways where appropriate.
- Understands and recognises own limitations and seeks supervision when
necessary.
Responsibility
for Research and Development
- Participate in research and development in line
with service delivery & development.
Freedom
to Act
- Work without
direct supervision and take accountability for your own actions.
- When tasks
are delegated, ensure that the person you have delegated these tasks to is
appropriately skilled to undertake the tasks.
- Work within
the operational policies and service specifications of the team.
Responsibility for Patient/Client Care,
Treatment and Therapy
- Responsible for developing care whilst service users are in the DGH.
This will include assessing, planning, intervention and evaluation.
- Ensuring active involvement of service users and their carers.
- Triage/prioritise referrals by assessing and advising on eligibility
criteria.
- Provide specialist advice to referrers/other multi-disciplinary staff
in relation to the care of the patient.
- Participate in safeguarding adults and children.
- Act in an advisory and collaborative role in interpretation of
clinical, professional and technical policies relating to adult mental
health.
- Appraise current practices and standards in light of new research
findings and introduce evidence based techniques as appropriate.
Responsibility
for Policy and Service Development Implementation
- Participate in programmes of audit and research within the team and
implement the findings.
- Contribute to professional clinical governance arrangements in order to
ensure the quality of the service provided.
- Participate in the development of Mental Health Services.
- Work collaboratively on the formulation of, and review of policies,
standards, guidelines and procedures within DPT and the DGH.
- Attend and participate in relevant groups to include policy
implementation, networking , peer review to promote benchmarking and sharing
of best practices.
Responsibility
for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources
- Responsible for care of own equipment.
Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision,
Training, HR Advice and Management
- Supervision of junior qualified and non-qualified staff.
- Provide clinical supervision.
- Co-ordinate the activity of the team and facilitate handover meetings.
- Provide mentorship to students allocated to the team.
- Take a clinical lead in the absence of the team leader / practice lead.
- Participate in clinical & managerial supervision as well as annual
PDR.
- Participate in team staff support.
- Support staff within the DGH to holistically manage people presenting
with complex mental health issues and offer appropriate therapeutic
interventions.
- To actively participate in producing and delivering training packages
to our colleagues in the DGH and acting as a point of reference as required.
- Keep up to date with all Core and Essential Training requirements.
Responsibility
for Information Resources and Administrative Duties
- Maintain up to date clinical records in a
timely and accurate manner in line with standard operating procedures.
Any
Other Specific Tasks Required
- The postholder works towards complying with the core competencies for
mental health liaison practitioners as described in the Competency Framework
for Liaison Mental Health Nursing.
Professional
Duties
- Practice in a way that actively minimises dependency and promotes
recovery.
- Communicate information in a way that makes it relevant and
understandable for service users and carers, working to the principles of the
functions policy implementation guidelines and practice in line with the
standards and values set out in them.
- Work co-operatively with staff colleagues within the Acute Hospital,
other parts of the mental health services, primary care & other statutory and non-statutory organisations.
- Ensure a duty of care to your patients and clients, who are entitled to
receive safe and competent care. The
Service User wishes, feelings, values and beliefs should be taken into
consideration as well as the views of the people close to them.
- Take personal accountability for your own practice. This means that you are answerable for your
actions and omissions, regardless of advice or directions from another
professional in accordance with the NMC Professional Code of Conduct.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Liaison Psychiatry Service provides a 24 hour, 7 day a week in and out of hours comprehensive service to patients, clinicians and carers
at the local District General Hospital (DGH). This includes specialist mental
health assessment and intervention to people of all ages from the age of 18 who
present or, are admitted to the DGH.
We provide a specialist consultation-liaison
service to referring clinicians and clinical teams, assisting them in decision
making in difficult and complex cases, and providing both formal and informal
education to qualified and unqualified staff, and offer a broad range of
specialist psychosocial treatments for individual inpatients.
Staff within the service are also representing
the Devon Partnership Trust in the general hospital setting and will play a
vital role in communicating and maintaining a good working relationship between
the two organisations.
Through
consultation, assessment and interventions, the Liaison Psychiatry Service aims
to -
- Arrive at a formulation which will
identify the correct care pathway and ensure this is implemented
- Improve the quality of mental health
care for all patients
- Improve quality of life for both
patients and carers
- Identify and manage risk
- Reduce the length of stay in the
general hospital
- Prevent hospital admissions
- Reduce the number of incidents and
complaints
- Measure improvements of health
outcomes
- Determine service needs
A key aim of the service is to contribute to
the acute care pathway, ensuring that those persons who present to the DGH
receive a timely specialist mental health assessment by a specialist mental
health worker. A significant proportion
of these presentations will be those who present with acts of self harm and
suicidal behaviours.
In Torbay, our service incorporates the following areas:
Acute Care Pathway (ACP) Ensuring a timely response to people who attend
the Emergency Department and facilitating discharge from the Acute Medical Unit
and other wards.
Inpatient Assessing and
reviewing patients who are kept on caseload for a period of monitoring whilst
they remain in-patients in Torbay and South Devon DGH. This will include dementia, delirium,
depression, eating disorders, psychosis, medication management & support
for patient and ward in challenging situations, on-going risk assessment and
monitoring.
Integrated Psychological Medicine Service (IPMS)
Ensuring pathways are in place to allow access to the right treatment at the
right time for those who present with both complex physical and psychological
needs.
There are high rates
of mental health problems among people with long-term medical conditions and
people with severe mental illness have a reduced life expectancy which can be
due to physical health issues.
Duties and Responsibilities
Communication
and Working Relationship Skills
- Contribute to the team and engage with a wide range of stakeholders
including staff, service users, their carers and other statutory and
voluntary sector agencies.
- Impart complex and sensitive information to:
- Patients and families/carers re assessment, care planning, treatment
and review
- Multi disciplinary teams to ensure the provision of consistent well
coordinated care
- Primary care teams regarding client care
- External agencies also involved in the provision of care eg: voluntary
and private sector, police, social services, housing, employment etc
- Services user and carer groups
- Liaise with a wide range of other professions and agencies.
- Contribute to the safe and effective day to day operations of the
services including the handling of clinical enquiries.
- Present information, some of which may be contentious, to patients and
their families and carers.
Planning
and Organisational Skills
- Attend management and professional meetings as directed by their line
manager and professional lead.
- Responsible for planning and co-ordinating own day to day work load in
collaboration with the needs of the service users and the wider needs of the
service. This requires excellent
prioritisation skills.
- Plan and organise case conferences liaising with other agencies as
required to meet the needs of their clients.
- Ensure that interventions are planned in an integrated and co-ordinated
manner particularly where dependent on other external agencies.
Analytical and
Judgemental Skills
- Undertake bio-psycho-social assessments, developing
a working formulation and diagnosis which will identify onward care
pathways. As part of the
bio-psycho-social assessment completion of risk assessment and formulation
will determine risk management plans.
- Further assessments/reviews may be required and adjustments
made to care pathways where appropriate.
- Understands and recognises own limitations and seeks supervision when
necessary.
Responsibility
for Research and Development
- Participate in research and development in line
with service delivery & development.
Freedom
to Act
- Work without
direct supervision and take accountability for your own actions.
- When tasks
are delegated, ensure that the person you have delegated these tasks to is
appropriately skilled to undertake the tasks.
- Work within
the operational policies and service specifications of the team.
Responsibility for Patient/Client Care,
Treatment and Therapy
- Responsible for developing care whilst service users are in the DGH.
This will include assessing, planning, intervention and evaluation.
- Ensuring active involvement of service users and their carers.
- Triage/prioritise referrals by assessing and advising on eligibility
criteria.
- Provide specialist advice to referrers/other multi-disciplinary staff
in relation to the care of the patient.
- Participate in safeguarding adults and children.
- Act in an advisory and collaborative role in interpretation of
clinical, professional and technical policies relating to adult mental
health.
- Appraise current practices and standards in light of new research
findings and introduce evidence based techniques as appropriate.
Responsibility
for Policy and Service Development Implementation
- Participate in programmes of audit and research within the team and
implement the findings.
- Contribute to professional clinical governance arrangements in order to
ensure the quality of the service provided.
- Participate in the development of Mental Health Services.
- Work collaboratively on the formulation of, and review of policies,
standards, guidelines and procedures within DPT and the DGH.
- Attend and participate in relevant groups to include policy
implementation, networking , peer review to promote benchmarking and sharing
of best practices.
Responsibility
for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources
- Responsible for care of own equipment.
Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision,
Training, HR Advice and Management
- Supervision of junior qualified and non-qualified staff.
- Provide clinical supervision.
- Co-ordinate the activity of the team and facilitate handover meetings.
- Provide mentorship to students allocated to the team.
- Take a clinical lead in the absence of the team leader / practice lead.
- Participate in clinical & managerial supervision as well as annual
PDR.
- Participate in team staff support.
- Support staff within the DGH to holistically manage people presenting
with complex mental health issues and offer appropriate therapeutic
interventions.
- To actively participate in producing and delivering training packages
to our colleagues in the DGH and acting as a point of reference as required.
- Keep up to date with all Core and Essential Training requirements.
Responsibility
for Information Resources and Administrative Duties
- Maintain up to date clinical records in a
timely and accurate manner in line with standard operating procedures.
Any
Other Specific Tasks Required
- The postholder works towards complying with the core competencies for
mental health liaison practitioners as described in the Competency Framework
for Liaison Mental Health Nursing.
Professional
Duties
- Practice in a way that actively minimises dependency and promotes
recovery.
- Communicate information in a way that makes it relevant and
understandable for service users and carers, working to the principles of the
functions policy implementation guidelines and practice in line with the
standards and values set out in them.
- Work co-operatively with staff colleagues within the Acute Hospital,
other parts of the mental health services, primary care & other statutory and non-statutory organisations.
- Ensure a duty of care to your patients and clients, who are entitled to
receive safe and competent care. The
Service User wishes, feelings, values and beliefs should be taken into
consideration as well as the views of the people close to them.
- Take personal accountability for your own practice. This means that you are answerable for your
actions and omissions, regardless of advice or directions from another
professional in accordance with the NMC Professional Code of Conduct.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- A professional mental health qualification eg: RMN, CQSW / ASW, BSc/Diploma in OT
- A current registration with a professional body ie NMC.
Desirable
- Post graduate qualification relevant to specialism.
- Clinical Supervision qualification.
- Mentorship qualification.
- IT Skills.
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of managing referrals in a busy environment.
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.
- Assessment experience (particularly mental health & risk).
Desirable
- Working within a community mental health setting in either the statutory or voluntary sector.
- Participation in user involvement in services.
- Working in a primary care setting and or GP practice.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- A professional mental health qualification eg: RMN, CQSW / ASW, BSc/Diploma in OT
- A current registration with a professional body ie NMC.
Desirable
- Post graduate qualification relevant to specialism.
- Clinical Supervision qualification.
- Mentorship qualification.
- IT Skills.
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of managing referrals in a busy environment.
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.
- Assessment experience (particularly mental health & risk).
Desirable
- Working within a community mental health setting in either the statutory or voluntary sector.
- Participation in user involvement in services.
- Working in a primary care setting and or GP practice.
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 (Opens in a new tab).
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 (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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 (Opens in a new tab).
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 (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details
Employer name
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Address
Psychiatric Liaison Service
Torbay & South Devon Mental Health Unit
Torbay Hospital
Devon
TQ2 7AA
Employer's website
https://www.dpt.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
