Liaison & Diversion Specialist Practitioner / Team Leader

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
• Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.

For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.

Job overview

The Liaison & Diversion service operates an All Age (from age of criminal responsibility – 10yrs), all Vulnerability model based on the National Liaison & Diversion operating model produced by NHS England.

The Liaison and Diversion Deputy Team Leader/Specialist Practitioner is someone with a clinical qualification and experience and knowledge of Health and Social care and with specialist knowledge and experience of working with vulnerable groups and those likely to be disadvantaged by their involvement in the justice system.

The successful candidate will work closely with the Team Manager providing day today supervision and support to the Liaison & Diversion Staff. Be a professionally registered practitioner to work within the Criminal Justice Pathway, providing triage assessment of people with multiple and often complex health, mental health and social needs/vulnerabilities.

The service provides triage to identify unmet needs and vulnerabilities and offer; liaison, onward referral and guidance for persons who have come to the attention of the Criminal Justice Agencies. Whilst providing information to key criminal justice decision makers.

Main duties of the job

Important: This post is requires successful candidates to undergo Police NPPV Full Vetting and this clearance is essential in order to fulfil the role.

Please note: This post is subject to an enhanced DBS Clearance. As part of the pre-employment checks, successful candidates will be required to pay for their own DBS check at a cost of £50. Deductions will be taken from the first 3 months’ salary.

For further information or an informal discussion about the post please contact:

Tel: 07415 732194

or

Tel: 07973770855

Working for our organisation

We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered Healthcare Practitioner
• Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN) or Registered Nurse, Learning Disability or Social Worker or Registered Nurse (RGN) Or Occupational Therapist or Speech Language and Communication Therapist
• Evidence of continuing professional development

• Experience and knowledge of Liaison and Diversion and/or with specialist knowledge and experience of working with groups likely to be disadvantaged by their involvement in the justice system

Knowledge

• Be compliant and competent with regards to Information governance including Data Protection Act
• Knowledge and understanding of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)
• Able to demonstrate a history of participating in clinical care improvement initiatives.

Experience

• Post qualifying experience within their field of specialism or 12 months relevant experience of providing care in a community, criminal justice or secure setting.
• Able to take responsibility for decision making in unpredictable work contexts
• Demonstrate leadership skills within mental health, learning disability or liaison and diversion services

Skills

• A critical understanding of detailed theoretical and practical knowledge and actively integrates theory and practice
• Able to provide support and responsibility for team performance and service development
• Demonstrates mastery of methods and tools in a complex and specialised work area

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Please be aware, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when submitting an application is monitored and if you have used AI to generate an application, you are required to declare this on your application form. Failure to do so, may result in your application being withdrawn.

We want to highlight the importance of integrity and authenticity in your application form, and ask you to use AI tools responsibly to ensure your application form is a true reflection of your skills, knowledge and experiences.

We are looking for you to demonstrate personal experiences of how you meet the essential criteria and as an NHS Employer, we value authenticity and honesty.

Please consider that AI-generated content may lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description providing impersonal and inaccurate information.

Please ensure that you read the person specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document.

Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.

For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).

You are advised to consider applying for LSCft vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.

LSCft is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (particularly those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation.

Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. If there is anything you’d like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.