Band 6 Mental Health Liaison Practitioner - Swindon

Job overview

The Mental Health Liaison Team provides a comprehensive service to patients/service users, carers and clinical colleagues based within the Great Western Hospital. This involves:

• Offering an assessment service to patients presenting with a range of undifferentiated mental health and psychological problems, and psychiatric illnesses across the age range, including Dementia.
• Providing a mental health consultation liaison and advice service.
• Delivering a range of nursing and psychosocial interventions to individual patients and their families, as appropriate.
• Assisting and supporting general hospital colleagues in making decisions about treatment and care in complex situations.
• Providing formal and informal education and clinical supervision to registered and unregistered staff.
• Representing mental health services within the general hospital.
• Providing a communication structure between the general hospital, secondary mental health services, primary care and non-statutory services, as a means of ensuring the highest possible standards of patient care.

Main duties of the job

• Specialist, psychosocial assessment of  patients presenting with a range of  mental health and psychological problems, and/or who have self harmed.
• Provide a comprehensive consultation-liaison service to clinical teams, assisting them to formulate  plans of care and make decisions in cases where patients may be exhibiting complex needs and/or challenging behaviours.
• Promote a positive attitude and encourage a supportive culture in relation to mental health and psychiatric illness across the general hospital.
• Utilise a range of clinical skills appropriate to the individual patient's needs and the clinical setting in which they are being cared for.
• Prompt referral on to secondary mental health services, social services and voluntary groups, as appropriate.
• Concise, effective liaison with  clinical staff within the general hospital regarding advice on appropriate management strategies for individuals referred.
• Effective liaison and communication with patients, relatives, carers, primary health care and secondary mental health services.
• Possess a sound understanding of the legal and ethical issues in caring for people with mental health problems, such as the application of the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act and their use within a non-mental health setting.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Liaison and Consultation

• Be responsible for the full assessment of care needs of patients presenting with a range of undifferentiated mental health and psychological problems. As a result of this assessment, you will be responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care, without direct supervision.
• Provide a comprehensive consultation-liaison service to clinical teams, assisting them to formulate appropriate plans of care and make decisions in cases where patients may be exhibiting complex needs and/or challenging behaviours.
• Initiate and participate in the teaching and educational programmes of all grades of nursing and non-nursing staff. You will also provide teaching and develop learning opportunities for pre and post-registration nursing students.
• When appropriate, maintain a small caseload of patients, providing a broad range of treatments and clinical interventions, as appropriate to the individual’s needs.
• Be responsible for participating in specific clinical projects and undertake all the necessary work to complete these, including facilitating meetings, liaising and/or negotiating with other staff.
• Participate fully in appropriate quality assurance initiatives, with the emphasis on developing patient/service user-focused services.
• Promote a positive attitude and encourage a supportive culture in relation to mental health and psychiatric illness across the general hospital.

Clinical Practice

• Utilise a range of clinical skills appropriate to the individual patient's needs and the clinical setting in which they are being cared for.
• Undertake specialist psychosocial assessments with patients presenting following an episode of self-harm.
• Prompt referral on to secondary mental health services, social services and voluntary groups, as appropriate.
• Flexible, needs-based follow-up of individuals who require assessment following an earlier attendance after an episode of self-harm.
• Concise, effective liaison and feedback to clinical staff within the general hospital regarding advice on appropriate management strategies for individuals referred.
• Utilise a range of follow-up options and sources of help and support for patients, as appropriate.
• Effective liaison and communication with patients, relatives, carers, primary health care and secondary mental health services.
• Role model clinical excellence and high standards of nursing practice to other staff.
• Demonstrate and apply a sound understanding of the legal and ethical issues in caring for people with mental health problems. In particular, demonstrate a sound understanding of the application of the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act and their use within a non-mental health setting.

Please see attached Job Description for further information.

This post is open to newly qualified social workers. In line with trust policy, all newly qualified social workers will be recruited initially at Band 5 level, regardless of advertised role banding. All NQSWs are expected to successfully complete their ASYE within 2 years of employment, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which case it may be agreed to extend this for a further 2 years.

On successful completion of the ASYE, for which you will be given full support of an experienced Social Worker as well as Divisional Social Work Lead, and peer support from other ASYE candidates, you will then be eligible to progress to a Band 6 position.

If you have been appointed to an advertised Band 6 role this will be an automatic progression, following confirmation of your successful completion. If you have been appointed to a Band 5 you will then be eligible to apply for a subsequent Band 6 vacancy.