As a Band 5 Mental Health Nurse in the Place of Safety, you will play a vital role in providing compassionate, person-centred care to individuals detained under the Mental Health Act, often at their most vulnerable. You will work within a specialist, secure environment where rapid assessment, risk management, and therapeutic engagement are key to supporting safe and effective care pathways.
What It Takes:
Strong clinical judgement and the ability to work calmly in high-pressure situations
Excellent communication skills, to build rapport quickly with distressed individuals
A thorough understanding of mental health legislation and safeguarding
The ability to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team, often including police, AMHPs, and crisis services
A resilient and empathetic mindset, committed to patient dignity and recovery
Why Work With Us at the Place of Safety:
You’ll join a supportive and dynamic team dedicated to making a real difference during a critical point in someone’s mental health journey. We invest in our staff through continuous professional development, reflective practice, and a strong focus on staff wellbeing. You’ll gain unique experience in crisis mental health care and be part of a service that values your voice, skill, and commitment.
To contribute to the ongoing S136 assessment process at the
Health-Based Place of Safety (HBPOS) collaborative risk
assessment and care planning in line with policy standards. This
will be as an individual and as part of the multi-professional team.
2. Provide a comprehensive initial assessment of a detained person
once admitted into the HBPoS and to communicate to the
relevant medical colleague and AMHP.
3. To provide safe and high-quality care to all service users,
ensuring that both their immediate mental health and physical
health care needs are met in a timely manner.
4. Participate fully in quality assurance initiatives, with particular
emphasis on a ‘patient first’ approach.
5. Take on a range of management duties at the request of and in
the absence of Senior staff
6. Initiate and participate in audit/research projects associated with the work of the service.
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.
Our Five-Year Strategy:
We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.
In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
The post-holder will:
1. Have the clinical skills to deliver person centred care and assessments with
sensitivity and compassion, respecting the dignity and diversity of patients,
relatives, carers, visitors, and colleagues.
2. Have a knowledge of the acute mental health pathway including Crisis Single
Point of Access, Crisis Teams, Crisis Houses, Psychiatric Inpatient wards,
Specialist Community Mental Health Teams and third sector services.
3. Be accountable and take direct responsible for carrying out initial
assessments including risk assessments. Be able to discuss these
assessments and put forward recommendations to senior colleagues to
develop, implement, evaluate, and document specialist care.
4. Demonstrate skills and knowledge of working within a Trauma-informed
approach and utilising least restrictive principles in the management of
service users experiencing an acute mental health crisis.
5. Undertake PMVA techniques to prevent and manage escalation in terms of
patient harm to self and others.
6. Work closely with the NCL wide crisis services and maintain good working
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practices with all other CRTs as a means of ensuring least restrictive practice
and outcomes.
7. Be able to formulate and make appropriate recommendations for decisions
to Senior Colleagues.
8. Identify and be responsive to the diverse cultural social and spiritual needs of
all.
9. Demonstrate a high standard of record keeping and documentation.
10. Work with colleagues to develop and promote the service’s
philosophy/framework of care delivery and strategic objectives, taking
responsibility for specific areas of policy and delivery.
11. Work with colleagues to develop clinical expertise and high standards of
clinical practice, and deliver care that is evidence-based, reflecting current
best practice and research.
12. Participate in structured clinical supervision/appraisals in accordance with the
Trusts’ policies and procedures. Be responsible for the formal supervision
and appraisal of junior staff. You will also be responsible for the informal
supervision of non-mental health nurses and others, including doctors and
security staff, who are working with patients with mental health problems.
13. Demonstrate clinical excellence and high standards of nursing practice to
other staff.
14. Demonstrate sound understanding of the legal and ethical issues in caring for
the mentally ill. In particular, demonstrating sound understanding of the
Mental Health Act (2007), and its use in a non-mental health setting e.g., a
general hospital.
15. Report serious and untoward incidents within the department in accordance
with the Trusts’ policies and procedures.
16. Post holder will co-ordinate shifts on a regular basis.
