Consultant Psychiatrist - Bucks Intensive Case Management

Job overview

We are recruiting two part-time Consultant Psychiatrists (6 sessions per week) to lead our newly established Intensive Case Management (ICM) services in North and South Buckinghamshire.

These are rare opportunity to shape and develop innovative services designed for people with severe and complex psychotic disorders who require a highly proactive, assertive outreach approach. Working within multidisciplinary teams embedded in our Community Mental Health Teams, you will provide clinical leadership, direct patient care and contribute to the ongoing development of a modern model of community mental healthcare.

As a new service, ICM offers the opportunity to influence culture, pathways and clinical practice from the outset while working alongside well-established consultant colleagues.

The role is ideally suited to clinicians who are passionate about improving outcomes for people with psychosis, reducing health inequalities and delivering compassionate, person-centred care.

Oxford Health is widely recognised as one of the UK's leading mental health trusts, with a strong reputation for clinical excellence, innovation, research and medical leadership. We are committed to supporting our consultants through flexible working, high-quality professional development, research opportunities and a strong focus on wellbeing.

If you are looking for a rewarding leadership role with the opportunity to help create and shape a new service, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

• You will provide senior medical leadership to the Intensive Case Management (ICM) service and play an active role within the wider CMHT leadership team. Alongside the CMHT Team Manager, ICM Deputy Lead and ICM Psychologist, you will help shape and develop this new service, support outcome measurement and contribute to service evaluation and reporting.
• You will be responsible for patients under your care, as well as those managed by medical staff you directly supervise. You will assess and review patients who meet ICM criteria and have the most complex clinical needs. Most of your work will involve ongoing follow-up and review, delivered across at least three clinical days each week. You will provide medical input to any embedded community rehabilitation function within ICM, offer consultation to multidisciplinary colleagues and act as the senior medic and lead prescriber for the service. You will also hold Responsible Clinician responsibilities for patients subject to community Mental Health Act provisions.
• As one of the founding consultants within the service, you will play a key role in establishing the culture, values and ways of working within ICM. The service is designed around a flexible, assertive outreach model for people with psychotic disorders and high levels of need.
• You will work closely with colleagues across Oxford Health and partner organisations to ensure smooth, timely transitions of care and effective multidisciplinary working.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Intensive Case Management (ICM) is the model for Assertive Outreach work which has been identified to best fit out organisation, geography and population. OHFT is committed to providing high quality mental health services to those with psychotic disorders in Buckinghamshire. The need for such services has been identified nationally.

Our ICM functions are dedicated MDTs operating within our existing CMHTs. Bucks ICM North will be embedded in the Aylesbury CMHT and Bucks ICM South in the Chiltern West and East CMHTs. They will work with a capped caseload of patients (around 120 across the county) with severe and complex psychotic disorders who struggle to engage and are at high risk of relapse, admission and/ or to themselves or others. The service has been designed with reference to NHSE guidance and the Dartmouth Assertive Community Treatment (DACT) principles.

These MDTs are designed to be self-sufficient and dedicated to the ICM population with minimal overlap in duties with the wider CMHT. ICM functions are staffed to provide an enhanced level of input and an assertive outreach approach, including increased face to face community contacts, a flexible approach to non-engagement and ready access to MDT interventions including medical review and psychological therapy. ICM input aims to improve engagement and treatment adherence, improving outcomes, patient experience and risk. The ICM function will accurately record and regularly report on activity and outcomes. ICM provision is currently Monday-Friday 9-5 and staff will work closely with our out of hours services, including Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment (CRHTT). The initial patient population will be 18-64, with scope to include physically well ICM patients past the age of 65 if clinically indicated. The ICM function is integrated into the CMHT to allow for seamless access and flow between ICM and the CMHT based on clinical need. There may be opportunity for a small rehab provision within the ICM function.