Primary Care Dementia Practitioner - DOPMH

Primary Care Dementia Practitioner - DOPMH

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

As a Primary Care Dementia Practitioner you will be a part of a specialist team who are based across Cornwall and are passionate about providing support for people with dementia, their families, and carers.

We work closely with the Memory Assessment Service and Dementia Older People's Mental Health to provide seamless support throughout a person's journey with dementia, helping people to live as well as possible, for as long as possible, in their own community.

Primary Care Dementia Practitioners listen, assess, problem solve and put solutions in place, thereby, avoiding crisis, preventing admissions to care home or hospital.

As a successful candidate you will work closely with a designated group of GP surgeries and hold a case list of people who have been diagnosed with dementia and are registered to those GP surgeries.

This is a particularly exciting time for Primary Care Dementia Practitioners as we are embarking on a joint venture between Alzheimer's Society, Disability Cornwall and Memory Matters, strengthening our collaborative working to make a positive difference for people with dementia, their families and carers.

This is an opportunity for applicants who are highly motivated, with transferable skills from previous experience working in Mental Health, Dementia or Physical Health and from a perspective which may be General Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Social Work or a variety of other professional backgrounds.

Main duties of the job

As a Primary Care Dementia Practitioner you will:

• Offer a skilled assessment to identify the needs of people with dementia and their family carers.
• Provide specialist information and advice for carers on the different aspects of caring for a relative or friend with dementia.
• Work with people and their families from their diagnosis throughout their dementia journey, providing emotional, psychological support and guidance on how to access services.
• Help family carers to develop and improve their skills so they can assist with caregiving.
• Promote positive approaches to living well with dementia.
• Ensure the person with dementia is at the centre of everything we do.
• Work closely with the Memory Assessment Service and Dementia Older People's Mental Health Service, providing a comprehensive and seamless service across the pathway.
• Work alongside other professionals and organisations to ensure care is coordinated.
• Improve GP awareness, assessment, and diagnosis of people with dementia and identify people with dementia on the GP dementia registers.
• Work with family carers to enable them to express their wishes and views about the services they receive.
• Have access to supervision and appraisal to develop your own area of expertise to support the service to develop and meet the needs of the local community more effectively.

About us

We're an NHS community and mental health provider Trust based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We deliver community and hospital-based care to improve people's physical and mental health. We also provide specialist support to people with dementia or a learning disability.

We are a people organisation and people matter to us. As part of the team, you'll help support the health and wellbeing of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the UK.

Over 4,000 people make up the Trust. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, plus admin and support staff.

We work in people's homes, in community clinics and bases. Some staff work from one of our 13 community hospitals. Our aspiration is to have great people, provide great care, be a great place to work and a great partner.

Approximately 568,000 people live here. A third of people who live in Cornwall are supported by acute hospital services in Devon. As a result, we also work closely with our partners in Devon. In the summer, and during other holidays lots of people choose to visit the area. This increases the numbers of people who use our services.

Job responsibilities

To view a detailed job description and person specification including the main responsibilities of this role please see supporting documents.

Person Specification

Knowledge and abilities

• Knowledge of approaches that promote the well-being of people living with dementia.
• Experience of engaging with people living with a long term condition/mental health problem or dementia and their families.

Education / Qualifications

• Current professional registration - NMC, HCPC.

Skills and Aptitude

• Develop and maintain good professional relationships with health, social work and independent sector staff.
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team.

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.