Clinical Leader For Intellectual Disability Services

Location: Porirua

Contract:  Fixed Term, Part time (0.6 FTE)

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is dedicated to serving all New Zealanders. Through integration and collaboration, we’re building a health system underpinned by partnership, equity, sustainability, whānau-centred care, and excellence.

About the role

The functions of the Clinical Leader role are diverse, but include providing leadership in relation to clinical matters, ensuring an effective clinical governance structure is maintained, implementation of quality and patient safety improvement measures, addressing complaints and medico-legal matters, oversight of recruitment to key clinical positions, ensuring that credentialing of medical staff occurs, and providing support and advice when concerns are raised regarding the working conditions, performance, conduct, or health of clinicians. 

The Clinical Leader leads their service in partnership with the Operations Manager. Together, they will be responsible for all activities required to drive and sustain a tāngata whaiora and whānau centred culture, in which the values of our organisation are lived and realised. 

The Clinical Leader reports to the Clinical Director for the Intellectual Disability Service and supports them to develop and implement high quality and sustainable clinical services within the Intellectual Disability Service. The Principal Clinician, Clinical Nurse Specialists and Care Managers operating within the service report to the Clinical Leader.

The Clinical Leader ID Services works in collaboration with the Clinical Nurse Specialist, Team Leaders, Service Educator and relevant internal and external stakeholders to implement and maintain high quality and sustainable clinical services consistent with the ID Services Model of Care.

The Clinical Leader ID Services is a key contributor to both the RIDSS/ NIDSS/ NISU leadership team and the ID Service Clinical Governance Group. The Clinical Leader ID Services has a mandate to drive best practice across clinical teams and all disciplines within the operational group.

 Other key relationships include partnerships with primary care, NGOs, and other providers operating locally, as well as with the other related positions across MHAIDS.

About the Team/Service Location

The intellectual disability services offer inpatient and community services for adults and youth. We provide evidence-based treatment for care and rehabilitation that prepares people with an intellectual disability to live fulfilling, offence-free lives in the community.

The inpatient service operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and provides assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of the above-mentioned client group.  The service is staffed with medical, nursing, allied health clinicians, mental health support workers, managers and administrators.  The nursing and mental health support worker staff all work rostered and rotating shifts. Other staff work Monday to Friday.

The Community team provides two functions: as a Mental Health Intellectual Disability Team which provides assessment and treatment services in the Wellington region and consultation/liaison and training in the central region; and as a Consultation Liaison team which provides assessment and support in the central region to patients whose behaviour has resulted in legal proceedings.

Our forensic intellectual disability services are for people who have a diagnosed intellectual disability and have committed offences.  These clients are usually care recipients or special care recipients under the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 (IDCC&R) who have been convicted or found unfit to stand trial. Some clients are also in service under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

The work is person-centred, well-planned, monitored and responsive to each client’s psychological formulation and individual risk profile. Care and rehabilitation is progressive and developmental. This includes teaching and learning new skills through therapeutic programmes, experiential learning and staff walking alongside clients. We work alongside whānau and community agencies to provide the best care we can.

The service’s Philosophy of Care is Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). The evidence base for PBS show that the client group is less likely to engage in behaviours of concerns, and more likely to engage in prosocial behaviours and skill development activities, when their quality of life is maximised.

About you

To be considered for this role you will;

• Have extensive knowledge of intellectual disability service delivery, with strengths in the following  areas:
• The application of psychological frameworks to the care and rehabilitation of offenders with an intellectual disability.
• Theories of behaviour change in neurotypical and neurodiverse populations.
• The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation and other forensic frameworks.
• Risk assessment and risk management within a forensic intellectual disability setting.
• Positive Behaviour Support.
• The delivery of forensic intellectual disability services in both inpatient and community settings.
• The legal and ethical frameworks that underpin forensic mental health and intellectual  disability services.
• Equity issues in the delivery of health services.
• Te Ao Māori and, specifically, bicultural models of healthcare.
• Have operated within a complex environment, including meeting the needs of multiple organisations  at the same time.
• Have experience of managing a clinical operation effectively.
• Possess a strong mix of strategic and operational skills that include innovation in health services  and prevention of illness and disability for targeted groups in society.
• Have provision of strategic interpretation and leadership for the vision, strategy and delivery of assigned responsibilities within annual plans.
• Have successful experience in managing internal and external relationships with an assortment of stakeholders, with demonstrated management success in building relationships and gaining the  support and participation of key individuals and groups.
• Have successful experience in leading staff during times of change and change management.
• Have demonstrated ability to find common ground and solve problems for the good of all, represent their own interests and yet be fair to other groups, solve problems with peers with a minimum of  noise, gain trust easily and support peers and encourage collaboration.
• Be a registered practising clinician, with a current annual practicing certificate.

Someone well-suited to the role will place a high value on the following:

• Valuing the contribution of others
• Managing stakeholder relationships
• Pro-active management to achieve outcomes
• Devolution of decision making
• A commitment to contribute at a strategic level
• A commitment to promote primary and secondary clinical research in MHAIDS

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is ‘the weaving of wellness’. We're dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Health New Zealand are committed to being good employers and honouring our equal employment opportunity obligations. We embrace diversity and welcome application from all people, including all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and disability. A workforce that is diverse and inclusive means that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We are pro-equity health organisation, with a particular focus on Māori, Pacific Peoples, and the Disability Community.

How to Apply

To apply please click “apply now.” All applications must be submitted through our online careers’ portal by 27^th October. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Marianne.Lovgren@tewhatuora.govt.nz

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advertisement.