Welcome from our Chief Executive

Our organisation is expanding and we're looking for people with the right values, skills and/or potential to join us. We need people with energy, expertise, enthusiasm to help us provide the very best possible specialist NHS mental health and learning disability care. This involves helping us achieve our strategy to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve through People, Prevention and Partnerships.

So what can we offer you in return?

We're an organisation which puts people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. We'll help you learn, acquire new skills and gain further experience to support your career development. And we'll provide the opportunity for you to bring your fresh ideas to work about how we can do things differently and continue improving.

You will also be joining a health and care system committed to working together to do the best we can for the communities we serve. Above all, at Sussex Partnership you'll have the chance to make a difference to the lives of the patients, carers and families across our communities.

If you like the sound of that, then come and join our team.

Job overview

Operating across Sussex and Brighton & Hove, Sussex Liaison and Diversion (SL&D) are seeking a dynamic, enthusiastic Support Worker to join our team. Based in Crawley police custody, you will be part of a growing team who work in the police station screening arrestees to identify their support needs; you will also support people in the community after their arrest to engage them with relevant services.

We provide a range of development experiences for our workforce in-house, as well as through the Forensic Services directorate and the wider NHS Trust. SL&D has a strong supervision culture: your work will be supported day-to-day and supervised by experienced, professionally qualified staff based in your custody area. The wider network of staff meets daily (Skype) and has a culture of active communication to support all custody sites. Regular reflective practice and peer-support are available to all support workers.

To protect the health and safety of our staff/workers, patients, and those attending our sites, we encourage our workforce to get fully vaccinated against COVID

Main duties of the job

Based in Police Custody, your role will be engaging and screening detained people for a range of health and social care vulnerabilities (this could include: physical and mental health needs, alcohol or substance misuse needs, domestic violence, abuse, homelessness, financial stress or exclusion, problem gambling, speech and language needs, and so on). You will work with your colleagues locally to maintain a comprehensive database of available resources, and will refer people on to appropriate services that can help them once they leave custody.

You will also spend part of your time out of custody, supporting people post-arrest in the community. You will help people to access services, and safely use your relationship-based skills to encourage them to engage with the help they need. This may also include supporting people to attend and engage with the courts or probation services to make sure they get the best criminal justice outcome.

Working for our organisation

About the Trust:

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people, and adults across Sussex.

Working in Sussex:

• Travel easily between coast and countryside, with a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns there's always new experiences to be enjoyed

• Embrace the city life with great access to visit Brighton and London

• With easy access to transport links across the UK giving plenty of opportunity for adventure

We'd love you to join our organisation that is rated 'good' overall and 'outstanding' for caring by CQC. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise care for patients as our top priority.

Other key staff survey results include:

• 79% report feeling able to make suggestions to improve work in their team

• 77% identify the opportunities to show initiative in their roles

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be interested in the criminal justice and/or mental health/social care systems, and will already have some experience of working with and supporting vulnerable groups (paid or voluntary). SL&D values lived experience at all staffing levels.

Your key activities will include:

• Undertaking screening work in custody under the supervision of the liaison and diversion practitioner

• Communicating screening outcomes effectively to the L&D practitioner, and to health and justice partner agencies (with support as required) including making safeguarding referrals as appropriate

• Making onward referrals, and working with support to develop brief community plans with service users to bridge them in to a range of health, wellbeing, and social care services post-custody or to support their engagement with the justice system

• Undertaking skilled engagement and brief community-based support work with a range of service users who may display complex vulnerabilities

• Working independently without direct supervision for periods of time (including recognising and escalating issues promptly as necessary)

• Supporting and mentoring our Peer Support Workers

• Developing and maintaining local knowledge of a wide range of health, social care and third sector providers locally; maintaining contact with and referral links into such services.

This role can at times require you to respond dynamically to support your SL&D team colleagues in other locations using both remote working methods and attending in person as required. You will therefore need to be able to travel promptly between locations during the working day, including locations in East or West Sussex, or Brighton/Hove as necessary.

Pay Band: AFC B4

This position is for a shift pattern of 8am - 8pm over 7 days, on a two-week rota pattern.

This role requires both enhanced DBS clearance and Sussex Police clearances (NPPV level 2) prior to an employment offer.

You will need to be able to travel in a timely and efficient manner between custody sites and community locations for this role.

Interviews will be conducted via skype

Person specification

Qualifications
Essential criteria

• Evidence of commitment to continuous professional development (CPD) in health or social care

Knowledge and experience
Essential criteria

• Significant experience of working with people with mental health difficulties or other complex vulnerabilities (voluntary or paid)
• Significant experience of working as part of a team
• Significant experience of being supervised, and using supervision to reflect on practice

Sussex Partnership NHS FT is committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. Our workforce is currently under-represented from Black and Minority, Ethnic and disabled communities and we would welcome applications from these communities.

We regret that we are unable to advise candidates if they have not been shortlisted. If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

In the event of an excessive number of applicants the Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy earlier than indicated.

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust takes its responsibilities for the safeguarding and protection of children and young people and vulnerable adults very seriously and expects this of all its employees and bank workers. The Trust works with adult and children's social care to ensure that the integrated service has systems in place to equip staff and bank workers with the knowledge and skills to recognize abuse, and take action to safeguard and protect vulnerable adults and children and young people. It is expected that all staff and bank workers familiarise themselves with the appropriate structures and policies and with the Sussex child protection and safeguarding procedures and the Sussex multi-agency policy and procedures for safeguarding vulnerable adults and undertake the relevant essential training and further training appropriate to their role.

Successful candidates are normally offered salaries at the bottom of the relevant salary range. However, where previous or equivalent NHS experience in a similar role can be demonstrated and evidenced, this may be taken into consideration when setting the starting salary.