Liaison Practitioner
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Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity for a permanent post, working within the expanding and dynamic Acute Liaison Psychiatry Service (ALPS) based at the heart of St James University Hospital A&E department.
The ALPS team serves two hospital sites under Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT); St James University Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary. The service receives all mental health referrals and delivers assessments to both acute hospitals Accident and Emergency Departments.In addition, the service model provides self-harm assessments to all the medical and surgical wards within the acute trust.
The driver to provide the ALPS service model is to reduce admissions to the Clinical Decisions Units within Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust and to conduct more timely assessments to those admitted to medical inpatient areas of LTHT following an act of self-harm.
Main duties of the job
ALPS provide comprehensive mental health and risk assessments to those referred, following which plans are formulated. As a service we work closely with medical colleagues from LTHT to ensure continuity of care, effective communication and support and advice is provided across both trusts.
We receive support from a part time consultant liaison psychiatrist who provides 2 weekly supervisions to the team. There is also an on-call rota of senior liaison psychiatrists and conduct both lone and joint assessments.
As a service we also provide teaching sessions to non-mental health staff to provide a broader understanding and awareness regarding mental health presentations, in turn enabling them to respond to mental health needs more effectively.
For this role you will be a compassionate and person-centred clinician who can carry out comprehensive mental health and risk assessments to a high standard through excellent communication and risk management skills and have the confidence to assess complex clinical issues in a busy, demanding yet rewarding environment.
Working for our organisation
The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country.As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.
There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.
We also have an incredible bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.
Applicants should be aware that any individual requiring a visa to work in the UK, the Trust provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles only (this does not include Healthcare Support Workers). This is an essential requirement, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you do not meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.
All our information is available in accessible formats. Please contact the Recruitment team [email protected]
Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.
If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.
So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.
It is a desirable criteria that applicants will have a full UK driving licence and access to a car due to the travel required between sites - please confirm if you have this in your application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Recognised professional qualification RMN, Social Worker, OT.
Skills
Essential criteria- Will maintain current specific professional and legal standards of practice in accordance with professional codes of conduct.
- Driving licence and access to a car for travel between sites
Experience
Essential criteria- Will be able to demonstrate a high level of understanding of the national and local mental health and social care agenda and be able contribute to service development initiatives.
Where candidates are successful at interview, flexible working arrangement requests will be taken into consideration and may be accommodated where the needs of the service allow.
Fixed Term Contracts for existing NHS Employees – temporary contracts for employees of LYPFT, or colleagues joining from another NHS Trust, will be offered on a secondment basis wherever possible. In the event this is not possible, an FTC would be issued and this would require a break in service of two weeks.
The purpose of a temporary is role could be for maternity cover, temporary funding or some other reason. At the end of which the need for the temporary work will cease. Temporary roles can stop, be extended and/or made permanent at any point during the period of work.Should the role become permanent then the post-holder will be informed of the process to be followed to convert the position to a permanent one.
Please note that from 1st July 2018, all new employees are required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service, DBS checks for volunteers remain free of charge.
Patient Safety is a priority at LYPFT with a focus on system-based improvement and creating opportunities for learning. We will ensure compassionate engagement with all those involved in an incident and all incidents are met with a proportionate response.LYPFT is committed to upholding its’ statutory responsibilities in relation to safeguarding adults and children. Please refer to job description for further information.
LYPFT is a member of the Disability Confident scheme and is committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.
As part of the Trust's commitment to its Gold Standard Armed Forces Covenant status, members of the Armed Forces Community are entitled to a guaranteed interview subject to meeting the role criteria.
We welcome applicants with lived experience of providing unpaid care and/or support to a family member or friend with a disability, health condition, frailty, mental health problem, addiction or other health needs.
Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received. It is in the candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible. In submitting an application form, you authorise Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed to the post.
In applying for a role please ensure that you only declare qualifications that are relevant to the role itself. We reserve the right to check all declared qualifications on an application form, whether they are directly relevant to the role or not.
If you have not received any communication from us within four weeks you are asked to assume that your application has been unsuccessful. If you should have any queries regarding progress with your application form please contact us.
Please note: The Trust does not offer reimbursement of interview expenses.