Health & Justice Liaison and Diversion Practitioner

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust in London is seeking a Health & Justice Liaison and Diversion Practitioner to join the Liaison and Diversion service. The role involves working with police stations, courts, and a range of partners to identify and support individuals whose needs include mental health, learning disability, or substance misuse.

You will conduct screening, risk and mental state assessments, prepare written reports, and make onward referrals to safeguarding, CAMHS, youth offending teams, or

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills to engage with police, courts and partners.
• Ability to work in a multi-agency environment with complex safeguarding needs.

Responsibilities

• To act as an autonomous practitioner in court and police detention cells and assess mental state and risk.
• Prepare accurate written reports following assessment in line with quality standards.
• Screen youths in police custody when required and facilitate onward referrals including safeguarding and CAMHS.

Skills

Communication skills

Job description

Health & Justice Liaison and Diversion Practitioner

Company: CNWL NHS Foundation Trust

Salary: £55,524 - £62,652 per annum inc HCAS (pro rata if P/T)

Hours: Full-time

Location: LONDON, NW10 2DZ

Job type: Permanent

Posting date: 26 Oct 2026

Closing date: 25 Nov 2026

The service is funded through the NHS England Liaison and Diversion Programme. Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services aim to identify people who may have mental health issues, a learning disability, substance misuse issues or other vulnerabilities when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system.

Our direct contact with service users may take place at police stations or in the courts. Our work can be very challenging but we continue to aim to ensure that individuals receive the best and most appropriate care for their needs. Through screening, assessment and appropriate referral, we are able to promote better health outcomes, reduce re-offending and reduce pressure on the police and court services.

The role of Liaison & Diversion Practitioner involves working with a wide range of services such as the police, probation, the court and legal services as well as both inpatient and community health and social care services. Our work includes unsocial hours on weekday evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays. Successful candidates will need to have excellent communication skills as well as the flexibility to work alongside these different groups. Candidates will need to be able to work effectively as part of a team as well as having the skills and confidence to work autonomously in a range of environments. Supervision and consultation are available to the team to support practice.

This post will cover both Willesden Magistrates Court and Wembley Police Custody Suite.

Responsibilities and Requirements

• Non-declaration of criminal convictions or Police involvement
• I.E investigations even if no further action, warnings, cautions (No matter how old)
• County court judgements
• Less than 3-year Residency
• Defaults - No debt management plans in place
• Convictions which resulted in imprisonment or suspended sentence
• Vetting applications will be returned if any of the details are omitted
• ALL family members, partners, co-residents and parents’ partners must be provided
• Address history must run 5 years straight
• To act as an autonomous practitioner in court and police detention cells. The post holder will also be expected to assess an individual’s mental state and risk and within the context of the alleged offence and the criminal justice system, implement a care pathway for each individual.
• The post holder will maintain a presence on the site they are working for the duration of their shift in order to be able to respond to referrals in a timely manner. It is the post holder’s responsibility to check regularly if there is anyone to be seen in custody. If there is a need to leave the police custody suite, the post holder must leave a contact number with the custody staff and respond to calls.
• In the absence of the youth justice liaison and diversion worker, the post holder will be expected to screen any youths in police custody during their shift in police stations. This will involve engaging with the young person and at times their guardians and depending on the screening outcomes, may involve making onward referrals including safeguarding, youth offending teams and CAMHS.
• To undertake a full mental state assessment, risk assessment, and gather a background history for individuals with a variety of needs. These would include those with a serious mental illness or personality disorder and associated learning, social, personal, dependency and substance misuse issues who are in police custody suites and court detention.
• To prepare accurate written reports following assessment in line with quality standards.

This advert closes on Monday 9 Nov 2026

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