Police Liaison Practitioner | West London NHS Trust

We now have an exciting opportunity to recruit two full time Band 6 Police Liaison and Diversion Practitioners to join our well established but now expanding and progressive team working in MET police custody suites, Acton and Hammersmith. These custody suites serve large diverse boroughs within the West London area and can be busy and at times unpredictable, with everyday being different and an opportunity to develop your clinical skills/knowledge and experience.
The police Liaison teams sits within a wider Liaison and Diversion service in West London NHS Trust, including Court Diversion at Westminster, Isleworth Crown Court and Youth Justice.
We are looking for suitably experienced mental health professionals rather than one particular discipline. We are interested in hearing from mental health nurses, social workers or occupational therapists, who have an interest in the Criminal Justice System and offending.
The successful applicants must be able to demonstrate knowledge and direct experience of the crisis pathways and risk management to a high standard and should have previous experience working with vulnerable young people and adults within acute, community and/or forensic settings. We would expect potential candidates to have a minimum of two years’ clinical experience and have some direct experience of working autonomously and making decisions without constant supervision.
We provide proactive screening and assessment to individuals within Police custody, identifying need/vulnerabilities, signposting to other services and where indicated diverting to health. This will be on the day and you will be expected to gather collateral information and perform a mental state and risk assessment, while offering advice/information to custody staff. Data collection and recording is also essential to the role to support service evaluation and development.
You will be primarily screening those over 18 but at times will be expected to assess children and young people if our Youth team is not available. Our aim is to improve overall health outcomes, reduce further police contact and re-offending rates, and to avert disorder-related crises.
The service needs practitioners who are able to think quickly and work largely independently (with limited/some supervision) under pressure when screening and assessing vulnerable people in police custody, often with high levels of complexity. This is a non health care setting. You will also need excellent communication and strong risk management/assessment skills while demonstrating a commitment to close partnership working with the Police and other agencies, both statutory and voluntary. You will also need to be excellent in report writing as we send reports to Courts following our assessment, to guide justice makers in appropriate disposal or/and suggest adaptations for the individual.
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ 4,500 staff, of whom 56% are BME. Our turnover for 2023-24 is £426m.
The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overall by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
The post holder will work under the remit of the Forensic Community Service providing a proactive assessment, liaison and diversion service in two Police Custody Suites within the West London area.
The post holder will join an established team which already comprises of Band 7 and Band 6 Police Liaison Practitioners. The post holder will work in partnership with health, social services and the criminal justice system, to ensure that individuals presenting with mental health problems in police custody have their needs addressed and are diverted into appropriate health care services as necessary. Unsocial hours working will be required, weekend and Bank holidays.
This advert closes on Sunday 18 Feb 2024