Senior Psychiatric Liaison Nurse (SPLN)

This is a newly created Senior Psychiatric Liaison Nurse (SPLN) post based at Guy's Hospital at London Bridge.

Guy's Hospital Mental Health Liaison Team

The liaison team at Guy's Hospital includes a Consultant Psychiatrist and three resident doctors of different grades alongside a Band 8b Clinical P190sychologist and team administrator. The team operates an outpatient service as well as providing psychiatric assessments and treatments to inpatients on the wards at Guy's Hospital. The resident doctors rotate as part of their training and may be away for on-calls, so there will be times when there are fewer people around.

The team receives 190. Referrals for ward patients each year. These patients can be medically complex and have long admissions and could typically be seen once or twice a week by the team.

Guy's Hospital does not have an Emergency Department, so most of the admissions are planned. Guy's Hospital specialises in treatment of cancer, kidney disease, sickle cell disease and orthopaedics.

There is a separate liaison team for older adults and for patients under 18 years of age., The Senior Psychiatric Liaison Nurse (SPLN) is responsible for delivering specialist mental health assessments and supporting care pathways for working-age adults admitted to Guy's Hospital who present with symptoms of mental illness and other medical comorbidity such as sickle cel

The post holder will ensure that patients receive appropriate investigation, treatment and coordinated aftercare throughout their admission .

The SPLN will collaborate closely with acute trust colleagues including the Enhanced Care Team to promote high standards of mental health care within the general hospital.

The SPLN will work both autonomously and jointly with other professionals, with flexibility according to clinical need. This includes shared working with Foundation Year 1 doctors, holding the Smart Page, undertaking joint assessments where appropriate, and providing supervision, guidance and support to junior medical staff.

The post holder will contribute to operational and non-clinical responsibilities essential to safe and effective service delivery. These include health and safety monitoring, governance activities, professionals meetings, exclusion panels and Frequent Attender meetings.

The SPLN is expected to maintain strong working knowledge of psychotropic medications, including recognising common side effects, interactions and treatment responses.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; as well as substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich.