Psychiatric Liaison Nurse

NHS Orkney; Kirkwall; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 43,000; Full time

Job summary

NHS Orkney is recruiting two Band 6 registered mental health nurses to join a new All-Age Nurse-led Psychiatric Liaison Team (AANLPLT) at The Balfour. The role will provide urgent and same-day assessments for Orkney’s diverse community.

You will work with the CMHT and on-call rota, delivering 24/7 mental health support, with opportunities to influence service development and quality improvements in a small island setting.

Qualifications

• Experience as a registered mental health nurse.
• Experience in community/unscheduled care.
• Ability to work autonomously and with compassion.
• Flexibility and adaptability to change.

Responsibilities

• Provide urgent and same-day mental health assessments and management plans for the local population.
• Deliver post-discharge support and coordinate with CMHT and on-call rota (24/7).
• Support the Band 7 Nurse Team Leader and contribute to service quality improvements.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure continuous care for patients in a small community.

Skills

Registered MHN

Community care

Autonomy

NMC registration

Education

NMC registration

Job description

About The Organisation

As Scotland’s smallest health board, NHS Orkney is committed to delivering excellent care to our 22,000 residents. Whether you’re new to the NHS or bringing experience from elsewhere, your skills will make a real difference.

About The Organisation

As Scotland’s smallest health board, NHS Orkney is committed to delivering excellent care to our 22,000 residents. Whether you’re new to the NHS or bringing experience from elsewhere, your skills will make a real difference.

Our modern healthcare facility, The Balfour, brings together inpatient care, emergency services, outpatient clinics, diagnostics, GP practices and the Scottish Ambulance Service. We’re also investing in services across our outer isles, ensuring high-quality care reaches every corner of Orkney.

We are guided by our core values that shape everything we do Open and honest, Respect and Kindness from how we care for our patients to how we support each other as colleagues.

About Orkney

With over 70 islands 20 of them inhabited Orkney offers a unique blend of natural beauty, close-knit community and an opportunity for adventure. From dramatic coastlines and rare wildlife to rich cultural traditions and active lifestyles, it’s a place where compassion thrives and every day brings something new. Regularly named one of the UK’s best places to live, Orkney offers a lifestyle that’s both fulfilling and inspiring.

The Position

An exciting opportunity is now available for 2 band 6 registered mental health nurses to become an intrinsic part of a new All-Age Nurse-led Psychiatric Liaison Team (AANLPLT) in NHS Orkney. The AANLPLT will offer a specialist service to people of all ages from Orkney’s diverse community, which will provide urgent and same-day assessments and management plan to individuals presenting in acute mental health crisis/distress.

The team will receive referrals from The Balfour Hospital; inpatient and emergency department, GPs and out of hours. The team will offer post-discharge support to individuals’ returning to Orkney from an off-island psychiatric admission, as well as working collaboratively with the CMHT colleagues facilitating the support for people while they are in the emergency mental health transfer room and during the transfer off island. As this is a new service, this Band 6 nurses will include being involved, and being supportive of the band 7 Nurse Team Leader, in the continual review of the service, in quality improvement and embracing positive changes.

The postholders will also work alongside the local CMHT on the Out of Hours on-call service rota ensuring the provision of access to mental health support/guidance on a 24/7 basis.

The Candidate

We are looking for an enthusiastic registered and experienced mental health nurse to join this exciting new team. The new team member will have experience working in community/unscheduled care, be comfortable being flexible and show ability to adapt, work autonomously and with compassion.

The successful post holder should have a positive attitude to change, and be able to develop effective working relationships with other disciplines. The post holders will have excellent ability to facilitate robust person-centred mental health and risk assessment, taking into consideration the individual’s holistic needs including physical health, families and carers and the uniqueness of the small community. The successful candidates will have contemporary knowledge and understanding of evidence-base practice and continue to promote their personal and professional development.

Location, Working Pattern and Contract Duration

This posts will be based at Vaenta.

The successful candidates will work: Full Time 36 hours per week

This posts are Permanent

It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with NHS Orkney.

Benefits And Salary

Did you know NHS Scotland salaries are higher than those in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland?

The salary for these posts is Band 6 and if residing on Orkney, you’ll also receive a Distant Islands Allowance of £1,654 pro rata per annum, adding extra value to your rewarding career with us.

NHS Orkney also offers an attractive pension scheme, wide range of work life balance policies, employee assistance programme and various discounts to both local and national retailers.

Further Information

If you share our vision and are ready to be part of Team Orkney, we’d love to hear from you. Your rewarding career starts here!

We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process, and you will be asked whether you require any during your application. If there are additional requirements you would like to request, please contact

For further guidance on the recruitment process and tips for creating a strong application, please refer to our Candidate Application Pack.

To find out more about this opportunity please contact Megan Marwick, Nurse Team Leader, by email or Diane Young, Service Manager Mental Health Services by email on

This post is subject to a Disclosure Scotland check.