Isla Elsmore

• Hold responsibility for preventing unnecessary hospital admissions for autistic individuals by providing specialist clinical input, assessment, and consultancy across all-age mental health services. Deliver early, targeted interventions and autism-informed crisis support to help people remain safely within community.
• Undertake adult (18+) autism assessments using the Adult Asperger’s Assessment (AAA) and DSM-5 criteria, exploring ADHD traits where relevant to inform formulation and pathway referral. Provide expert consultation to multidisciplinary teams including Crisis Teams, Early Intervention and EDIE (Psychosis), CAMHS, Eating Disorder, and Criminal Justice services - often contributing directly to psychiatric formulation, diagnosis, and treatment planning through a neurodevelopmental lens.
• Work directly with autistic people and their families to promote understanding, communication, and stability during crisis or transition. Develop and implement resources such as the Living Well with Autism booklet, relationship boundaries worksheets, and Reasonable Adjustment plans to support self-management and positive engagement with services.
• Lead a Quality Improvement project within the Crisis Care Centre to embed autism-inclusive practice and improve patient experience. Establish and facilitate structured team processes (log meetings, task management, and training sessions) to enhance consistency and skill-sharing across services. Maintain professional currency through ongoing research, webinars, and specialist training, including an ADI licence and ADOS-2 training (to be completed December 2025). Hold knowledge of ADHD assessment tools including CAARS, DIVA, QB Testing, BAARS, and WFIRS to support holistic understanding and care planning.
• Autism Assessment and Liaison Service within Mental Health
• Reporting to: Christopher Lane (Autism Liaison Lead)
• Grade: 6
• Salary: £46,580
• Period of notice: 3 Months
• Reason for leaving: Seeking part time position so I can move into research.

• Provide rapid assessment, formulation, and intervention for individuals of all ages presenting in acute mental health crisis as part of Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team (CRHTT). This includes people experiencing acute symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychosis, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, trauma, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and neurodivergent presentations.
• Undertake comprehensive assessments to determine risk, capacity, and immediate care needs, developing safe and person-centred plans. Outcomes may include community-based support, intensive home treatment, or referral for Mental Health Act assessment where an individual lacks capacity or poses significant risk.
• Work collaboratively with professionals across CAMHS, adult services, police, paramedics, and emergency departments to coordinate care and ensure safety, particularly for children and young people where complex multi-agency decision-making is required. Provide direct support to individuals brought to Crisis Care under Section 136, ensuring they are medically fit and supported while awaiting assessment.
• Utilise advanced de-escalation, communication, and trauma-informed approaches to manage distress and conflict, maintaining safety and dignity throughout. Provide emotional support and guidance to families, particularly parents of neurodivergent young people in crisis.
• Supported the Street Triage Team within Staffordshire Police for three months, providing on-scene clinical advice and assessment in community settings where officers identified a person as potentially mentally unwell. Also worked within the Mental Health Liaison Team at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, completing full mental health assessments for patients presenting to A&E or within the wards with psychiatric needs.
• Responded to medical and psychiatric emergencies as part of a multidisciplinary team, demonstrating calm leadership, sound clinical judgement, and effective risk management in high-pressure environments.
• Mental Health Crisis Care Centre
• Reporting to: Leanne Norman - Centre manager
• Telephone: 01782 441666
• Grade: 6
• Salary: £46,580
• Reason for leaving: Moved into a substantive post within a specialist role. However, I continue to do bank shifts with the team on a regular basis.

• Supported the delivery of the Trust’s clinical governance and patient safety agenda, working alongside divisional management and quality teams.
• Assisted in monitoring compliance with CQC, NICE and national governance standards, and helped prepare reports and action plans for divisional review.
• Provided administrative and practical support for incident reviews, complaints, and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes.
• Helped coordinate the collection and analysis of governance data to identify key themes and trends.
• Contributed to risk management activities, maintaining accurate documentation and supporting teams with updates to divisional risk registers.
• Attended governance meetings and contributed to discussions around service improvement and patient safety.
• Reporting to: Sheila Kasaven
• Grade: 7
• Salary: £40,050
• Reason for leaving: I wanted to return to mental health services.

• Delivered evidence-based mental health assessments (average 6 per week) and held a clinical caseload, providing DBT-informed interventions to adults presenting with anxiety, depression, trauma, and complex presentations.
• Appointed Domestic Abuse Lead for the IAPT service, supporting over 80 practitioners across multiple localities. Developed and implemented a service-wide strategy to improve recognition and response to domestic abuse disclosures.
• Established and maintained strong partnerships with local specialist domestic abuse agencies, co-delivered joint training sessions, and represented the service at domestic abuse conferences.
• Sourced and co delivered domestic abuse awareness and response training, ensuring every practitioner received education aligned to national safeguarding standards and trauma-informed practice. The IAPT team was later recognised by the Trust as the most responsive service in this domain.
• Initiated and led the roll-out of DBT-skills training for all Community Psychiatric Nurses, enhancing therapeutic outcomes and clinical consistency across the team. Oversaw training delivery, maintained a skills-tracking system, and ensured ongoing professional development for all nursing staff.
• Completed extended Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) training to deepen clinical expertise and provide reflective guidance to colleagues in managing emotional dysregulation, self-harm, and interpersonal difficulties.
• Supported continuous service improvement through reflective supervision, data-driven evaluation, and alignment with NICE-recommended interventions.
• Began developing specialist interest and knowledge in autism and neurodevelopmental conditions, independently undertaking additional training and research to inform more inclusive and neuro-affirming practice.

Key Achievements:

• Introduced a structured, trauma-informed domestic abuse protocol adopted across the IAPT service.
• Delivered multi-agency conference presentations and staff workshops on domestic abuse and psychological impact.
• Drove DBT skills implementation across all CPNs, directly improving consistency and patient experience.
• Selected by the Trust to represent North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare on the Florence Nightingale Leadership Programme following a competitive application process; completed the programme, applying leadership learning to drive service improvement and workforce wellbeing.
• Reporting to: Paula Fairclough (CPN Manager)
• Grade: 6
• Salary: £38,762
• Reason for leaving: I felt I had achieved everything I could in this role and was seeking a new challenge.

• Worked as part of a multidisciplinary team on a 22-bedded female acute mental health ward, providing care to adults experiencing acute mental health crises.
• Delivered comprehensive nursing assessments, care planning, medication administration, and ongoing risk management in line with Trust policies and NMC standards.
• Supported patients with a range of diagnoses, including mood disorders, psychosis, and personality disorders, promoting safety, recovery, and discharge planning.
• Participated in ward rounds, handovers, and MDT meetings, contributing to clinical decision-making and coordinated care.
• Maintained accurate, timely clinical documentation and adhered to legal and professional standards around confidentiality and safeguarding.
• Promoted a therapeutic environment focused on stability, de-escalation, and patient engagement during periods of heightened distress.
• Reporting to: Laura Dean (Ward Manager)
• Grade: 5
• Salary: £24,214
• Reason for leaving: Secured a band 6 post in the community