Physician Associate

Sussex Partnership Nhs Foundation Trust; Worthing; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Worthing is seeking a Physician Associate to support psychiatric services, performing clinical assessments of new referrals and reviews, working within a multidisciplinary team.

You will maintain records, contribute to discharge summaries, write letters, chase referrals and participate in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures under the supervision of a Consultant Psychiatrist, with regular supervision meetings to support ongoing development.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical assessments of new referrals and reviews of existing service users under the supervision of a Consultant Psychiatrist.
• Use medical and psychiatric history taking, physical examination, mental state examination and clinical decision-making to manage cases.
• Formulate differential diagnoses and management plans with input from the supervising Consultant.
• Maintain service user records, including test results and patient contacts.
• Review and summarise patient notes for discharge summaries and reports.
• Assist the Consultant by writing letters, pursuing referrals and treatments, and preparing medical notes.
• Carry out diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as agreed and in line with GMC guidance, with supervision as required.

Job description

The Physician Associate or Physician Assistant (PA) will be accountable for ensuring that high quality patient care is always delivered, where they can be a source of continuity for service users by monitoring physical as well as mental health requirements.

The PA will support the effective functioning of the multidisciplinary team and wider service developments through developing knowledge of assessing and managing mental disorders, undertaking quality improvement (QI) work such as clinical audit, gaining knowledge about psychotropic medication and taking a lead role in the physical health of service users.

The PA will have regular supervision (for both clinical and professional supervision) from a designated Consultant, with regular meetings to support on-going development within the role, as well as attending regular continued professional development (CPD) sessions., To provide clinical assessments of new referrals & reviews of existing service users under the care of the service the PA works for. To use medical & psychiatric history taking, physical examination, mental state examination, problem solving and clinical decision-making skills in carrying out this work. To formulate differential diagnoses and management plans with input as agreed by the supervising Consultant. The final or working diagnosis for a service user will need discussion at an appropriate time interval as agreed with the supervising Consultant.

Maintain service user records i.e. record test results, patient contacts.

Review and summarise patient notes for the purpose of contributing to discharge summaries and reports.

Assist the consultant by writing letters, chasing referrals/treatments and preparing medical notes.

Carry out agreed diagnostic and therapeutic procedures which will include (but not be limited to)

In keeping with General Medical Council guidance, the post holder will be responsible for their own practice but working under the supervision of a Consultant Psychiatrist. The supervising Consultant does not need to be physically present when the PA is carrying out their duties but must always be available for consultation if required. There will also be regular supervision meetings to support the PA's ongoing development in the role; the level of supervision will be agreed between the post holder and supervising Consultant but will not be less than monthly in frequency.