Dementia Assessment Service (South) Team Leader

Job overview

The Dementia Assessment Team Leader is responsible for providing clinical leadership and operational management to the Dementia Assessment Service. The post holder ensures the delivery of high quality, safe and timely dementia assessment and diagnostic pathways, in line with Trust objectives and NHSE Mental Health performance expectations.

The role provides day to day leadership to a multidisciplinary team, with responsibility for referral oversight, demand and capacity management, supervision and professional support of staff, and clinical decision making for complex and high risk cases. The post holder will play a key role in maintaining quality, governance, safeguarding and service improvement activity across the service.

The Team Leader works closely with the Service Manager and wider system partners to ensure effective service delivery, patient flow and positive experience for people accessing the Dementia Assessment Service and their carers.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide clinical leadership and operational management for the Dementia Assessment Service, ensuring safe, timely delivery of assessment and diagnostic pathways in line with Trust objectives and NHSE Mental Health performance standards.

They will lead a multidisciplinary team, providing supervision, professional support and clinical guidance, and ensuring staff work in line with agreed standards and Trust policies. This includes oversight of induction, appraisal, mandatory training and general workforce management.

The post holder will be responsible for referral oversight, triage arrangements, demand and capacity management and waiting list monitoring to support prioritisation and patient flow. They will provide clinical decision making and oversight for complex, high risk and safeguarding cases, ensuring appropriate escalation.

They will maintain oversight of quality and governance activity, including incident and safeguarding processes, complaints management and service improvement actions. The role includes working closely with the Service Manager to support performance and quality assurance.

The post holder will work with internal teams and partner agencies to support integrated working and positive experiences for patients and carers, and contribute to service development and delivery of Trust priorities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will lead the Dementia Assessment Service by providing clear clinical and operational direction, ensuring that the service responds effectively to referral demand and delivers high quality assessment and diagnostic pathways.

They will be responsible for the overall coordination of the team, setting priorities, maintaining oversight of daily activity and ensuring work is allocated and managed safely. This includes supporting clinicians with complex decision making, overseeing safeguarding activity and ensuring appropriate risk management and escalation processes are followed.

The post holder will ensure robust supervision and professional support arrangements are in place for all staff, promoting safe practice, staff wellbeing and consistent standards of care. They will support workforce planning, manage performance issues where required and contribute to recruitment, induction and development of staff.

They will take responsibility for operational processes including referral management, waiting list oversight, monitoring of access and flow, and implementation of actions to address service pressures. The role includes oversight of quality and governance activity such as incidents, complaints, audits and service improvement work, ensuring learning is embedded within the team.

The post holder will work closely with the Service Manager and relevant internal and external partners to support integrated working and continuity of care for people using the service and their carers. The role does not hold a clinical caseload but provides leadership and oversight that enables safe, effective and sustainable service delivery.