· Do you think everyone under arrest is guilty of a crime?
· Or that all criminals should be locked up for as long as possible?
If so, this is NOT the job for you.
· Do you believe that a person’s health needs, and past experiences can be linked to their criminal offending?
· By identifying and reducing health needs, can vulnerable people be supported to make positive changes and reduce the risk of reoffending?
We’re looking for aqualified Mental Health/Learning Disabilities Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, Speech & Language Therapist or Health Visitorto join our Liaison and Diversion team.
You’re an enthusiastic, experienced, and registered health/social care professional with an interest in health and justice and a passion for supporting people in police custody or court. Previous experience in criminal justice and offender health is desirable, but not essential.
With a reputation for excellence, our service is committed to improving the health of our clients, identifying care pathways, and reducing reoffending. We’re an award-winning team, including the Howard League for Penal Reform ‘Liaison and Diversion Service of the Year’ and ‘Women’ categories, commendations from Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary and Berkshire Healthcare ‘Team of the Year’.
If you want to use your skills to help change lives of people in the criminal justice system, we’d love you to hear from you.
• To attend police custody suites and magistrates’ courts providing assessments, advice and identifying robust care pathways for individuals with a potential health vulnerability.
• To provide the police and court with written and verbal information about individuals in a timely fashion to help decision-making.
• To work closely and build links with all referring agencies within the custody suite, court and probation, acting as a single point of contact for health.
• To work autonomously, with the ability to organise and manage own time according to delegated workload.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.
Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites
The “must haves” for this role:
1. A professional qualification at degree level or equivalent in either Mental Health Nursing, Learning Disabilities Nursing, Occupational Therapy, or Social Work along with relevant registration.
2. Significant experience at Band 6 or equivalent in a community setting.
3. Able to assess and manage risk, formulate mitigation plans considering health and criminal justice outcomes
4. Licence holder with access to your own vehicle who is prepared to multiple sites across Berkshire as required.
Work base:
You will work within police custody suites in Oxfordshire, which include Abingdon Custody or Banbury. You may also be required to work from any of our sites in Thames Valley to meet service needs.
Working pattern + Service operating hours:
Our service operates in police custody from 7am – 8pm, 7 days a week using a combination of early shifts, late shifts. Our service does not operate at night. Requests for specific working pattens can be considered in line with our flexible working policy.
For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Louise Smith on 07929 767 593 or email: Louise.Smith2@berkshire.nhs.uk who will be delighted to help.
Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
This advert closes on Thursday 27 Mar 2025
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 .