Registered Mental Health Nurse | South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS mental health service provider in the UK is seeking a Registered Nurse/ Learning Disabilities Nurse. This role involves providing direct personal care and coordinating comprehensive service user assessments within a multidisciplinary team. The ideal candidate will have a nursing qualification and the ability to effectively communicate with patients and families. The position offers a supportive environment with flexible working arrangements, aimed at delivering exceptional care for patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder and related needs.

Qualifications

• Must be a Registered Nurse or Learning Disabilities Nurse.
• Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate person-centered care.
• Strong communication skills for liaising with patients, families and multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide direct personal care to patients.
• Co-ordinate comprehensive service user assessments and evaluations.
• Lead activities ensuring the fundamentals of care are met.
• Collaborate with the Multi-Disciplinary Team for patient-centered care.

Skills

Direct personal care

Assessment and monitoring of physical health

Team collaboration

Medication administration

Communication with patients and families

Education

Registered Nursing qualification

Job description

Overview

The National Autism Unit (NAU) is a 15-bedded unit that offers psychiatric inpatient assessment and treatment. The Unit offers comprehensive assessment and treatment to adult men with diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with a range of additional needs including Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD), and/or other complex mental health needs. The NAU strives to be responsive to the needs of the patients, providing a comprehensive, progressive and effective service based on best standards of clinical practice, with the involvement of carers. We recognise that people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders have specific difficulties related to communication, social understanding and flexibility of thought. We seek to develop individualised interventions that maximise their recovery and help them and their families to cope. Working links to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, the ESTIA centre which is a training and research centre for Learning Disability and ASD practice aiming to support training others and developing evidence based best practice.

Responsibilities

• As a Registered Nurse/ Learning Disabilities Nurse you provide direct personal care to patients, without direct supervision, and co-ordinate the care given by colleagues. The role includes leading the delivery of comprehensive service user assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of person-centered care in a collaborative way.
• The post holder will co-ordinate a first-class service that includes assessment and monitoring of physical health, maintaining service users’ rights, supervising junior staff and students, working collaboratively with the Multi-Disciplinary Team and maintaining a safe and therapeutic working environment and accurate records.
• Leading on and undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met - nutrition, hydration, hygiene, comfort, emotional and social support.
• Co-ordinating and evaluating collaborative patient-centered care; getting feedback and improving plans with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).
• Providing accurate information about care in an accessible format to patients and their relatives / carers.
• Liaising and working positively with members of the multi- disciplinary team and partner organisations.
• Administering, and monitoring the side-effects of, medication; monitoring service user compliance.
• Safety; safe custody of medicines, sharps, clinical equipment, report all incidents following trust policy.
• Leading on and directing junior staff in providing hands-on care to service users including, supporting carers and families to understand the condition and to support the service user on discharge.

About the employer

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

Notes on current staffing/work patterns

Currently South London and Maudsley are consulting with Nursing staff and Unions regarding shift pattern changes for all inpatient units. A proposal has been presented in line with the Working Time Directive to move from a 3 shift model of early/late/nights to a two shift model long days/nights. This is currently in the consultation period and no fixed agreement has been reached at this point. If this proposal goes ahead after the consultation period, this has a proposed start date of April 2026. The NAU provides and will continue to provide flexible working agreements in line with the organisation’s flexible working policy.

Expiry

This advert closes on Wednesday 17 Dec 2025