Job summary
As a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist working for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust you will be responsible for ensuring that our service users' needs are met through the delivery of high quality care.
As a leader of the outpatient multi-disciplinary team at Hartley Hospital you will work in a state of the art mental health facility, providing clinical care to older adults who require specialist outpatient care. You will work closely with a wide range of clinical and professional disciplines in order to deliver holistic care by completing assessments of new referrals to the team, making formulations and managing their treatment in order to optimise the quality of life of the service users under your caseload.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be the Responsible Clinician for patients in their caseload within the Older Adults Community Mental Health Team.
There are allocated GP surgeries for each caseload within the service and these are allocated to ensure equity in terms of number of referrals. In line with New Ways of Working, the post holder will provide a consultative, supervisory and supportive role to the multidisciplinary team's work.
They will take an active part in the clinical work of the team and a lead role in the development of the service. The post holder will be expected to provide leadership to the Team whose role is to provide assessment, management and support to people who may need contact with Older Adults Mental Health services. Practitioners within the team will support access to services in a timely manner, as well as ensure arrangements are in place to enhance smooth pathways between primary care and secondary services.
The post holder will be enabled to work in a consultative manner, being accessible to team members, GP and primary care staff, patients and carers, for the provision of expert advice and interventions in a timely manner. The post holder will operate within multi-disciplinary integrated and co-located teams, which including Health staff and Social services staff. The post holder will be expected to be part of the allocation procedure within the team and be responsive and flexible to the needs of the team.
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than million people across our region (Halton, Warrington, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton and St Helens) and is also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will be responsible for the overall management of patients under their caseload which is defined by groupings of General Practice surgeries in the local area. There are a total of 22 General Practice surgeries included within the area which Hartley Hospital covers and each on average makes 38 referrals per year to the Older Adult Services. The majority of referrals are from primary care and a small number are from Liaison mental health services or from other medical specialties such as Neurology or Geriatrics.
Currently there are 1824 open referrals to the team as a whole and 613 to the advertised posts MDT, with the average population covered by each practice being 7,254 and an average of 2,984 patients over the age of 65 being registered at each practice.
The number of referrals per month for the last six months are as follows:
July 101
August 83
September 75
October 85
November 90
December 73
The team composition is as follows:
2 x FTE Consultant Psychiatrists Post Holder, Dr Williams/Dr Govindaraj
1 s Staff Grade Doctor Dr Leahy
1 x Band 7 team manager Kerry Adamson
2 x Advanced Nurse Practitioners (1 per MDT) - lead and chair their MDT and complete new patient assessments
1 x Band 7 OT
4 x Band 6 CPNs (2 per MDT)
2 x Band 5 CPNs (1 per MDT)
2 x Band 6 nurses in titration team
x Band 6 nurses in Care Home Liaison Team
2 x Band 4 Assistant Practitioners in Care Home Liaison Team
1 x Band 4 Assistant Practitioner for memory reviews and physical health checks
2 x Band 3 Support Workers (only funded for people with a functional diagnosis)
1 x Clinical Psychologist and Psychology Assistant.
Please see job description for further details.
Person Specification
Registration
Essential
1. Full registration with General Medical Council
2. Inclusion on or eligible for inclusion on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council or within 6 months of CCST/CCT or equivalent in Old age Psychiatry at date of interview
3. Section 12 (2) Approval which is integral to Approved Clinician Status or demonstrated ability to gain approval
Desirable
4. In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice
Transport
Essential
5. Holds valid UK driving licence and will use own car for work related travel OR provides evidence of proposed alternative
Qualifications and Training
Essential
6. MbChb, MBBS or equivalent
Desirable
7. Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management
8. Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists or equivalent, 3 years higher professional training in Old age psychiatry
9. Undertaken 'Train the Trainer' and 'Equality and Diversity' Training
Clinical Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Essential
10. Excellent clinical knowledge in specialty
11. Excellent clinical skills using bio-psycho-social perspective and wide medical knowledge
12. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
13. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
14. Makes decisions based on evidence and experience including the contribution of others
15. Able to meet duties under MHA and MCA
Desirable
16. Experience in working previously in similar roles at a relevant level.
17. Training or worked as a DoLs assessor
18. Experience in management and service development
19. Knowledge and use of IT systems
Academic Skills and Lifelong Learning
Essential
20. Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training
21. Participated in continuous professional development
22. Participated in research or service evaluation
23. Able to use and appraise clinical evidence.
24. Has actively participated in clinical audit.
Desirable
25. Able to plan and deliver teaching and training relevant to this post
26. Able to plan and deliver teaching and training relevant to this post
27. Experienced in clinical research and / or service evaluation.
28. Has led clinical audits leading to service change