This post is only open to internal applicants.

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1.8 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

King’s is one of the UK’S largest and busiest teaching Trusts and has a unique profile of local services and focused tertiary specialities, together with an international reputation for its work in liver disease and transplantation, neurosciences, fetal medicine, cardiac and blood cell cancer and major trauma.

We are seeking five exceptional individuals to act as ETOC team leaders, providing a 24/7 triage and assessment service for our most vulnerable patients. The postholder will work closely with emergency department and inpatient ward staff, providing expert assessment and allocation of resources, and providing motivational leadership to a team of junior staff, role modelling a psychologically safe and trauma-informed approach.

The ETOC team leader is a vital role within the KCH Enhanced Therapeutic Observations and Care team, providing expert triage, risk assessment and dynamic management of enhanced care across the Denmark Hill site.

Responsibilities

• Triage all requests for ETOC at Denmark Hill, providing a face to face assessment and risk formulation, and allocating resource as appropriate
• Support the development and monitor the delivery of detailed risk and care plans with the wider team
• Provide a fast response supporting teams in managing emergencies involving MH or behaviour that challenges
• Ensure effective handovers and a constant and dynamic review of the ETOC caseload, moving resources in response to pragmatic risk formulation
• Providing excellent liaison and communication with MHLTs, Vulnerabilities, Security and other relevant teams
• Develop collaborative relationships with care group matrons, ward managers and other MDT team members
• Support the MH Matron and Associate Director of Nursing for Mental Health with the wider Trust agenda where appropriate
• Provide direct supportive supervision to junior ETOC staff
• Operate a 24/7 single point of access triage service for Enhanced Therapeutic Observations and Care across the entire Denmark Hill site, responding quickly to referrals and providing rapid assessment and risk formulation
• Providing leadership alongside 4 other B7 ETOC Team Leaders to a team of RMNs and CSWs focussed on providing high quality and effective ETOC to the Acute Specialty Medicine wards and Emergency Department at Denmark Hill
• Providing advice on level and duration of observations, allocating and moving resource as required and seeking further staffing through staff bank as required
• Maintaining an accurate and dynamic caseload of all patients receiving enhanced care across the Denmark Hill site, and facilitating regular rolling review throughout the day enabling step down at the earliest opportunity and if required, an increase in support if necessary
• Mobilising and supporting resource within the team to develop individualised and person-centred care plans, ensuring patients are engaged therapeutically with a view to proactively managing potential distress and escalations and ensuring successful admission and outcomes
• Role model a psychologically safe and trauma informed approach throughout the team, both in relation to patient care and within working relationshps
• Provide authorative and expert advice and management of emergencies related to mental health care or behaviour that challenges, taking a lead role where required
• Coordinate and collaborate with liaison psychiatry, medical, and nursing teams
• Ensure accurate and timely clinical documentation in accordance with Trust policies.

Requirements

• NMC Registration Mental Health Nurse
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Experience of acting as a duty senior nurse in a mental health setting, or similar
• Training in trauma-informed care, mindfulness or grounding techniques
• NMC Registered Adult, Paediatric or LD Nurse
• Extensive experience in mental health nursing within a hospital setting
• Experience working in mental health crisis care or Liaison Psychiatry
• Experience of managing acute risk in the context of mental illness, physical health and psychological distress
• A thorough working knowledge of relevant legislation including Mental Health Act 1983, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Human Rights Act 1998, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards 2007, Care Act 2014 and other safeguarding legislation
• Ability to form effective working relationships with patients and their families, and to engage in safety planning and risk management
• Ability to evaluate complex psychosocial needs of patients and those close to them
• A thorough understanding of risk and the management of risk, particularly in relation to mental health, suicide and self-harm
• Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care to meet the needs of service users

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

About King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.