Job overview

Older Adult Clinical Team Lead

role at

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust . As part of the management team, the postholder would provide older adults clinical leadership alongside other clinical leads in the older adults pathway. The team is a dynamic service that supports people with functional mental health needs and/or a primary diagnosis of dementia to manage their mental and physical health, reside in the least restrictive setting and promote recovery. A unique and successful aspect of the service is the integrated older adults home treatment team. The team provides intensive support to service users, crisis management, admission prevention and enabling timely discharges from hospital. The CMHT and HTT teams work closely, providing a responsive service with flexible approach to the needs of service users. The service also works very closely with older adults’ inpatient services, allowing fluid transfer of care between services. The service is co-located and works alongside Westminster City Council mental health service to provide a holistic service to service users and carers. Additionally, we are part of the CNWL project in the implementation of Open Dialogue, an innovative person centred and recovery orientated model of crisis and continuing mental healthcare.Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide leadership to the Home Treatment Team. They will be expected to have well developed clinical skills of their own in order enable them to appropriately guide and supervise staff. Their role will also involve working within the CMHT, carrying out mental health assessments of older adults in the community, providing a broad range of specialist psychosocial treatments as necessary. They will carry their own small protected caseload and be expected to assess patients referred from a variety of clinical settings, acting as a resource and taking the lead in the management and delivery of services where appropriate.The postholder would also support the development clinical pathways across the mental health older adults, including clinical practice and standards, as well as supporting with organisational development and quality improvement strategies. Furthermore, it would involve supporting workforce development, particularly community mental health nursing and allied health professionals ensuring that staff develop the skills and strategies required for their roles in the Community Mental Health Team and Home Treatment Team (HTT). The specialist HTT offers intensive support and treatment to patients in the community in the acute phase of a mental health crisis as an alternative to inpatient care, acts as gate keepers to all admissions and supports early discharge from hospital.Working for our organisation

We believe in making a real difference to the lives of older adults by providing a service that is non-hierarchical, multi-functional and multi-disciplinary, drawing on the expertise of all team members to deliver person-centred assessment, care and support. We work continuously to instill a caring and compassionate culture. We have created a cohesive and proactive team of professionals who are empowered to work across functional divides to deliver the best care for our service users and carers. The team consists of medical staff, nursing, occupational therapists, social workers, administrators, support workers, assistants and clinical psychologists. This enables us to deliver holistic and person-centred care that avoids the need for multiple handoffs and improves patient experience.Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Clinical

To provide clinical leadership for staff within the service; particularly for the home treatment team, being responsible for the clinical practice of the team and ensuring that priorities are met.To assist the team manager in developing a model of working with service users with complex needs, ensuring that services. are provided to the highest possible standard.To deputise for the team manager as needed.Participate in and lead meetings as appropriate.The postholder would be expected to show demonstrable experience of working with older adults/ those with complex physical and MH needs including functional and organic illness, an ability to work flexibly and collaboratively across local environments and strong interpersonal skills.The postholder will be expected to have well developed clinical skills of their own in order to enable them to practice at a high standard, appropriately guide and supervise staff at all levels.To manage a caseload as needed, including providing access and/or deliver a broad range of psychosocial interventions for individual patients, carry out robust risk assessments and care planning.To provide expert advice and consultation in professional matters relating to the postholder’s discipline, and to ensure that expert information and advice is available for the other disciplines in the team.To work with in the relevant legislative frameworks (e.g. Mental Health Act (1983) Mental Capacity Act (2005), Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, Care Act 2014 etc).To ensure that the team works within the relevant frameworks and policies for safeguarding vulnerable adults.To ensure that services within the multidisciplinary team are well co-ordinated in order they are responsive and attuned to the needs of service users, carers and families.To demonstrate a high level of clinical competence both in relation to supervision of staff and direct face to face contact with service users.To ensure that the service works in co-ordination with other Community and Acute In-Patient services.To ensure effective liaison with other relevant agencies.To maintain and develop administrative procedures regarding the recording of case records.To ensure that service users are involved in the development of the team and local services.Communication and Working Relationships

To work in partnership with all disciplines including medical staff, occupational therapy, support worker and social work workforce of Westminster City Council.To work actively in partnership with service users and carers.To engage directly with service users to ensure effective consultation regarding service standards and development.To facilitate and enhance good team working and promote reflective practice.To ensure the team maintains close liaison with all local agencies that support service users, including the Metropolitan Police Service, primary care and voluntary sector organisations.To spend sustained amounts of time with service users whose behaviour may be aggressive and hostile, who may have poor verbal communication skills and self-care and special physical and/or mental needs.To be mindful of the needs of individuals and families from a wide range of racial, cultural, sexual, religious and social backgrounds and, with service users and colleagues, co-produce innovative ways of communicating and working across language and cultural barriers.Where appropriate, provide expert advice regarding the pharmacological management of mental health patients to non-mental health professionals, seeking clinical guidance from the designated Consultant Psychiatrist/GP in relation to any specific prescribing advice.To ensure good working links with any other agencies who may be involved in referring service users or providing services for them.To disseminate professional developments and changes in policy or legislation, information regarding services and community resources, to ensure that staff utilise these services or developments for the benefit of service users.Maintain effective communication within the practice environment and with external stakeholders.Act as an advocate for patients and colleagues.Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate.Report all complaints and/or incidents relating to patients, relatives and/or staff within area as directed in accordance with the Trust’s Complaints Procedure, and ensure the Service Manager is informed. To co-operate with any investigations carried out.Maintain and update statistical information and submit appropriate returns as requiredPerson specification

Qualifications And Training

Essential criteriaProfessional qualification Mental Health Nursing (RMN) with current NMC/HCPC registration.Evidence of continued professional developmentPost-registration qualificationsDesirable criteriaTrained in Open Dialogue or willingness to trainExperience

Essential criteriaExperience of working with older adults/ those with complex physical and MH needs including functional and organic illnessExperience of work in the NHS, PCNs or outreach work, experience of working in voluntary sector, working in community groups.Work with older adults with serious mental health problems: mental health care and/or o working with carers and/orWork with older adults with serious mental health problems : delivering therapeutic group interventions and/or o working in MDTs and/orWork with older adults with serious mental health problems: audit, evaluation or research o Work in multi-cultural settingsWork with older adults with serious mental health problems: Mental health issues as a service user or carer.Desirable criteriaExperience in crisis teams.Knowledge

Essential criteriaUnderstanding of health care systems and structures: staffing, roles and responsibilities, the role of hospitals, primary care and community careTeam/self-management and organisation skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken, revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the serviceKnowledge of counselling skills/cognitive behavioural skills, psychosocial interventionsKnowledge of recovery approaches as used with those with mental health conditionsWork with people from a wide range of backgroundsContain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of othersManage effectively exposure to distressing/highly emotional circumstancesManage effectively verbal aggression from service users, families, etc. and the risk of physical aggressionRespectful and collaborative approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionalsAble to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionallyAbility to engage challenging and/or acutely distressed patients in potentially hostile and/or antagonistic situations and use de-escalation techniques effectivelyAssessment and treatment of Deliberate Self HarmRisk assessment/management and crisis intervention skillsUse of psychosocial assessment methodsSeniority level

Mid-Senior levelEmployment type

Full-timeJob function

Research, Analyst, and Information TechnologyIndustries

Hospitals and Health Care

#J-18808-Ljbffr