Are you an experienced mental health nurse or occupational therapist who is looking for a role primarily supporting people with dementia and their families?

This is post is based within our CMHT covering South Oxfordshire and is focused on working with a caseload of patients whose needs fit outside of the memory clinic pathway due to more complex behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), co-morbid functional mental illness, physical frailty or carer burden. You will have specialist knowledge of the care of older people with mental health conditions both functional and organic.

The South CMHT covers a large geographical area of South Oxfordshire. Including the towns of Henley, Wallingford, Thame, Abingdon, Didcot, Faringdon and Wantage.

Our main base is in Abingdon with a smaller office in Wallingford and hot desking space in Thame. We provide a range of services and interventions, including assessment and treatment of serious mental health issues, crisis intervention, step up work, physical health monitoring and memory clinics to the catchment population.

Main duties of the job

Sitting within the CMHT, you will carry a complex caseload of patients with dementia. You will be required to carry out specialist assessments of dementia, review medication and offer biopsychosocial interventions to assist in managing symptoms and reduce carer burden.

You will also contribute to the duty and assessment function of the team hence functional mental health skills, experience and knowledge is also essential.

You will be expected to work closely with the staff in the memory clinic pathway and at times may be required to cover appointments.

You will be expected to build strong working relationships with Care Home Support Service, Adult Social Care, Age UK and Dementia Oxfordshire in order to access the support that patients and families require in the community.

The team has a number of students on placement from different professional backgrounds and you will be expected to support them in their learning.

About us

The Older Adult CMHTs in Oxfordshire offer a 7 day a week service which is split across 3 different CMHTs. The main shifts are Monday to Friday 9-5. The teams offers rotational evening cover across Oxfordshire alongside the other Older Adult CMHTs in Oxfordshire (City and North). There are also weekend shifts 9-5, again rotational alongside colleagues in the other CMHTs.

Job description Job responsibilities

The South CMHT are an experienced and friendly team of nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and support workers.

We pride ourselves on ensuring that all team members are well supported in their work both through regular clinic and management supervision but also through team relationships and team training.

The Trust provides many development opportunities for staff through our Learning and development department and links with university's and our Quality Improvement team. Health Education England are also providing funding within the Trust, to support staff training needs. The leadership team are committed to continuous development and improvement through supervision, training, reflective practice, peer review and staff well being.

The successful candidate should be enthusiastic, resourceful and caring, they should have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal . They will need to demonstrated a good awareness of mental health and knowledge of working with Older Adults with Mental Health problems. In return we can offer a full induction and a focus on developing their knowledge, skills and confidence further, in relation to all aspects of the post, as well as contributing to service improvements/development within the team. This is an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to develop their career plan further.

Applicants will need the ability to travel across the area to see patients within their homes, in a location where there are many villages and limited public transport to some of these areas.

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Registered Professional Qualification (Mental Health Nurse or Occupational Therapist

Desirable

• Willingness to study to post graduate level specifically relating to client group (e.g. Post basic qualification in community care/ research awareness/ management)

Experience Essential

• To have experience of working within a multidisciplinary team
• to have experience working with older adults with functional and organic mental health needs

Desirable

• Clinical audit
• to have experience working in community setting

Personal Qualities Essential

• To be able to manage in a stressful working environment, and evidence team working

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

267-OA5121310