Mental Health Liaison Practitioner

Harrogate Acute Hospital Liaison Service (AHLS) is a multi-disciplinary team of skilled mental health professionals who work in partnership with the Departments, wards, and Multidisciplinary teams of the Harrogate District Foundation Trust (HDFT). The Acute Hospital Liaison team is the single point of access for all referrals from Harrogate District Foundation Trust for persons above the age of 16 years attending Emergency and Urgent Care Departments and/or admitted to Acute trust inpatient wards.

The Harrogate AHLS provides mental health assessment, advice, signposting, and intervention to any person over the age of 16 years who are felt to be presenting with:

• Suspected symptoms of mental health illness/disorder or distress
• Actual diagnosed mental health illness either as a stand-alone presentation or in conjunction with a medical need
• Complex and multiple comorbid conditions involving physical, mental, emotional, social, or psychological needs.

The service provides an all-age pathway for psychiatric care in urgent care settings and acute hospital wards. The liaison team acts to facilitate prompt access to mental health assessment and intervention for those individuals who have an identified mental illness, working closely with the acute care pathway to access inpatient psychiatric admission or intensive home treatment and community response.

The team will also facilitate, where required, prompt medical assessment and intervention for physical needs of a person that have arisen because of an ongoing mental health disorder or behaviours in the context of such that has led to a compromise of that person's health. Staff will liaise with other community services in the primary, secondary, and tertiary setting as well as with addiction services and third sector partners.

The team provides a resource to Acute hospital colleagues for information, advice, and education on mental health issues and collaborates with the Acute hospital staff to support adherence to the Emergency care standards and auditing outcomes against targets. Harrogate Acute Hospital Liaison team operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Team Objectives:

• To identify early the emergence of, or existence of mental health symptoms, that may require timely treatment and management to improve patient outcomes and recovery - reducing risks associated with prolonged hospital stays.
• To identify persons presenting with multiple medical needs in which a medical causation cannot be found, and psychological formulation is required to assess and promote recovery in persons presenting with medically unexplained symptoms or significant health adjustment.
• Patients and carers' mental health needs will be advocated by the liaison team to promote patient experience and care outcomes.
• The Acute hospital liaison team strives to promote a good understanding and positive attitude of mental health across the Acute Hospital trust.
• The Acute hospital liaison team performs several outpatient pathways and processes to support discharge, transition, and access to the right care at the right time by the right team.
• Outreach work includes the opportunity for discovery work and assessment of a person's needs as an alternative to repeat attendances at Emergency departments for help and assistance.
• They also promote stability in patients who are discharged from hospital with needs not otherwise met by existing community services to reduce the risk of readmission.

Our success depends upon working in partnership with patients and the people who support them, and in collaboration with staff of the acute services, other mental health, and mainstream health teams, and voluntary, private, and not-for-profit health and social care providers.