Senior Practitioner for the Crown Court

The Criminal Justice Mental Health Service (CJMHS) is a Liaison and Diversion service providing a proactive assessment, liaison and diversion service in all Police Custody Suites and Magistrates' Courts within the catchment of the South London and Maudsley. Our Liaison and Diversion service provides a service to Brixton Police Station, Walworth Road Police Station, Lewisham Police station, Croydon Custody suite (Windmill Road) and also provides a service to Croydon Magistrates Court. We have an office based on the Lambeth Hospital site.

A more recent development has seen the service expand into the Crown Court with Liaison and Diversion services now provided at Inner London Crown Court and at Croydon Crown Court and coming soon to Southwark Crown Court.

Liaison and Diversion services are responsible for providing a proactive mental health screening assessment for detained persons. Where detained persons are identified who require further assessment and intervention they will provide it or ensure appropriate referrals are made. The service will cover all vulnerabilities and all ages. The post holder will be part of an established liaison and diversion service, working in partnership with the health sector, social services and the criminal justice system primarily focusing on the Crown Court., Enhancing and developing relationships within Criminal Justice Services and building strong links between Health, Social Services and the Criminal Justice System itself is an essential role of the post holder. You will work in a collaborative way with Liaison and Diversion colleagues, local community Mental Health Services and other statutory/non-statutory agencies ensuring a high quality liaison and diversion service is provided to individuals.

To promote continuity of service across all locations, to provide a flexible service to our stakeholders, or as part of an extended induction programme into Liaison and Diversion, successful candidates may be rostered to work across all of the previously mentioned locations and this may include some shift or weekend work.

Predominantly, the candidate will be based at one or more of the crown court sites where the service operates Mon-Fri between the hours of 9 am and 5pm.

Main duties include:

Provide a Liaison and Diversion service at Southwark Crown Court up to 3 days a week.Provide support to Crown Court practitioners at other locations

Support information sharing between other parts of Liaison and Diversion and courts including Magistrates Court on Saturdays (pilot).

About South London and Maudsley:

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community.

By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities, and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field. SLaM delivered more than 14,000 training experiences in 2014; providing an extensive range of learning opportunities for staff at all levels.