Primary Care Liaison Practitioner

Job overview

We are looking for a part-time (22.5hrs/week) experienced clinician to join our Primary Care Mental Health Liaison team for a fixed term of 1 year.

The Richmond Wellbeing service was an innovative service development back in 2012 combining two service elements in order to provide seamless care packages of medical and psychological aspects of mental health care based in primary care.

The Primary Care Liaison (PCL) team accepts referrals from Richmond GPs and other statutory/non-statutory services and provides consultations for GPs; outpatient assessments; and brief periods of interventions/follow up care for people with common mental health problems. PCL clinicians routinely provide medication and diagnostic reviews as well as referrals to specialist providers or community support agencies. In addition to this, PCL’s work closely with the Primary Care Networks across Richmond and Twickenham, offering line management and clinical supervision to junior mental health staff. The team also has an important role in promoting effective liaison between primary and secondary care mental health services throughout the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as one of our Mental Health Practitioner within the Primary Care Liaison team (PCL) in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. The Primary Care Liaison team is an integrated part of the Richmond Wellbeing Service, working alongside colleagues delivering the IAPT psychological therapies program.

This is a front-line role requiring flexibility, robust clinical confidence, a positive, service-oriented approach, and the ability to effectively communicate with a wide array of professionals and stakeholders.

Please note that this role does not involve providing psychological therapy or counselling in IAPT.

The role requires a high degree of autonomy and self-management and in return you will receive weekly team clinical supervision, support in case management and opportunities for clinical and managerial development.

We would especially welcome candidates with experience in Quality Improvement and audit or service development more generally.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To promote clinical excellence and work within the framework of evidence based medicine and best practice.
• To liaise effectively and pro-actively with GP Practices, Integrated Recovery Hubs/Single Point of Access (SPA), and other voluntary organisations, creating positive working relationships and positive service experience for services user, carers and other professionals.
• To encourage and support service users’ and carers’ involvement in their care and treatment.
• To work as an effective member of the multi-disciplinary team ensuring effective communication with other team members, other professionals and members of the community.
• To ensure service users receive a timely and effective Primary Care Mental Health intervention, as agreed by pathways, protocols and NICE guidelines.
• To ensure referrals are processed appropriately.
• To deliver comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments, diagnostic formulations and clinical reviews and clinical interventions with and for service users
• Offering medication reviews and advise to patients, carers and GP’s
• To ensure effective transfer of secondary care service users to Primary care, including service users on depot medication (Depot Enhanced Service). This transfer will be based on detailed clinical reviews and systematic analysis of patients’ needs which will be undertaken by the post holder.
• To support GPs and other professionals in primary care with assessing and treating patients by role modelling, facilitating, and training.
• To deliver consultation, advice and clinical supervision to other members of the clinical team regarding Primary Care service provision.
• To lead multi-disciplinary and multi-agency clinical meetings when required