Clinical Specialist 455 North London NHS Foundation Trust

The Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service (MHCAS) is a dynamic integrated assessment and liaison for North London. The service provides mental health assessments in three Emergency Departments in the newly formed North London Mental Health Trust (NLFT): The Royal Free Hospital, The Whittington Hospital, and University College London Hospital. The role will also require working shifts at the central MHCAS Hub at Highgate.

The MHCAS Hub accepts referrals via self-presentation, the London Ambulance Service, the Police, and transfers from Emergency Departments for further assessment and referrals from Crisis and Community Teams. The service has an ethos of improving both patient experience and outcomes; it was recognized and received the award for Excellence in Mental Health at the UK NHS Parliamentary awards in 2022.

The role will be primarily based in one of the three Emergency Departments with occasional rotation to the MHCAS hub. With a fully integrated emergency pathway, Clinical Specialists have most of their shifts at a ‘home’ Emergency Department; although cross cover may be required.

This is an exciting time to join the service with the aim of becoming a center of excellence.

Clinical Specialist Role

We are looking for skilled and dynamic Clinical Specialists with a passion for delivering outstanding patient care, and a commitment to least restrictive practice and acting in the patient’s best interest. You will be required to complete trauma-informed psychosocial assessments and develop safe and effective collaborative plans with service users. The service acknowledges that we often see people at their most vulnerable and as such it is essential that we provide compassionate and trauma-informed care.

The service is dynamic and fast-paced, and the role, therefore, requires stamina, resilience, and the ability to work in a joined-up way with Trust services as well as with our acute hospital colleagues.

As a central London service, you will see the complete spectrum of mental health presentations from people with very diverse backgrounds, and as such, you will need to be someone mindful of cultural differences.

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
2. With our partners in North London and each borough, we will ensure equity of outcome for all.
3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with a supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
4. We will be more effective as an organization by pioneering research, quality improvement, and technology.

In order to meet the needs of the Trust, you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that falls under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Please see job description and person specification. You can also contact the Clinical Team Manager Medha Appadoo on 07771 379269.

What we offer:

• You will be supported through bespoke in-house training; the aim of the service is to become a leader in training and research. We also have online monthly teaching sessions on specialist topics delivered by Liaison Consultants and Registrars.
• Development opportunities for clinicians who have applied for non-medical prescribing course and AMHP course.
• The liaison team is currently undergoing PLAN (Psychiatric Liaison Accreditation Network) accreditation which outlines the highest evidence-based standards for liaison psychiatry.
• Assured Study with City University London: MHCAS is part of this research study aiming to improve patients’ experience and reduce repeat attendance for self-harm in the Emergency Department; this has led to bespoke training for Clinical Specialists.
• Regular clinical supervision and reflective practice: Support with complex cases and professional development.
• Senior Clinician is always available at MHCAS to provide clinical support and discuss complex cases to support alternatives to admission and effective community options.

The role covers a 24/7 service and therefore, weekend and night working is a requirement of the role. We are an open and supportive team that adapts well to change and responds to changing staff needs.

This advert closes on Sunday 6 Apr 2025.