Job Description

We now have an exciting opportunity to recruit one full time Band 6 Police Liaison and Diversion Practitioners to join our well established and progressive team working in MET police custody suites, Acton and Hammersmith. These custody suites serve large diverse boroughs within the West London area and can be busy and at times unpredictable, with everyday being different and an opportunity to develop your clinical skills/knowledge and experience.



The police Liaison teams sit within a wider Liaison and Diversion service in West London NHS Trust, including Court Diversion at Westminster, Ealing Magistrates, Isleworth Crown Court and Youth Justice.



We are looking for suitably experienced mental health professionals rather than one particular discipline. We are interested in hearing from mental health nurses, social workers or occupational therapists, who have an interest in the Criminal Justice System and offending. We would also like to hear from Speech and Language, that have significant mental health experience.



The successful applicant must be able to demonstrate knowledge and direct experience of the crisis pathways and risk management to a high standard and should have previous experience working with vulnerable young people and adults within acute, community and/or forensic settings.



(This could include the 'dimensions' of the role from the Job description or be a high-level summary of the main duties from your job description as this will appear later in the text of the advert).

Example:

Responsible for the safe custody of medication, including checking and administration.

We provide proactive case identification, screening and assessment to individuals within Police custody, identifying need/vulnerabilities, signposting to other services and where indicated diverting to health. This will be on the day and you will be expected to gather collateral information and perform a mental state and risk assessment, while offering advice/information to custody staff.



You will be primarily screening those over 18 but at times will be expected to assess children and young people if our Youth team is not available.



This scheme, commissioned by NHS England operates to a standard model and similar schemes are now available in every part of the country. It is an all-age service and all women and people under the age of 18 are screened as mandatory due to their vulnerability within the system.



The service needs practitioners who are able to think quickly and work largely independently (with limited/some supervision) under pressure when screening and assessing vulnerable people in police custody, often with high levels of complexity. This is a non health care setting.



West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.



Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over 500m.



The Trust is rated as 'Good' overall?by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.



The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.



The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached



The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.