Physician Associate

An exciting one year fixed term contract opportunity has arisen for Physician Associate to join EPUT and provide support to the Mental Health Urgent care department which caters to adults over the age of 18, who are experiencing a mental health crisis. The department will offer a therapeutic mental health setting to assess urgent mental health presentations which might otherwise have been seen in the A+E department. The service will offer a comprehensive assessment and onward care planning through a diverse and highly skilled mental health workforce incorporating support workers, peer coaches, social worker, nurses and doctors. The service will work closely with existing urgent mental health care pathways and other appropriate services in the local health and social care system, including voluntary care sector organisations, to provide holistic and person centred care., The service will also be working closely with the Basildon A+E department in being able to offer a limited range of physical health interventions in the department itself and if appropriate for onward referral to relevant specialties in the general hospital. The successful post holder will be expected to work flexibly and co-operatively with other members of the clinical team and will be required to cover for colleagues during periods of absence. The Physician Associate role will complement other roles in the team and strengthen the multi-disciplinary team.
The Physician Associate will be supervised by a designated consultant with regular meetings to support on-going development within the role.
The post holder will be based in a in a new, purpose built department based at the Basildon Mental Health Unit on the Basildon Hospital site. When the service is fully functional it will cover the councils of Basildon, Brentwood, Thurrock, Chelmsford, Braintree and Maldon.
The Physician Associate will attend regular CPD sessions to support on-going development. They will be set clear objectives and will be assessed against them by the end of the first year.
Candidate must have PGDip Physician Associate studies or MSc Physician Associate Studies and Membership of UKAPA., · Practice under the supervision of a Consultant Psychiatrist or under the supervision of a senior clinician as delegated by the consultant, to contribute towards clinical/risk assessments, development of treatment plans and documentation.
· Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings, handovers and other relevant clinical meetings.
· Treat patient and their family members using a high degree of empathy and advanced communication skills.
· Respond in a timely way to requests to assess or review patient's physical and / or mental health.
· Record clinical notes about patient contacts and provide advice to staff on further management / investigations / interventions within their competence.
· Review and summarise patient notes for the purposes of contributing to discharge summaries and reports.
· Undertake assessment and assistance to staff in the event of medical emergencies in the department.
· Work collaboratively with the relevant team i.e. Psychiatrists, Junior Doctors, Senior Nurses, Nursing Staff, Support Workers, Occupational Therapists, and Psychologists to ensure good working relationships.
· Liaise with primary care and relevant secondary health care providers relating to a patient's care or treatment.
· Liaise with community teams about a patient's on-going care and treatment needs Support health promotion activities including those relating to smoking, drugs and alcohol.
· Provide psycho-educational support to patients and carers / families.
· Support proactive screening and interventions with regard to the physical health of patients.
· Liaise with pharmacy regarding issues relating to medication.
· Contribute to the development of physical health competencies in mental health staff in a range of settings.
· Carry out procedures which will include (but not be limited to):
o ECG
o Venepuncture
o IV cannulation
o Interpretation of blood or other investigation results
Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered 'suitable alternative employment' to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Important Professional References
Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.
As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.
Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.

EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:
+ We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
+ We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.
EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.

Our vision and values
Our Vision
"To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care".
Our Purpose
"We care for people every day. What we do together, matters".
Our Values
+ We Care
+ We Learn
+ We Empower
Our strategic objectives
+ We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
+ We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
+ We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
+ We will help our communities to thrive.
Our services
+ Mental Health Services
+ Community Health Services
+ Learning Disabilities Services
+ Social Care
Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory., Working for our organisation
Our Vision
"To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care".
Our Purpose
"We care for people every day. What we do together, matters".
Our Values
We Care
We Learn
We Empower
Our strategic objectives
We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
We will help our communities to thrive.
If you share that vision and want to make a difference to the people that use our services, then please contact us to find out more.
Join our Staff bank
What is Staff Bank?
Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.
All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.
If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank., The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.
Covid Vaccination
Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.
If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing [email protected].