Senior Clinician- The Health Based Place of Safety

Job overview

Band 7 Senior Clinician – Place of Safety

We are seeking to recruit a Senior Clinician to our centralised Place of Safety service within North London NHS Foundation Trust.

The Place of Safety operates as a specialist, 24/7 service providing assessment and care for individuals detained under Section 136. As a centralised service for the Trust, it works closely with The Police, the Mental Health Crisis Assessment Line, and ED's.

The Senior Clinician will be an experienced acute crisis practitioner, demonstrating strong clinical decision-making skills and providing visible, consistent leadership within the service. They will be based at the Place of Safety and will act as the Clinician in Charge for each shift, ensuring the effective day-to-day management of the unit.

Key responsibilities will include overseeing patient flow, managing and responding to incidents, maintaining patient and staff safety, and leading on complex mental health assessments. The post holder will also play a key role in coordinating care, supporting staff through clinical supervision, and ensuring that high standards of care are maintained in line with the specialist nature of the service.

In addition, the role will support effective working across the wider system, liaising with key stakeholders including Police, LAS, Emergency Departments, and the pan-London network, ensuring a responsive and well-coordinated service at all times.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as part of the Hospital Division to support clinicians and managers in developing quality mental health services, whilst meeting the Trusts Clinical Governance standards.

The role involves the provision of clinical expertise, professional leadership, educational/research as well as operational managerial responsibilities. The post holder will ensure that there is senior clinical presence as part of a 24-hour roster, ensure high standards of care and will provide coaching to staff around best practice.

As such, therefore, the post holder must be a Registered Mental Health Nurse or have substantial experience in an acute setting.

The post holder will work in collaboration with service users and carers; ensuring nursing and professional practice is guided by the principles of least restrictive care outcomes, recovery and good clinical practice. Act as an exemplar and professional role-model in embracing core values of dignity, respect, care and compassion.

Please review the Job Description document.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The purpose of this post is to maintain clinical presence in the service, monitor standards of practice and safe staffing levels as well as to support and coach staff around expectations, risk and polices. The post holder must be a Registered Mental Health Nurse or have substantial experience in an acute service, preferably with liaison or crisis team experience in addition to this. The post holder is expected to establish and maintain positive interpersonal relationships with other staff members characterised by trust, mutual respect, Operational Service Manager Clinical Team Manager Senior Clinician Senior Clinician Clinical Specialist Clinical Specialist Clinical Specialist and open, honest communication. These would be at team level, Trust wide and with external stakeholders (e.g other MH Trusts and ED’s)

The post holder will work as part of the Acute Division Service to support clinicians and managers in developing quality mental health services, whilst meeting the Trusts Clinical Governance standards. The role involves the provision of clinical expertise, professional leadership, educational/research as well as operational managerial responsibilities. The post holder will ensure that there is senior clinical presence as part of a 24-hour roster, ensure high standards of care and will provide coaching to staff around best practice. As such, therefore, the post holder must be a Registered Mental Health Nurse or have substantial experience in an acute setting. The post holder will work in collaboration with service users and carers; ensuring nursing and professional practice is guided by the principles of least restrictive care outcomes, recovery and good clinical practice. Act as an exemplar and professional role-model in embracing core values of dignity, respect, care and compassion

This is not an exhaustive list, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.