Senior Mental Health Practitioner

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a forward thinking and motivated senior mental health practitioner to work within the Police and court services across north and central London sites which is part of the North London Foundation Trust.

The post holder will remain flexible working 5 shifts per week across the north and central London sites which include police custody suites, Crown and Magistrate’s Court’s. The post holder will provide an all age autonomous screening and assessment service at the respective sites; respond professionally to requests for information and assistance; utilise their discretion as an independent professional and understand the importance of partnership working within the police and court services.  An excellent awareness of the care pathway for vulnerable children and adults is essential when undertaking the mental health practitioner role within Liaison and Diversion services.

The service currently runs 7 days per week which includes bank holidays and weekends covering across the hours of 7am – 10pm. The service provides provision at the following sites and practitioners are expected to work across all sites.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide an all-age autonomous identification, screening, assessment and onward referral service at the respective sites; respond professionally to requests for information and assistance; utilise their discretion as an independent professional and understand the importance of partnership working within our host system partners.  An excellent awareness of the care pathway for vulnerable children and adults is essential when undertaking the senior mental health practitioner role within Health in Justice Liaison and Diversion services..

Knowledge of broader mental health services is important in delivering this role in an effective manner and there is an emphasis on working with other professional disciplines, sharing knowledge and skills whilst advocating for the service user.

Understanding of relevant legislation is important within this role. The post holder will have excellent awareness of confidentiality and information sharing guidelines at all times. This information may be both complex and sensitive and require excellent communication and negotiation skills to provide the service as an autonomous and independent senior practitioner within these environments. The applicant will be responsible for assessment of information in partnership with the criminal justice system, and other agencies, to determine the level of risk to people with mental health issues or other vulnerabilities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In essence, this service is a coordinated and integrated approach to identify, screen. assess and refer on those in police custody that present with either existing or acute health or social vulnerabilities, and to provide earlier intervention within the offender pathway. This service is for people of all ages and all vulnerabilities.

The enhancement and development of relationships within criminal justice services and building strong links between Healthcare, Social Services and the Criminal Justice system itself is an essential part of the post holder’s role.

A team of autonomous senior mental health practitioners are based within police custody suites across Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington feeding into Wood Green Crown Court and Highbury Corner Magistrates Court with support and supervision provided by the Clinical and Operational Leads. The service also provides a service to the Wapping based marine policing unit and a clinical supervisory function to a partnership third sector community link service that follows vulnerable persons when exiting the criminal justice system.

Additionally, we are seeking to develop innovative approaches to working with mental health services, both locally and across London, for example, through attendance at community teams, linking with YOTs and CAMHS services, participating in service reviews and recording information that demonstrates and supports the benefits of liaison and diversion.

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

Please note that as this role is working alongside police additional high-level security vetting is a requirement of the role. The role will require security clearance to National NPPV2 with CTC level with the Metropolitan Police Service and / or the British Transport Police which can take an extended period of time. Full DBS clearance will be required for this position.