Senior Mental Health Practitioner
Thank you for your interest for the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT), it is an exciting time to join us and being part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:
- Collaborate at every level by living our Values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
- Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
- Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
- Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
- Ensure that research, Quality Improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
- Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do
We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.
The North London Way to deliver, Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.
Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/
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 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust.The post holder will remain flexible working across the north and central London sites which include police custody suites, Crown and Magistrate’s Court’s and British Transport Police stations over a total of nine sites. 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 is currently under a tender procurement process and subject to operational re-design
Main duties of the job
You will be able to undertake comprehensive mental health and risk assessments; develop effective risk management plans, provide brief interventions and be confident in signposting individuals whom come through the range of services and require follow up outside of the scope of 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.
Working for our organisation
The partnership between Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (BEH) and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (C&I) is going from strength to strength since it was originally established in 2021 forming the North London Mental Health Partnership.
The postholder will need to be comfortable working in an environment of complex matrix management arrangements and will at all times behave and align with our Trusts’ values and cultural pillars:
- We are kind
- We are respectful
- We work together
- We keep things simple
- We empower
- We are proudly diverse
The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities- In essence, this service is a coordinated and integrated approach by secondary care mental health services to identify triage and engage those in police custody that present with either existing or acute health or social vulnerabilities, and to provide earlier intervention within the mentally disordered offender pathway. This service is for people of all ages.
- 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 mental health liaison workers are based within custody suites across Camden, Islington, and Haringey feeding into Wood Green Crown Court and Highbury Corner Magistrates Court with support and supervision provided by the Clinical and Operational Leads. Liaison and Diversion support is also provided to the British Transport Police based at three sites over central and north London.
- Their role is to screen individuals identified as having mental health problems, and any other vulnerabilities, provide on-going assessment (including awareness and understanding of other factors including physical health, use of drugs and alcohol, learning difficulties and speech, language and communication issues), immediate case management and to formalize timely and sensitive sharing of information between police, court and mental health services.
- 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.
Person specification
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria- A professional qualification relevant to mental health practice
- RMN/Degree/Diploma in Nursing
- CQSW/Degree/Diploma in Social Work
- Occupational Therapy registration
- Second Degree-Masters
EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE
Essential criteria- Significant experience and knowledge of working with people with mental health problems.
- Experience in acute adult or CAMHS, multi-disciplinary community mental health services.
- A good understanding of recovery principles, the care programme approach and the role of secondary mental health services in the delivery of care
- Experience of giving written and oral evidence in a court or tribunal setting
- experience of working within the criminal justice system
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Essential criteria- Compassionate - Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with patients, carers and relatives about complex and sensitive issues remaining sensitive and empathetic
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including presentation of cases
- Ability to treat Service Users with respect and dignity, being culturally sensitive as appropriate, and consider the needs of the whole person
- Ability to manage autonomously within the criminal justice system as a silo worker
- Ability to manage conflicts within the criminal justice system achieving the best outcomes for those referred