A Vacancy at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.
Court and police Liaison and Diversion services are an exciting and developing area of care. We offer a range of opportunities to staff who would like to gain knowledge and experience within the health and justice systems.
The role of Liaison & Diversion Practitioner involves working with a wide range of services such as the police, probation, the court and legal services as well as both inpatient and community health and social care services. Our work includes unsocial hours on weekday evenings, weekends and bank holidays. This post will cover Wembley and Colindale police custody suite and Willesden Magistrate’s Court.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
· To act as an autonomous practitioner in court and police detention cells. The post holder will also be expected to assess an individual’s mental state and risk and within the context of the alleged offence and the criminal justice system, implement a care pathway for each individual.
· The post holder will maintain a presence on the site they are working for the duration of their shift in order to be able to respond to referrals in a timely manner. It is the post holder’s responsibility to check regularly if there is anyone to be seen in custody. If there is a need to leave the police custody suite, the post holder must leave a contact number with the custody staff and respond to calls.
· In the absence of the youth justice liaison and diversion worker, the post holder will be expected to screen any youths in police custody during their shift in police stations. This will involve engaging with the young person and at times their guardians and depending on the screening outcomes, may involve making onward referrals including safeguarding, youth offending teams and CAMHS.
The CNWL Liaison and Diversion teams are part of a highly respected and innovative service that works currently across health and social services and the criminal justice system in central and North West London.
The service is funded through the NHS England Liaison and Diversion programme. Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services identify clients who have mental health, learning disability, substance misuse or other vulnerabilities when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system as suspects, defendants or offenders.
Please note: Candidates will need to submit an application for Metropolitan Police vetting clearance and have it approved before a contract can be agreed. The following is guidance we have from the Metropolitan Police regarding vetting which you should take into consideration before you complete an application:
Common failures
- Non-declaration of criminal convictions or Police involvement;
I.E investigations even if no further action, warnings, cautions (No matter how old)
- County court judgements
- Less than 3-year Residency
- Defaults – No debt management plans in place.
- Convictions which resulted in imprisonment or suspended sentence
• Vetting applications will be returned if any of the details are omitted
ALL family members, partners, co-residents and parents’ partners must be provided
• Address history must run 5 years straight.
· To undertake a full mental state assessment, risk assessment, and gather a background history for individuals with a variety of needs. These would include those with a serious mental illness or personality disorder and associated learning, social, personal, dependency and substance misuse issues who are in police custody suites and court detention.
· To prepare accurate written reports following assessment in line with quality standards.
· To make clinical judgements in custody on situations as they arise, or change.
· A high standard of interpersonal skills is required to manage the complex and often conflicting needs and wants of those involved in the process.
· To accept referrals from Custody Sergeants in the police custody suites, and in court, from Court cell area, the Bench, Council, Probation, DIP Team workers, solicitors, family or the defendant or any other Court user, who become aware of or have clients with a dual diagnosis or are presenting with a possible mental disorder. This is in addition to accepting referrals from in-patient services and CMHTs.
This advert closes on Tuesday 25 Jun 2024
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to
Disability Confident.
