Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. We work in over 60 countries, offering assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. MSF Operational Centre Brussels is looking for a:

Psychiatrist Focal Point (m/f)

Migrants and refugees have the right to access to shelter, food, medical and psychosocial care as well as to objective information on asylum procedures and their rights. The political context is unfavorable: restrictive and deterrent policies, talk of criminalization of migrants, incidents involving police and migrants, limitation of the number of people who can apply for asylum, etc. The “ping-pong game” between local, regional and federal politics to find out who is responsible for welcoming migrants has the consequence of leaving them on the street or under the responsibility of volunteers and / or NGOs. In addition, during the period of the electoral campaign in 2019, migrants were regularly stigmatized by the largest political party in Belgium. This stigma has resulted in an adaptation of the speech of almost all our politicians (regardless of their obedience) against the “illegals” or the “transmigrants” for fear of losing votes.

Several Belgian NGOs and civil society actors have joined forces and provide a series of humanitarian services as part of a joint project, the humanitarian hub, which aims to respond comprehensively to the needs of migrants and refugees in transit. The hub offers medical care, mental health care, a family link search service, clothing distribution, social and legal assistance, as well as possibilities to recharge cell phones and telephone communications with the family. Within this humanitarian hub, Médecins Sans Frontières provides mental health care and actively participates in the management and coordination of the project.

After a year and a half of presence in the humanitarian hub in the field of mental health, our activities have highlighted a lack of structural response for the migrant population in transit who need more sustained psychological care. This is why we have created a second line service to provide this psychological follow-up and thus increase our mental health care offer and meet the needs observed. Organizational and structural limits and the lack of projections for the future of the hub limit us in the development of new activities.

The Covid19 pandemic has also brought many changes to the current context and after being highly involved in this emergency response, the project continues to adapt to it.

Target population:

• 700 to 1000 migrants in transit in Brussels (turnover therefore, a renewal of the population is observed approximately every 3 months).

• Among the migrant in transit population, the number of people suffering from moderate to severe mental disorders is estimated at 26%. (The estimate varies according to the different studies on the subject, and according to the different political configurations and tendencies, we speak of 18 to 41%).

Expected results:

• Within the hub (new cases): 35 to 50 first line consultations / month.

• In the psycho-social structure (only on references) / (follow-ups): 150 to 200 consultations / month (psychiatric follow-ups, psychiatric care, socio-legal support).

MISSION

To provide psychiatric treatment and collaborate with MSF team and existing network on the integration of it in order to insure the continuity of care for the patients suffering from severe and common psychiatric disorders.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

• Doing consultations and providing treatment for patients suffering from severe and common psychiatric disorders with specific attention to the cultural context.

• Coordinating and supervising the psychiatric nurse, psychiatrists volunteers and detached Psychiatrists, i.e. timetables, HR related tasks (appraisals, objectives) and any other tasks related to team management.

• In close collaboration with the psychiatric nurse, facilitating the hospitalizations of the severe patients and following-up patients during hospitalization and after discharge.

• Sensitizing the volunteers and detached Psychiatrists on diagnosis and treatment of severe and common mental health disorders according to MSF guidelines.

• Participating to the team meetings as a member of the mental health team..

• Ensuring that guidelines and psychotropic medications from MSF standard drug list are available in the project.

• Participating in the redaction of Standard Operation Procedures with the Project Mental Health Referent.

• Ensuring that proper information on treatment and follow up are collected in order to monitor the provision of care.

• Evaluating in-country available psychiatric services including possibilities for psychiatric hospitalization and the quality of these services and developing the mapping.

• Building a relationship with FEDASIL, Red Cross and any other actors in order to ensure the sustainability of psychiatric treatment.

PROFILE


Education

· Medical Doctor degree, specialized training in psychiatry.

Experience

· Essential: Working experience as a psychiatrist.

· Experience in training and supervision.

Languages

· Essential: good knowledge of French and/or Dutch.

Knowledge

· Essential: Computer literacy (word, excel and internet)

Competencies

· Capacity to work in a multidisciplinary team.

· Strong communication and organizational skills

· Works towards objectives, preserving established standards.

· Shares information and coordinates with team and others.

· Adapts behavior to the needs of the situation.

· Understands other people’s stress.

Other

· Adherence to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment and to the MSF Behavioral Commitments.

CONDITIONS

· 1-year Fixed-term contract - Part time (50%) - extendable **

· Expected starting date: As soon as possible.

· Location: Brussels, Belgium

· A dynamic and stimulating work environment alongside multicultural colleagues

This vacancy is archived.

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