Mental Health Liaison Practitioner

Job overview

The NSFT East Suffolk Mental Health Liaison Service, based in Ipswich Hospital, are looking for highly motivated and enthusiastic mental health practitioners, who are looking to expand their skills and knowledge base, within the acute hospital setting.

This is an exciting opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment providing specialist mental health assessment, risk management, and short-term intervention to patients presenting with a range of mental health needs.

The Mental Health Liaison Service offers a single point of access for referrals from Ipswich Hospital and provides a range of mental health specialities within one multidisciplinary team.  Our team operates 24/7 and plays a vital role in supporting the acute hospital, ensuring timely, person-centred care for individuals experiencing acute mental health difficulties.

We respond to a diverse range of referrals, covering both liaison psychiatry and emergency assessment functions for all ages.

Main duties of the job

A flexible ‘can do’ attitude, with a willingness to build links with general hospital colleagues is essential to ensure that a proactive interface is created between mental health and medicine. You will have the relevant post qualification experience, including acute mental health and crisis management and be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the differing needs of people within the general hospital.

Undertake comprehensive mental health assessments of patients referred from A&E, medical/surgical wards.

• Assess and manage risk of harm to self or others, including suicide and self-neglect
• Provide evidence-based brief interventions, advice, and signposting to appropriate services
• Offer support and education to acute hospital colleagues in managing mental health presentations
• Maintain high-quality clinical documentation
• Support timely discharge planning, including mental health input to complex cases
• Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings and contribute to shared clinical decision-making

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be key in the efficient delivery of the liaison service; in improving response and management of referrals; in improving knowledge and understanding of mental health issues within the acute hospital; in helping the team meet their key performance indicators and be proactive in helping explore and develop partnerships and pathways to improve patient prognosis and outcome team is a 24/7 service. Therefore you will be required to work Long Days, including nights. We will provide a full induction. We have a genuine commitment to training and development with shared opportunities across the two Trusts. We are proud of our culture of honesty, team involvement and ownership to both patient care and job satisfaction.

Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!