Are you a creative and motivated individual with the passion and drive to support people with a recent diagnosis of dementia to live well in their community?

If so, you can be part of a National Team of Post Diagnostic Support Link Workers (PDS Link Workers) providing high quality, person centered support to people living with dementia and their families for a minimum of a year following diagnosis in line the Scottish Government’s minimum guarantee.

The aim of the PDS National Service is to enable people to live well with dementia and is centered around Alzheimer Scotland's 5 pillar model so that people move on to a period of supported self- management.

The model includes understanding the illness and coming to terms with the diagnosis, peer support, connecting and maintaining links with their community along with planning for future care and decision making to develop an outcome focused plan to support their future hopes, desires, and aspirations.

Supporting our East Lothian locality, the post will be based within the Older Adult Community Mental Health Team, East Lothian Community Hospital, Haddington, EH41 3PF. Alzheimer Scotland’s PDS Link Workers are required to be effective team workers and have the skills to build and maintain relationships with colleagues both within Alzheimer Scotland, the NHS, and other stakeholders.

Skills in using digital platforms are essential as we use a blended approach to support people that involve some virtual meetings and on-line groups.

Applicants must hold a recognised relevant professional qualification, have a good understanding of dementia and how it affects people and their families along with excellent communication skills, a warm flexible approach, combined with skills in empathy and relationship building.

In addition, you should have skills and knowledge at the Enhanced Level of the Promoting Excellence Framework or be able to evidence you are working towards its completion.

This post requires a full driving licence and access to a car.

The successful candidate for this post will be subject to a criminal check through Disclosure Scotland.

Around since 1923, SAMH is Scotland’s national mental health charity. We have represented the voice of people most affected by mental health problems in Scotland for over 100 years. Today, in over 60 communities we work with adults and young people providing mental health social care support, services in primary care, schools and further education, among others.

These services together with our national programme work in See Me, respectme, suicide prevention and active living; inform our policy and campaign work to influence positive social change. SAMH is dedicated to mental health and wellbeing for all: with a vision of a society where people are able to live their lives fully, regardless of present or past circumstances.

About the Role

In alignment with the SAMH “We Won’t Wait” strategy, SAMH aspire to effectively deliver innovative psychological wellbeing service on a large scale where anyone that needs help can get help fast, regardless of income or geography. We are excited to now be recruiting for a skilled and experienced clinician to join SAMH as Clinical Lead to provide clinical oversight and governance at a key time in the development of our psychological wellbeing offer.

Time for You is SAMH’s national psychological wellbeing service that provides a stepped-care model of support to individuals over 16 years old, living in Scotland who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health or wellbeing challenges. Time for You is currently predominantly delivered remotely, with place-based delivery being piloted in select locations, and offers the following support:

• 1-to-1 Cognitive Behavioural Coaching sessions with a Wellbeing Practitioner
• 1-to-1 Talking Therapy sessions with a Student Counsellor or Trainee Psychologist
• Access to self-directed support and resources via Qwell

With a predominant focus on clinical decision making, the Clinical Lead will work closely with the Service Coordinator to assess client referrals in order to determine suitable allocation decisions. The Clinical Lead will also provide guidance to the Service Manager, Service Coordinator or Team Leader on clinical matters, and work closely with them to support and develop the practice of the practitioners and trainees.

The Clinical Lead will have a remit and responsibility for providing clinical governance and oversight to our current national psychological wellbeing service, Time for You, and work closely with the Senior Service Manager to review and implement clinical governance guidance and mechanisms. This would also include conducting audits and sampling of cases to ensure interventions delivered are based on an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems and that practitioners are effectively employing evidence-based approaches and models.

What we are looking for

We’re looking for someone with great clinical and people skills who is enthusiastic, pro-active and passionate about improving access to psychological wellbeing services to join our team and be a part of the expansion of SAMH’s psychological wellbeing services.

Specifically, we’re looking for a confident and experienced qualified clinician (Chartered Psychologist, Psychotherapist or Counsellor) who is an accredited member of a relevant professional body (i.e. HCPC, BACP, BABCP) with at least 5 years post qualification experience and a breadth of experience using multiple approaches and interventions in a range of settings.

We offer placements to students and trainees from multiple training programmes who are at differing stages of their training and utilise different approaches, therefore it is important that you have extensive knowledge of a variety of evidence-based psychological approaches and the ability to formulate appropriate interventions in line with best practice.

You will have excellent knowledge of clinical governance requirements and the ability to translate these into actionable processes and systems, as well as written guidance manuals. You will also be highly organised and solution-focused, able to work autonomously and take initiative to identify development opportunities and present solutions.

Although this role is currently predominantly focused on the Time for You service, psychological wellbeing is a key pillar of our current strategy. As such, you will be able to establish strong working relationships with a range of individuals across the organisation and be able to communicate clinical concepts and requirements clearly to a range of audiences through a range of mediums.

As Clinical Lead, your working hours will typically be carried out during core working hours (9am-5pm, Mon-Fri), however there may be a requirement to work some weekends as needed.

What we will provide for you

You will work in a supportive environment and will be provided with a full induction and training opportunities. You will be given the chance to develop your knowledge and skills, as well as develop professionally. Some of our benefits include;

• Reimbursement of PVG, Disclosure & SSSC annual fees and registration costs.
• Funded continuous learning and development opportunities, access to over 100 courses online in addition to classroom and virtual training sessions
• 30 days annual leave rising to 33 after 5 years’ service (pro rata)
• 4 public holidays (pro rata)
• 2 paid wellbeing days off per year to use on what matters to you (pro rata)
• Team wellbeing budgets
• Workplace pension scheme
• Life Assurance policy
• Employee Assistance Programme

Are you a creative and motivated individual with the passion and drive to support people with a recent diagnosis of dementia to live well in their community?

If so, you can be part of a National Team of Post Diagnostic Support Link Workers (PDS Link Workers) providing high-quality, person-centred support to people living with dementia and their families for a minimum of a year following diagnosis in line the Scottish Government’s minimum guarantee.

The aim of the PDS National Service is to enable people to live well with dementia and is centred around Alzheimer Scotland's 5 pillar model so that people move on to a period of supported self- management.

The model includes understanding the illness and coming to terms with the diagnosis, peer support, connecting and maintaining links with their community along with planning for future care and decision making to develop an outcome focused plan to support their future hopes, desires and aspirations.

Supporting our Highland locality, the post will be based within the Community Mental Health Team at Nairn Town & County Hospital, Nairn. Alzheimer Scotland’s PDS Link Workers are required to be effective team workers and have the skills to build and maintain relationships with colleagues both within Alzheimer Scotland, the NHS and other stakeholders.

Skills in using digital platforms are essential as we use a blended approach to support people that involve some virtual meetings and on-line groups.

Applicants must hold a recognised relevant professional qualification, have a good understanding of dementia and how it affects people and their families along with excellent communication skills, a warm flexible approach, combined with skills in empathy and relationship building.

In addition, you should have skills and knowledge at the Enhanced Level of the Promoting Excellence Framework or be able to evidence you are working towards its completion.

This post requires a full driving license and access to a car.

We are looking for an individual who can carry out a variety of duties within a locality office based in Ardrossan that provides support for people with dementia and their carers in a 7-day service. You will be the first point of contact for people phoning or calling at the service office and you should have a positive approach to dementia.

The role will consist of processing correspondence and other tasks such as photocopying, maintaining records, compiling statistics and databases for the Practice Team Leader and Commissioned Service Lead and other staff as required. Strong IT skills are essential.

Undertaking finance tasks in accordance with organisation guidelines. To bank receipts, submit finance documents and records to the national office on a weekly basis, reconcile petty cash each month and to collate salary information and ensure that details are properly authorised with the Payroll Administrator by the due date each month.

You will also have good organisational and communication skills. Relevant qualifications and/or experience of working with people with dementia would be an advantage.