Psychiatric Liaison Practitioner

Job overview
Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.
Are you an exceptional Mental Health Nurse (RMN) ready for a rewarding challenge?
It's a challenging and rewarding service to work in, and we need the best quality of candidates to help us grow our service. We are a 24-hour service 7 days a week at the Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Hospital and at the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, when required
You will be a confident, experienced clinician providing urgent mental health assessments, care, advice, and training across the acute general hospital (Emergency Departments and wards).
You will be able to meet the assessment and formulation needs of both working-age adults and older adults, and have a good insight into your training needs to fulfil this role.
You will have excellent interpersonal skills that you will use to facilitate high-quality mental health assessments and to build good working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
You will be committed to the parity of esteem agenda and work closely with both physical and mental health clinicians to ensure a seamless delivery of care.

Main duties of the job

• Work as part of a psychiatric liaison team providing a liaison and assessment service 7 days per week, that will involve working unsocial hours and public holidays.
• Offer an assessment service to patients aged 18+ (with no upper age limit) presenting at the general hospital with a broad range of mental health and psychological problems, and diagnosed psychiatric illnesses.
• Provide a mental health consultation, liaison and advice service throughout the departments.
• Deliver a range of evidence based psychosocial interventions to individual patients as required.
• Assist and support general hospital colleagues in making decisions about treatment and care in complex situations.
• Provide formal and informal education and case consultation to registered and unregistered staff.
• Represent mental health services within the Hospitals.
• Provide a communication structure between secondary mental health services, primary care and non-statutory services, as a means of ensuring the highest possible standards of patient care.

In return for the above, we offer real commitment to your professional development, and regular supervision within a supportive working environment.

Working for our organisation
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.
Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.
Take a look at our Community Nursing Video

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities of the role.

Person specification

Qualification

Essential criteria

• Registered Professional Qualification in Mental Health Nursing, Occupational Therapy or Social Work, including registration with the relevant regulatory body.
• 12 months post qualification experience

Desirable criteria

• Qualified Mentor

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Up to date knowledge of national and local guidance relevant to liaison psychiatry (e.g. Parity of esteem agenda, Crisis Care Concordat, 1 National Suicide Prevention Strategy, Relevant NICE Guidelines)

Desirable criteria

• Service development

Assessment

Essential criteria

• Robust Mental Health Needs assessment including risk, mental state and formulation

Desirable criteria

• Expereince in older adult assessment

Experience

Essential criteria

• Minimum of 18 months post qualification practice experience in mental health - any age
• Experience of liaising with a variety of stakeholders both internal and external to the mental health trust

Desirable criteria

• Experience of leading service developments,clinical audit and research

Important Information:
In cases where we receive a high volume of applications for a post, it may be necessary to bring the closing date forward. Please submit your completed application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Due to the high volume of applications received, it is not possible to respond individually to your application. Should you not hear from us within six weeks of the vacancy closing, please assume that your application has not been successful.

Probation Period. New employees external to the trust are subject to a six-month probationary period.
To deliver an effective service it is essential in some of our roles that you are able to travel between work bases in a timely manner.
Production of false or forged documents/qualifications in order to obtain employment is a criminal offence and will be reported to the Police.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check.
Certain roles are subject to criminal record checks called Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Therefore, you will be required to submit a completed Disclosure form to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust are signed up to NHS England's Sexual Safety in Health Care Organisational Charter
The trust takes a systematic zero-tolerance approach to tackle any unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful sexual behaviours within the workplace and in our care provision. We are committed to sexual safety which encompasses prevention, support and decisive action against perpetrators. We are committed to keeping you and our patients safe.

Use of AI when writing job applications
While AI tools can be helpful in generating ideas and drafting initial versions, they should never be the sole source for writing your job application.
AI cannot truly understand the specific job you're applying for or what makes you a good fit. Therefore, it's crucial to personalise any AI-generated content to accurately reflect your skills, experiences, and aspirations.
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