Specialty Doctor in Durham and Darlington Crisis Team

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for a full-time Speciality Doctor post to work 1.0 WTE across the Durham and Darlington Crisis Service. The area has a population of approximately 500,000.

The Adult Crisis Service works on a 24/7 basis to undertake comprehensive triage assessment of individuals who are currently experiencing a mental health crisis, with the aim of preventing their admission to hospital. Where the individual is admitted to inpatient services, the crisis team works with them to support leave and recovery-based discharge and enable productive bed flow. The crisis service is also responsible for providing intensive home treatment and facilitating S136 assessments outside of street triage working hours. On average there are 300-400 referrals to the Crisis Team per month. Many of these referrals result in direct assessments but signposting and advice are alternative outcomes.

Currently the service is operated via two sites, one at Lanchester Road Hospital and one at West Park Hospital. Current job description is related to the Lanchester Road Hospital role. There is expectation that post holder for both sites will provide reciprocal cover if required. There is a daily report out meeting where all patients are discussed. It is recommended that these are attended in person however there is available technology attend these remotely.

Main duties of the job

Regular attendance at crisis team daily report out meetings. This may at times be using remote technology such as Microsoft Teams.

Opportunity to be an active member of the leadership team

Participation in triage/assessment of patients referred to the crisis service in complex cases and when a medical opinion is required

Provision of medical reviews to patients receiving intensive home treatment. Reviews will also be provided by the Consultant Psychiatrist and Non-Medical Prescriber within the team

Participation in formulation of patients presenting with complex difficulties including diagnostic uncertainty. This will be in conjunction with the consultant psychologist and consultant psychiatrist working with the team

Involvement in multi-agency meeting for patients who repeatedly access services or who present to a variety of agencies and services

Provision of support and clinical supervision to the team where appropriate

Provision of teaching and training to the team

Liaison with GPs and interfacing agencies and services

Participation alongside the leadership team in developing and evaluating the service

Mental Health Act work It is preferable that the postholder has up-to-date S12 approval.

A range of opportunities to get involved in service development including evaluation of the new crisis service

About us

We are one of the largest specialist mental health and learning disabilities trusts in the country, with an annual income of £320m and a workforce of some 6,700 staff operating from around 100 sites in Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and York and Selby. We provide a range inpatient and community services to 2m people living in County Durham, the Tees Valley, Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale, Harrogate, Hambleton and Richmondshire. We also provide additional specialist services to other parts of Northern England.

We are a multi-award winning trust and are included within the Health Service Journals Best 100 Places to Work. The trust take a positive and proactive approach to support staff in their personal development and has embedded the Talent Management approach within the Trust.

Psychiatrists are essential contributors to the majority of our mental health teams. Service users expect and are justified to expect collaborative relationships with dedicated psychiatrists who work consistently as part of effective services. Our medical staffing shortage puts strain on services and puts strain on workforce wellbeing and costs extend beyond the financial. The Medical Directorate and Medical Development Team are striving to improve medical workforce recruitment and retention in a variety of ways and the cornerstone of these efforts is The TEWV Charter for the Medical Workforce. (Please see attached Supporting Document).