Police Liaison Practitioner

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

An exciting new post has arisen in the Calderdale Intensive Home Based Treatment Team, for a Band 6 Police Liaison Practitioner.

The working hours will be 12-hour shifts, days and nights, as part of the 24/7 rota.

Are you an experienced practitioner interested in working within our busy IHBTT Crisis Pathway to ensure service users receive timely interventions with optimum outcomes?

Working from the Police Patrol Room and the Home Based Treatment Team Office, you will be expected to offer support to officers attending incidents where there are mental health concerns.

The team aims to foster and develop relationships with the criminal justice system as well as health and social agencies and have been very successful in the reduction of Section 136 detentions.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect patients.

For the full job description, please see attached supporting documents.

At the time of advertising, this role does meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. We look forward to receiving your application.

Main duties of the job

The role includes triaging police logs and advising on the most appropriate action.

Support calls to individuals may be required, and there will be occasions when it is necessary to attend incidents in the community with officers to facilitate comprehensive mental health assessments and care planning. You may have an occasional need to assess individuals at the police station.

You will advise on appropriate pathways and signpost to various agencies where indicated, reducing the need for any police interventions and avoiding the use of Section 136 of the Mental Health Act where appropriate. We aim to practice proactively to avert a crisis and de-escalate situations which may be highly charged.

A background in crisis/liaison work would be an advantage, but more importantly, you will be competent and confident in working independently, be resilient, and enjoy a challenge with a can-do approach and attitude. You must be able to formulate and document plans and strategies to manage risk effectively whilst involving the service user, police colleagues, families, and carers. The environment can be fast-paced, so an ability to work under pressure is a must.

The successful applicant must have experience in risk assessment within an acute setting, be highly motivated & feel confident in working with service users who have complex mental health & social needs.

About us

We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health, and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the West Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities; we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families, and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups; we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means we’re accountable to our members, who can have a say in how we’re run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical, and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expect all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.

We do reserve the right to close the vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Job responsibilities

This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the postholder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

To work as a senior member of the police liaison team providing comprehensive mental health assessments for those in crisis, identify care pathways and offer support and advice to local police who come into contact with those who have mental health issues.

The successful applicant will work in the police station and maintain close links with mental health services, social care, and other voluntary agencies.

This involves a commitment to close partnership working with both statutory and voluntary sector agencies and a commitment to working with a complex and diverse range of individuals with varying needs.

To attend with or without the police, varying community settings and provide mental health assessments, advice, and identify robust care pathways for individuals where a potential mental health or learning disability need has been identified.

To provide the police with written information pertaining to the individual in a timely fashion.

To work closely and build links with all officers, acting as a single point of contact for mental health.

Facilitate mental health act assessments at the police station or in the community if clinically indicated.

To be proficient in all aspects of care and risk management associated with the role of lead professional, whilst referring to appropriate community teams.

To provide specialist advice and service to the police where indicated.

To provide mental health information that is proportionate in order to provide the best outcome for the person, where a potential mental health need has been identified.

To have the interpersonal skills necessary to develop a therapeutic alliance with emotionally and psychologically disturbed clients and their carers enabling the client to accept responsibility for their personal wellbeing appropriate to their level of cognitive functioning.

To work collaboratively with clients, carers, and multiple other agencies to provide effective care to optimise and maintain clients' mental state and overall functioning.

To have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of current issues and research relevant to the legislative framework and systems in which mental health care is delivered e.g. CPA, MHA (1983), S136.

To take personal responsibility and supervise junior staff, ensuring the maintenance of written and electronic client and Trust records including inputting data related to own work activity and to be accountable for your own professional practice.

To participate in the development of and practice within the policies and procedures of the Trust and adhere to NHS and NMC guidelines or appropriate governing body specific to professional role.

To have an understanding of and participate in the clinical audit process within health and social care.

To be responsible for providing training to the Police, Police liaison practitioners, and wider IHBTT colleagues regarding own discipline.

To promote and disseminate evidence-based practice relevant to the Liaison and Diversion and the criminal justice system to individuals and target groups within the health and social care community, through the development and delivery of appropriate training.

To participate in the Trust's appraisal system taking responsibility for own continuous professional development, keeping abreast of current research and evidence base and participating in training and development opportunities.

We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. Over-reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Person Specification

Training

• Working knowledge of the MHA 1983, CPA and other relevant codes of practice.
• Training in P.S.I. and C.B.T. HCR-20.

Physical Attributes

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

Special Knowledge & Skills

• Experience of carrying out complex risk assessment and developing comprehensive packages of care to meet individual needs and management associated risks.
• Clear and concise written and verbal communication.
• Skills in specialist assessments, negotiation, engagement, and teamwork.
• Recognised qualification in clinical supervision.
• Experience of substance misuse.
• Relapse prevention.
• Use of assessment tools.

Qualifications

• A Professional Qualification at degree level or equivalent in either mental health nursing or social work.
• Hold current registration with relevant professional body.
• Evidence of post-registration training and development.
• An NMC approved mentorship qualification, such as Supporting Learning in Practice (SLiP) or equivalent, and evidence of ongoing mentoring activity.
• Equivalent level of teaching mentoring qualification.

Experience

• Experience of working with people who are difficult to engage having developed through theoretical and practical knowledge of working with people with severe and enduring mental illness.
• Ability to be flexible and adapt to changing situations.
• Substantial experience of practice at a senior level working autonomously and responsibility of supervising others.
• Substantial experience in community settings.
• Evidence of leadership skills and experience of supervising other staff.
• Experience of supporting carers and families.
• A proven commitment to working in partnership with service users and carers in the delivery of effective services.
• Experience/training in Research.

Personal Attributes

• Demonstrate ability to be flexible, self-motivated and work in M.D.T. setting and ability to work with Partnership agencies.
• Ability to prioritise workload.
• Ability to travel across the Trust as appropriate to the role.
• Ability to work unsocial hours.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.