Skip to main content

This job has expired

Senior Liaison Mental Health Nurse Specialist

Employer
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Location
Woolwich
Salary
£46,836 to £52,849 a year Per Annum
Closing date
6 Feb 2023

View more

Profession
Nurse
Grade
Band 7
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time
Senior Liaison Mental Health Nurse Specialist, Band 7 Permanent - Full Time - 37.5 hours per week

Greenwich Mental Health Liaison Team

This post is suitable for a Registered RMN with a minimum of 1 year's recent post-registration experience in liaison mental health nursing as a B6 or B7, as well as experience of leadership and supervisory roles. Overall the person must have 3-yrs mental health experience in relevant clinical settings with transferable skills to this role.

The Liaison team is based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London.

The Liaison team is well established and has an existing B7 team as part of the staff contingent, as well as a number of experienced B6 nurses and medical staff. Due to the positive impact of having B7 nurses as clinical leads, we are in the process of expanding the number of B7 nurses in the team.

A large proportion of the team's work is based in the Emergency Department, providing frontline assessments, but the team also provides a service to all the wards and departments of the acute hospital, for patients presenting with a wide range of medical and mental health co-morbidities. The team is a very dynamic one, operating 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

Main duties of the job

The role requires you to triage and conduct rapid assessment and treatment of patients in the Emergency Department. You will possess outstanding clinical skills, including independent assessments, and a comprehensive knowledge of mental illness and brief therapeutic interventions. You will have a thorough understanding of clinical risk and will conduct thorough risk assessments resulting in a safe management plan. You will be competent in the completion and interpretation of mental state examinations and will be able to devise accurate formulations and management plans based on the findings of your assessment. You will be creative and innovative in your approach, and will work collaboratively with patients and their carers in the formulation of care plans. You will be able to effectively liaise with other agencies, in particular your acute trust colleagues. You will be keen to professionally develop and must possess the ability to practice safely and effectively within the relative autonomy that this role offers.

You must be able to work effectively under pressure. You must be willing to work outside of your comfort zone. You will be able to lead and motivate a team.

The Mental Health Liaison Team operates a 24 hour service and is it essential that all applicants are able to work shifts and unsocial hours.

About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes. We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people. Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
  • We're Kind
  • We're Fair
  • We Listen
  • We Care


Job description Job responsibilities

  • Work alongside senior team colleagues to provide clinical leadership to the team
  • Work alongside other senior colleagues to operate a Rapid Assessment and Treatment (RAT) function for patients referred from the ED for specialist mental health assessment utilising the SBAR model of rapid assessment and care planning, and a modified version of the UK Mental Health Triage Scale.
  • Support and develop the clinical skills of junior team members, particularly in relation to the safe and appropriate use of positive risk taking
  • Support junior team members to prioritise referrals and clinical duties effectively, in order to promote safe and effective practice and clinical responsiveness
  • Establish and maintain effective working relationships with acute trust staff
  • Maintain high standards of oral and written communication with team / trust colleagues, acute trust staff, patients and their significant others at all times
  • Provide a specialist consultation-liaison service to referring clinicians and clinical teams, assisting them in decision making in difficult and complex cases.
  • Promote choice and hopefulness and ensure a recovery orientated approach.
  • Promote and initiate any actions to safeguard vulnerable children and adults.
  • Be responsible for the full assessment of care needs of patients presenting with a wide variety of clinical conditions. Following this, the post-holder will be responsible for planning and referring on for appropriate follow up where necessary.
  • Provide a comprehensive consultation-liaison service to individual clinicians, particularly in assisting them develop emergency plans of care and make difficult decisions in cases where patients are exhibiting complex psychosocial needs and/or challenging behaviours
  • Be required to teach other nursing and non-nursing staff, both in formal and informal settings. Teaching will also be provided to pre-registration students.
  • Be responsible for specific clinical projects and undertake all necessary work to complete these, including facilitating meetings, liaising and/or negotiating with other staff.
  • Be expected to participate fully in quality assurance initiatives, with particular emphasis on a patient first approach when required.
  • The post-holder will act as a role model in providing a service for people with mental health problems for all staff within general hospital setting.
  • Ensure that collection of required data to inform key clinical performance indicators
  • To support the successful participation of the team in achieving required CQUIN targets
  • The post-holder will initiate and participate in audit/research projects associated with the work of the service when required.
  • The post-holder will carry out investigations into formal complaints and serious untoward incidents and submit reports in a timely manner.
  • The post holder represents the Trust in the general hospital setting and will play a vital role in communicating and maintaining a good working relationship between the both Trusts.
  • Any other reasonable tasks allocated to you


  • Person Specification Experience Essential
    • RMN professional registration with 3-yrs post qualification experience in acute & crisis mental health
    • 1-yr Recent mental health liaison experience
    • Evidence of supervising junior staff & some management responsibilities
    Desirable
    • Evidence of teaching / training in a formal of informal setting
    • Evidence of Audit / Research work
    Education/Qualifications Essential
    • ENB-998 / mentorship in Practice or equivalent
    • Educated to minimum of first level degree
    • Further training in the use brief interventions
    Desirable
    • Masters degree or intention of working towards the qualification
    Written Communication Essential
    • Use of written English on application form
    • Quality of personal statement with specific mention of interest in liaison work
    CLinical Skills Essential
    • Evidence of assessment skills RE: mental state and risk plus psychosocial assessments
    • Skilled in brief interventions
    Desirable
    • Skilled in working with personality disorders and psychosis


    Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

    277-4835530-AAC

    Get job alerts

    Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

    Create alert