Senior Clinical Practitioner

Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust; Pembury; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust in West Kent invites applications for a Senior Liaison Psychiatry Practitioner based at Tunbridge Wells Hospital. The role focuses on urgent and routine referrals, comprehensive assessments, and teaching acute hospital staff to improve mental health care delivery.

You will ensure targets and quality standards are met, using IT systems for documentation, and provide supervision and development for Band 6 colleagues within a dynamic MDT.

Responsibilities

• Assess urgent and routine referrals within hospital settings.
• Conduct comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments for various mental health conditions.
• Perform expert risk assessment and safeguarding processes.
• Educate and support acute hospital colleagues on mental health crises.
• Manage complex caseloads with co-morbid physical and mental illness.
• Lead change processes for LPS accreditation and CORE24 service delivery.
• Provide clinical supervision for Band 6 practitioners and support their development.
• Lead in a specialised clinical area (e.g., neurodiversity, dementia/delirium, substance misuse).
• Develop and lead clinical audits and service improvements for users and carers (PREM/CREM).
• Foster close working relationships with acute hospital teams and Kent and Medway Partnership NHS Trust.

Job description

Join our West Kent Liaison Psychiatry Service as a Senior Liaison Psychiatry Practitioner at Tunbridge Wells Hospital. This dynamic role offers a fantastic opportunity to provide vital hospital-based mental health care within a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment.

You’ll be responsible for urgent and routine referrals, complex assessments, and managing diverse mental health needs in a general hospital setting. A key part of the role involves teaching and supporting acute hospital colleagues to enhance their mental health understanding and promote holistic care. You’ll also ensure service targets and quality standards are met, utilising IT systems for documentation.

We’re seeking a proactive, collaborative individual committed to quality improvement, who embodies patient‑centred care, compassion, empathy, respect, and dignity.

• As a crucial Liaison Psychiatry team member, you’ll combine expert clinical practice with leadership.
• You’ll assess and respond to acute hospital referrals, adhering to CORE24 standards (1-hour triage, 4-hour full assessment).
• Your responsibilities include comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments for various mental health conditions.
• You’ll manage complex caseloads of clients with co‑morbid physical and mental illnesses.
• Expert risk assessment and management, including safeguarding processes, are essential.
• You’ll also address situations where social needs outweigh mental or physical health needs, coordinating care plans.
• A key aspect is providing specialist assessment and intervention for adults (18+) with co‑morbid illness.
• You’ll act as an educational resource, offering training, and advice to acute hospital staff and liaison psychiatry colleagues on mental health crises in all age groups
• You’ll foster close working relationships with acute hospital teams and Kent and Medway Partnership Trust.
• You’ll provide clinical supervision for Band 6 practitioners and support their development.
• You’ll also assist in leading change processes for LPS accreditation and CORE24 service delivery
• You’ll lead in a specific clinical area (e.g., neurodiversity, substance misuse, dementia/delirium, self-harm)
• You’ll develop clinical audit initiatives, lead on service improvements for users and carers (increasing PREM & CREM completion), and conduct clinical inductions for new clinicians.

We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway and are rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Our teams support children, young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD.

Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve.

Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It’s why we’re passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that’s working well together.