Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work within the County Wide Primary care Dementia Practitioner service in Cornwall.

This innovative service continues to move forward whilst working with GP’s to meet the needs of the people with a suspected dementia, and a diagnosis of dementia. Based in primary care but with close links to the complex care and dementia community teams you will deliver support and interventions. You will be a key link in the journey for people with dementia and their carers and also offer support to facilitate early diagnosis and detection. You will need to have a passion and motivation for working with people with dementia and be an effective communicator as the role involves liaising with a variety of agencies.

We are seeking highly motivated individuals from a variety of backgrounds including nursing, occupation therapy, psychology and social work and who hold a professional qualification to reflect this. The post holder must be committed to improving quality of life for people with dementia, and their family/carers, as well as leading on developing person-centred care, providing independent expert advice, information and support. Primary care based dementia practitioners meet the needs of people with dementia and their carers living in the community across Cornwall. 

This is a permanent post offering 30 hrs per week and based at Banham House, Bodmin. 

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist support to individuals living with dementia and/or mental ill health (frequently associated with some form of dementia), carers and families and others who are significant to the individual and to work in partnership with general medical colleagues, ensuring physical and mental health needs of people with dementia are considered holistically.

To work with Complex Care and Dementia and memory assessment service teams to provide a comprehensive service across the pathway for people diagnosed with dementia, whilst providing signposting, advice, education and support to both the person living with dementia and their families/
significant other.

To identify individuals with dementia, living in the community, who are not currently recorded on the GP dementia registers and to improve GP’s awareness and detection of dementia. 

Working for our organisation

We’re an NHS community and mental health provider Trust based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We deliver community and hospital-based care to improve people’s physical and mental health. We also provide specialist support to people with dementia or a learning disability.

We are a people organisation and people matter to us. As part of the team, you'll help support the health and wellbeing of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the UK.

Over 4,000 people make up the Trust. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, plus admin and support staff.

We work in people's homes, in community clinics and bases. Some staff work from one of our 13 community hospitals. Our aspiration is to have great people, provide great care, be a great place to work and a great partner.

Approximately 568,000 people live here. A third of people who live in Cornwall are supported by acute hospital services in Devon. As a result, we also work closely with our partners in Devon. In the summer, and during other holidays lots of people choose to visit the area. This increases the numbers of people who use our services.