Mental Health Liaison

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust; Otterbourne; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional ambulance service is seeking a Mental Health Liaison to enhance mental health delivery across urgent care settings. This role involves collaboration with NHS partners, driving clinical leadership, and improving services for individuals with mental health needs. The ideal candidate should possess expertise in mental health, strong leadership skills, and a commitment to quality improvement. Benefits include comprehensive training, NHS pension, and access to professional development opportunities.

Benefits

27 days holiday increasing with service

NHS Pension Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Experience in mental health delivery and transformation in urgent care.
• Ability to work collaboratively across multi-disciplinary teams.
• Strong understanding of health inequalities and accessible healthcare.

Responsibilities

• Support the embedding of mental health delivery in SCAS.
• Drive transformation and manage operational pressures within mental health response.
• Lead on Directory of Service development and visibility.

Skills

Mental Health Expertise

Clinical Leadership

Teamwork

Communication Skills

Quality Improvement

Job description

The Mental Health Liaison post is based within SCAS, working alongside the Clinical Lead for Mental Health and Learning Disability, relevant Mental Health Trusts, NHS 111 and the Hampshire Mental Health Triage Service operationally.

The postholder will support the embedding of mental health delivery in SCAS as well as driving clinical leadership, education, engagement and alignment with mental health transformation in urgent and emergency care.

A key aspect of this work will focus on driving transformation and mental health delivery within SCAS service overall, but with a particular focus on maintaining and developing wider networks of support across Hampshire in order that patients receive excellent mental health care. This role will involve the post holder being a subject matter expert within SCAS on all aspects of Mental Health and also support person‑centred care, clinical and professional leadership and foster a culture of teamwork, communication, collaboration, quality improvement, and producing clear reports. The aim of the role is to reduce the number of conveyances and calls to NHS 111/999 systems by developing care closer to home. The role represents the key link between parent organisations including The Police, Mental Health providers and Integrated Care Boards.

• To work alongside the Trust Clinical Lead for Mental Health and Learning Disability to form a team with capacity to cover Trust requirements for Mental Health Leadership.
• This role supports the delivery of inclusive, person‑centred care by identifying and addressing barriers to access, tailoring services to meet diverse needs, and working proactively to reduce health inequalities across underserved communities.
• To embed the Quality Principles and Clinical Standards within SCAS for Mental Health and response KPIs.
• To address operational pressures within 999/111 around mental health response and demand.
• To be a link to influence Suicide Prevention across Hampshire.
• To provide direct line management to the Complex Care Team Leader, working on agreed objectives to reduce the number of calls to 111 and 999 services.
• To work in partnership with NHS 111 to develop NHS Pathways (Digital) MH Configuration.
• To identify opportunities to further support people with co‑occurring mental health and substance problems with local authorities and mental health partners.
• To be instrumental and lead on Directory of Service development and visibility including promotion of MiDoS access for paramedics.
• To ensure all are profiled onto NHS 111 DoS as a minimum in the short term.
• To work bilaterally with MH NHS111, clinical assessment services (CAS) and 999 ambulance.

Benefits We Offer

• Full training and a range of courses which you can book locally.
• Holiday entitlement of 27 days, rising to 29 days after 5 years’ service and 33 days after 10 years’ service, plus an additional 8 days bank holiday (pro rata for part‑time).
• Automatic enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.
• Access to continual professional development within SCAS and the wider NHS.
• Occupational Health support and direct access to our Employee Assistance Programme as well as our own Health and Wellbeing Team.
• NHS Discounts in over 200+ stores saving money on holidays, days out, car insurance, restaurants, clothing and much more.
• Ability to join our staff networking groups (as a member, ally or just for interest).

Corporate Induction

It’s really important for us to ensure you have the best onboarding experience which allows you to feel a sense of belonging from the start. To help with this, we will book your Corporate Induction as soon as we possibly can (depending on availability). All new starters need to attend our Corporate Induction in person, this is held over one and a half days from our educational centres based in: Newbury (Berkshire), Bicester (Oxfordshire) or Whiteley (Hampshire). More specific details will be sent to you once your start date has been confirmed.

Please note – depending on your role additional training may be required following on from your corporate induction.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Duncan Robertson, Job title: Chief Paramedic, Email address: [e-mail]