Senior Practitioner - Criminal Justice Mental Health Service
A Vacancy at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled practitioner with an interest and/or experience in the criminal justice system to be an integral part of both a court liaison and diversion team and a police custody suite assessment team. You will be working with both adults and young people, within what is a very interesting and rewarding area of care that is continuing to develop further.
As a front-line service, each day can be different in what can be a busy and unpredictable environment.
We are looking for a skilled and confident individual who has experience of complex assessments (including assessment of risk), decision making and who is adept at building relationships with service users and professional partners.
The successful applicant will work across the service in order to help identify individuals who present with vulnerabilities that may include mental health issues, neurodevelopmental disorders, substance misuse and who may present with a degree of risk.
The service ethos is to proactively intervene at the earliest possible opportunity in the Criminal Justice system pathway, so that those in need of support receive appropriate care and treatment in a timely fashion.
As a Liaison and Diversion Practitioner, some of the responsibilities you can expect will include:- Proactive screening of cases in police custody or at court.
- On-the-day triaging and assessment - including full mental state examinations, risk assessment and gathering of background history for individuals presenting with a wide variety of established or suspected needs. These can include anxiety, challenging behaviour, serious mental illness, personality disorder, learning disorders, social communication and language difficulties, substance misuse and associated social issues within police custody.
- Assisting detainees who present with urgent and non-urgent clinical issues that may include onward referrals for a Mental Health Act assessment.
- Providing advice, information and support to custody/court personnel.
- Provision of written assessment summaries to police, court and other relevant agencies.
- Liaising with CAMHS, YOT practitioners or other relevant agencies for young people.
- Recording data for regular auditing and evaluation.
- Act as a positive role model for junior staff and custody partners in their day to day practice and the supervision and professional development of junior staff.
- Enhancing and developing relationships within Criminal Justice Services and building strong links between Health, Social Services and the Criminal Justice System
- A deputy function for the Operational Lead when needed.
Some weekend working is involved in the role.
South London and Maudsley Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing NHS care and treatment for people with wide ranging vulnerabilities.
Locally, we deliver mental health services for people living in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; and substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Lambeth, Greenwich and Wandsworth.
Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:
We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialties.This could include being a specialist practitioner at Crown Court, being an operational team lead in a Liaison and Diversion service or developing your career elsewhere in our organisation.
Within SLaM there are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes.
We hire people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do but because it makes us better at what we do. No matter your age, gender, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, religion or sexual orientation, if you are committed to generating the best possible outcomes for our service users then we want to hear from you.
To work with colleagues, police, custody healthcare staff and other custody/court staff (inc Appropriate Adults) in order to provide a comprehensive and integrated vulnerability screening and assessment service.
To demonstrate strong assessment skills, solid problem solving and decision making and developing holistic and patient centred care plans whilst also being able to recognise when they may need senior clinical/managerial advice/support and to actively seek this in the clinical setting.
To facilitate appropriate signposting to/referring on, or interventions in close collaboration and liaison with other relevant agencies. Developing a good working knowledge and understanding of local services and pathways will be important in this role.This will be with the ambition of facilitating a persons diversion away from the criminal justice pathway at the earliest possible point. (The term ‘diversion’ being used in its widest possible sense and includes urgent and non-urgent pathways).
Demonstrate effective communication with colleagues, partners and stakeholders, people in vulnerable groups that is inclusive, collaborative and helpful. Communication types include verbal, written and digital methods of communication.
To actively promote relationships with colleagues that support open communication and collaborative working, taking personal responsibility for one's contribution to this process at all times.
To maintain a high standard of written communication that is mindful of the readership, takes into account the legal context and will also involve recording appropriate events and observations to evidence interventions.
Proactively seek feedback on an individual’s experiences of liaison and diversion to inform and shape our service.
Please see the combined job description and person specification for more details of the role.
This advert closes on Monday 14 Oct 2024