Job summary
The post holder will work as a Clinical Specialist in Liaison and Dual diagnosis within the Mental Health Liaison Teams at Guys and St Thomas' Hospital (GSTT) to provide dual diagnosis expertise and facilitate co-ordinated service delivery for people aged 18+ with suspected or co-existing mental health and substance misuse issues. The post holder will help address many of the co-morbid drug/substance misuse related issues that may lead to delay in assessment times.
The purpose of the role is to work with colleagues in the MHLTs to help achieve the expected outcomes including:
- Reduce the number of frequent attenders presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) /MHLT/ MHOA liaison
- Reduce the number of acute hospital admissions of Frequent Attenders
- Increase engagement of service users with substance misuse services
- Increase knowledge and skills of the MHLT and acute trust colleagues working with people with dual diagnosis.
- provide a highly specialist dual diagnosis support to the MHLT including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation, and monitoring of outcomes.
- contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a safe environment.
Main duties of the job
To promote high standards of assessment and treatment of anyone aged 18+, including older adults, with suspected or co-existing mental health and substance misuse problems, based on the best available evidence, within the expected response times set out for urgent referrals from the Emergency Department (ED) and inpatient wards.
To work alongside existing resources including the substance misuse service/ alcohol hospital roles and develop collaborative plans with service users who attend ED on a frequent basis with suspected or confirmed co-existing mental health and substance misuse issues
To lead on providing expert dual diagnosis and liaison knowledge to the MHLT/Acute Trust and to key stakeholders involved.
To lead the development and delivery of dual diagnosis practice in the MHLT in line with national best practice guidance, NICE and DoH guidance, and Trust policy in consultation with senior dual diagnosis colleagues.
To work with colleagues to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence in working with people with dual diagnosis so that it is a core aspect of the work of all team members.
To support the development of excellent relationships with SLaM teams and partner agencies to promote effective collaborative working and seamless care pathways.
About us
Benefits:
We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close-knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you are valued and appreciated and that is why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer. Some of our benefits are highlighted here:
- Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
- Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
- Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
- Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
- Accommodation, our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
- NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.
Other benefits include:
- Counselling services
- Wellbeing events
- Long service awards
- Cycle to work scheme
- Season ticket loan
- Childcare vouchers
- Staff restaurants
Job description
Job responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
Clinical and Service User Care
- Provide clinical expertise and support in assessment, care planning and the delivery and evaluation of interventions to people with co-morbid mental health, physical health and substance misuse problems
- Implement systems to ensure that all service users are being assessed for alcohol and drug use as part of a comprehensive assessment and information is recorded using the appropriate tools on EPJS (the Trust electronic data record system) and within the Acute trusts notes system, in line with Trust standards
- Promote the involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the assessment, care and discharge processes, both at initial presentation and for longer term liaison/communication
- Ensure that all service users with dual diagnosis are offered health education information, information about local substance misuse services and self-help/mutual aid groups to enable them to make informed choices about their on-going care/treatment
- Lead development of, and support liaison with, local substance misuse services to promote effective engagement/transfer of care when appropriate
- Facilitate carers/family members involvement in assessment and care planning where appropriate and ensure they are offered information about substance misuse support groups
- Support reviews of any incident in relation to dual diagnosis cases as appropriate.
Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
- Support the design and implementation of educational activities
- Lead development of, and support liaison with all relevant stakeholders to promote effective joint planning and transfer of care when appropriate
- Facilitate carers/family members involvement in assessment and care planning where appropriate and ensure they are offered information about substance misuse support groups
- Seek regular clinical supervision to ensure own continuous professional development and keeping up to date with any advances in the field
Policy and service development
- To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
- To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
- To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
Supervision and communication
- Communicate regularly with partner agencies involved in the care/treatment of people with dual diagnosis. This will include agencies that provide substance misuse treatment, acute physical health care, housing, criminal justice, education, and employment for this group of clients.
- Facilitate integrated working, ensuring good communication and coordination of care so that decisions concerning patients care are jointly made as often as possible.
- Communicate regularly with senior Trust wide dual diagnosis leads and also keep abreast of developments in local substance misuse services
- Attend Local Dual Diagnosis forums / Dual Diagnosis Leads Development days and participate in other meetings as required, for example police liaison meetings
Teaching and Training
- To act as a dual diagnosis resource for the MHLS, accessing and disseminating up to date information on local/national guidance and research, and promoting implementation of same.
- To provide supervision and development opportunities for any team based dual diagnosis leads.
- To identify individual/team training needs and design/deliver bespoke dual diagnosis training
- To facilitate the availability of resources to support the delivery of care and treatment to service users with dual diagnosis (e.g. standardised assessment tools, intervention tools, health education information and links to external resources).
- To contribute to the delivery of Trust wide dual diagnosis training and provide post-training support and supervision to all health professionals such as nurses, doctors and occupational therapists to embed training into practice
Research and development
- To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.
- Evaluate and report on the dual diagnosis minimum data set established as part of any core monitoring processes.
- To initiate, undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and use findings to inform service developments.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
Clinical and Service User Care
- Provide clinical expertise and support in assessment, care planning and the delivery and evaluation of interventions to people with co-morbid mental health, physical health and substance misuse problems
- Implement systems to ensure that all service users are being assessed for alcohol and drug use as part of a comprehensive assessment and information is recorded using the appropriate tools on EPJS (the Trust electronic data record system) and within the Acute trusts notes system, in line with Trust standards
- Promote the involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the assessment, care and discharge processes, both at initial presentation and for longer term liaison/communication
- Ensure that all service users with dual diagnosis are offered health education information, information about local substance misuse services and self-help/mutual aid groups to enable them to make informed choices about their on-going care/treatment
- Lead development of, and support liaison with, local substance misuse services to promote effective engagement/transfer of care when appropriate
- Facilitate carers/family members involvement in assessment and care planning where appropriate and ensure they are offered information about substance misuse support groups
- Support reviews of any incident in relation to dual diagnosis cases as appropriate.
Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
- Support the design and implementation of educational activities
- Lead development of, and support liaison with all relevant stakeholders to promote effective joint planning and transfer of care when appropriate
- Facilitate carers/family members involvement in assessment and care planning where appropriate and ensure they are offered information about substance misuse support groups
- Seek regular clinical supervision to ensure own continuous professional development and keeping up to date with any advances in the field
Policy and service development
- To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
- To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
- To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
Supervision and communication
- Communicate regularly with partner agencies involved in the care/treatment of people with dual diagnosis. This will include agencies that provide substance misuse treatment, acute physical health care, housing, criminal justice, education, and employment for this group of clients.
- Facilitate integrated working, ensuring good communication and coordination of care so that decisions concerning patients care are jointly made as often as possible.
- Communicate regularly with senior Trust wide dual diagnosis leads and also keep abreast of developments in local substance misuse services
- Attend Local Dual Diagnosis forums / Dual Diagnosis Leads Development days and participate in other meetings as required, for example police liaison meetings
Teaching and Training
- To act as a dual diagnosis resource for the MHLS, accessing and disseminating up to date information on local/national guidance and research, and promoting implementation of same.
- To provide supervision and development opportunities for any team based dual diagnosis leads.
- To identify individual/team training needs and design/deliver bespoke dual diagnosis training
- To facilitate the availability of resources to support the delivery of care and treatment to service users with dual diagnosis (e.g. standardised assessment tools, intervention tools, health education information and links to external resources).
- To contribute to the delivery of Trust wide dual diagnosis training and provide post-training support and supervision to all health professionals such as nurses, doctors and occupational therapists to embed training into practice
Research and development
- To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.
- Evaluate and report on the dual diagnosis minimum data set established as part of any core monitoring processes.
- To initiate, undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and use findings to inform service developments.
Person Specification
Education/Qualification
Essential
- oA qualification in nursing, social work, occupational therapy or clinical psychology.
- Professional registration appropriate to own discipline (e.g. NMC, HPC)
- oEvidence of continuing professional development particularly in relation to the development of knowledge and skills for working with people with dual diagnosis
- Mentorship/ENB998 or other Assessment and/or Teaching in Practice equivalent qualifications
Desirable
- oA qualification in a relevant area of practice eg dual diagnosis, substance misuse, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioural therapy
- Degree in nursing or relevant profession
- Non-Medical Prescriber
Experience
Essential
- Significant post qualification experience of working with people with co-morbid mental health and substance misuse problems in a range of clinical settings
- Working in busy challenging clinical setting, managing a caseload of people with complex needs and prioritising duties to maintain safety
- Effective liaison with a range of professionals and agencies
- Supporting the implementation of clinical practice improvement initiatives
- Delivering training to staff from diverse professional backgrounds and helping to develop colleagues, providing critical and constructive feedback
Desirable
- Working clinically within a substance misuse team
- Leading/involved in audit projects and research
- Delivery of level 2 dual diagnosis training (eg 'pan-London')
Knowledge
Essential
- Current mental health, substance misuse and dual diagnosis policy and best practice guidance (eg NICE) and legislation
- Understanding of, and commitment to principles of equal opportunity, fair access and service user empowerment
- Current issues facing service users with a dual diagnosis and their family/carers when accessing MH Liaison Services for support
Desirable
- Knowledge of quality standards & policy regarding current Mental Health, Substance Misuse and Dual Diagnosis best practice guidance and legislation recommendations.
Person Specification
Education/Qualification
Essential
- oA qualification in nursing, social work, occupational therapy or clinical psychology.
- Professional registration appropriate to own discipline (e.g. NMC, HPC)
- oEvidence of continuing professional development particularly in relation to the development of knowledge and skills for working with people with dual diagnosis
- Mentorship/ENB998 or other Assessment and/or Teaching in Practice equivalent qualifications
Desirable
- oA qualification in a relevant area of practice eg dual diagnosis, substance misuse, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioural therapy
- Degree in nursing or relevant profession
- Non-Medical Prescriber
Experience
Essential
- Significant post qualification experience of working with people with co-morbid mental health and substance misuse problems in a range of clinical settings
- Working in busy challenging clinical setting, managing a caseload of people with complex needs and prioritising duties to maintain safety
- Effective liaison with a range of professionals and agencies
- Supporting the implementation of clinical practice improvement initiatives
- Delivering training to staff from diverse professional backgrounds and helping to develop colleagues, providing critical and constructive feedback
Desirable
- Working clinically within a substance misuse team
- Leading/involved in audit projects and research
- Delivery of level 2 dual diagnosis training (eg 'pan-London')
Knowledge
Essential
- Current mental health, substance misuse and dual diagnosis policy and best practice guidance (eg NICE) and legislation
- Understanding of, and commitment to principles of equal opportunity, fair access and service user empowerment
- Current issues facing service users with a dual diagnosis and their family/carers when accessing MH Liaison Services for support
Desirable
- Knowledge of quality standards & policy regarding current Mental Health, Substance Misuse and Dual Diagnosis best practice guidance and legislation recommendations.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details
Employer name
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Mental Health Liaison Service, St. Thomas’ Hospital,
Westminster Bridge Road
London
SE1 7EH
Employer's website
https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
