Specialty Doctor - CRHTT Eastbourne

We have an exciting opportunity for an SAS psychiatrist to join the Eastbourne Crisis and Home Resolution Team (CRHTT) and the Haven in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

The Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team (CRHTT) provides a 7 day per week service to people experiencing an acute psychiatric crisis. The team provides an alternative to acute hospital treatment by offering intensive community-based interventions and gatekeeping all potential hospital admissions. Where a hospital admission does occur, CRHTT can assist in shortening the inpatient stay by facilitating supportive discharge back to the community.

The post also provides medical input to the Haven. The Haven is a 4-chaired, nurse-led, community-based mental health crisis service designed to provide rapid assessment (up to 24hrs) and short-term support for individuals experiencing acute mental health distress.

Both CRHTT and the Haven are based within the Department of Psychiatry in Eastbourne, on the site of Eastbourne District General Hospital.

For further information about the post, please see the Job Description and Person Specification.

Job description

The post-holder will provide high-quality psychiatric care as part of the Eastbourne Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team (CRHTT) and The Haven to support the clinical delivery of the service. This vacancy has arisen due to the previous post-holder moving to another post within the NHS, and the Trust sees this as a valuable opportunity for a Specialty Doctor to contribute meaningfully to the team's ongoing development.

This post adds to the medical establishment of the team providing a minimum of one whole time equivalent (WTE) consultant psychiatrist and one WTE SAS grade doctor for Eastbourne CRHT and Haven.

The post-holder will have a 9 PAs of direct clinical contact and a minimum of 1 PA of SPA time.

CRHTT

CRHTT typically receives around 25 new referrals weekly, including assessments for service users who are referred by their GP via the agreed 4-hour urgent referral pathway. CRHTT provide a gatekeeping function for all adult acute inpatient requests to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, ensuring that the least restrictive principles of care and treatment are achieved.

CRHTTs have a zoning system in place. This Red, Amber and Green (RAG) system is used to reflect assessed risk and associated intensity of CRHTT contact. All patients will be in the Red Zone for the first 72 hours and seen by qualified and senior staff. Those patients who are considered complex either by individual clinicians and/or raised during the handover are to be escalated immediately to medical staff.

The post-holder is expected to be present for weekly MDT meetings and weekly complex case discussions. They will also be available at short notice to review patients, respond to emergencies and provide advice to other team members. The consultant psychiatrist will be expected to undertake home visits to assess and follow up patients as part of their role. They will not carry their own case load or be required to act as care co-ordinator or key worker.

The post-holder is expected to collaborate with the wider MDT in overseeing risk assessment and formulation; approving key management decisions (e.g. discharge, medication changes, escalation to inpatient care); and ensuring that risk management plans are appropriate and effective.

Haven

The post-holder will assess and treat Haven patients who have been identified by the nursing team as needing medical input. As the Haven is a nurse-led unit, it is expected that the post-holder will work collaboratively with the nursing team.

In addition, the post-holder will be expected to review any Extended Length of Stay Patients who have been in the Haven for over 24 hours and provide the necessary physical health assessment, VTE assessment and a formal drug chart.

The post-holder will work closely with other Sussex Partnership teams, including:

Assessment and Treatment Service (ATS)

Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Teams

Learning Disability and Neurodevelopmental Services

Mental Health Liaison Services (MHLT)

Specialist Older Adult Mental Health Services (SOAMHS)

Crisis pathways including Blue Light Line, Rapid Response and the Sanctuary (a Crisis House in Hastings)

Sussex Partnership's Housing Team

Staying Well, a drop-in service providing out-of-hours crisis prevention services in Eastbourne. Open 7 days a week, this service provides evening and weekend recovery-focused support to help people manage their mental health, stay well and prevent crisis.

Person specification

Qualifications/Eligibility

Essential

• MB BS or equivalent medical qualification.
• 4 years at full-time postgraduate training or higher or equivalent experience with at least 2 years in a specialty training programme in a relevant specialty
• Fully registered with the GMC with a licence to practise at the time of appointment.

Desirable

• Qualification or higher degree in medical education, clinical research or management.
• MRCPsych
• In good standing with GMC with respect to warning and conditions on practice
• Approved clinician status OR able to achieve within 3 months of appointment

Transport

Essential

• Holds and will use valid UK driving licence OR provides evidence of proposed alternative

Clinical Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Essential

• Excellent knowledge in specialty
• Excellent clinical skills using bio-psycho-social perspective and wide medical knowledge
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English

Desirable

• Wide range of specialist and sub-specialist experience relevant to post within NHS or comparable service

Academic Skills & Lifelong Learning

Essential

• Able to deliver undergraduate or postgraduate teaching and training
• Demonstrate commitment to shared leadership & collaborative working to deliver improvement.
• Participated in continuous professional development
• Participated in research or service evaluation.

Desirable

• Experienced in clinical research and / or service evaluation.
• Evidence of achievement in education, research, audit and service improvement: awards, prizes, presentations and publications.
• Has led clinical audits leading to service change or improved outcomes to patients

About the employer

We provide NHS care and treatment to children, young people, adults and older people who have mental health problems, learning disabilities or neurodiversity needs.

We employ about 5,700 staff. Many of our services are provided in partnership with other organisations. We provide care in people's homes, in specialist clinics, hospitals and GP surgeries.

As well as being a provider of services across Sussex we also commission specialist beds. Working with NHS and independent sector healthcare organisations across the South-East we are the lead provider in three Provider Collaboratives. These cover adult eating disorders, secure care and children and young people inpatient services.

Sussex Partnership was formed in April 2006 as an NHS Trust and established as an NHS Foundation Trust with teaching trust status in August 2008. We work closely with Brighton and Sussex Medical School, a partnership between the Universities of Brighton and Sussex. In 2015, we became a member of the Association of UK University Hospitals, the representative body for university hospitals with major teaching and research interests across the UK and internationally.

Our services are rated 'good' by the Care Quality Commission and 'outstanding' for caring. We work closely with other health and care partners to provide the best possible care to our local populations. We have strengths in innovation, including our work in the field of research and development.