Psychiatric Liaison nurse | East London NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	East London NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£39,959 - £48,117 per annum
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	LUTON, LU4 0DZ
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	14 Aug 2026
Closing date:	13 Sept 2026

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Summary

Assessment and planning of care for people that are admitted to hospital or enter the A&E department presenting with mental health symptoms or needs.

Responding to referrals from the hospital medical and nursing team we aim to support the acute trust in identification and support for people facing mental health crisis and helping to facilitate a smooth and timely discharge back into the community.

Completing assessments in wards and A&E department.

Documenting and recording all interactions to a high standard

Making onward referrals to services and communication with external and internal partners to support patient care.

MDT participation and care planning.

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

The post holder will be part of thePsychiatric Liaison Service(PLS)Service which is a model of psychiatric liaison serving the Luton & Dunstable Hospital including the Emergency Department and inpatient wards at the Luton & Dunstable Hospital. The service is commissioned to carry out the following:

· Provide a single multidisciplinary mental health and drug assessment service

· Provide expert advice on the management, treatment and diagnosis of patients to acute hospital clinicians

· Provide support to acute hospital clinicians

· To improve health outcomes for patients

· To reduce length of stay for patients

· To reduce re-attendances to the Emergency Department

· To improve the experience of patients who receive care in the acute hospital

· To reduce direct admissions to care homes

The Service will operate a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week service for people aged 16 years and above who present with a suspected mental health, self-harm or drug and alcohol problem. The service will maintain focus on identifying, assessing and care planning for older people.

The post holder will be expected to be self-motivating and autonomous with the ability to demonstrate accurate formulations of mental state, risk and need for people over the age of 16 years taking into account medical and social factors and referring on to other disciplines in the team or other agencies as appropriate within the given timeframes for the service.

The post holder will provide advice on mental health issues and participate in carrying out training programs for clinical teams on the management of a wide variety of mental health problems.

The post holder will be expected to maintain the highest degree of customer service at all times and will work in collaboration with the teams and organisations that come into contact with the service.

Key Relationships:

o Assistant Director for Specialist Services

o Team Manager

o Emergency Department staff

o Medical and specialist teams and ward staff

o East of England Ambulance Service

o GP/Primary Care

o Police

o Crisis intervention service

o Home Treatment Team

o Street Triage Team

o Mental Health Court Diversion

o Perinatal Liaison service – Currently there is not one available at the L&D

o Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

o Mental Health Care of Older People (MHCOP) team

o Community Based Mental Health and substance misuse teams

o Services for Homeless People

o Duty Senior Nurses

o Bed Managers – ELFT & Luton & Dunstable Hospital

o Luton Mental Health Acute wards including MHCOP wards

o Out of Area Mental Health Services

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS:

The post-holder will:

1. Be responsible for the full mental health assessment of care needs of patients presenting with a wide variety of clinical conditions within the Emergency Department and the acute hospital. Following this, the post-holder will be responsible for development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care without supervision, unless otherwise indicated.

1. Have freedom to act, particularly, but not exclusively, around discharge and follow-up in line with the PLS key performance indicators on discharge. In doing so, they will at all times, work closely with members of the PLS team and organisations and teams as appropriate to the needs of the patient and within the set timeframes.

1. On a secondary basis, provide a comprehensive consultation-liaison service to the other medical teams and individual clinicians, particularly assisting them develop plans of care and make complex decisions in cases where patients over the age of 16 years are exhibiting complex psychosocial needs and/or challenging behaviours.

1. Take an active role in contributing to meeting the PLS key performance indicators as specified in the service specification.

1. Provide independent judgement and advice on complex facts and situations, for example with regards to gatekeeping, which can be conflicting and multi-dimensional and where expert opinion may differ, or some information may be unavailable.

1. Be required to teach other nursing and non-nursing staff, both in formal and informal settings including pre-registration students.

1. Assist in maintaining the PLS Team’s ward-based patient caseload, providing reviews and up-dates to the Consultant Psychiatrist and providing a broad range of clinical interventions as appropriate.

1. Be responsible for specific clinical and managerial projects and undertake all necessary work to complete these, including facilitating meetings, liaising and/or negotiating with other staff.

1. Be expected to participate fully in quality assurance initiatives, with particular emphasis on a ‘patient first’ approach.

1. Act as a role model in providing a service for people above the age of 16 years with mental health problems, for all staff within the acute hospital.

1. Initiate and participate in audit/research projects associated with the work of the service.

1. Act as shift co-ordinator as designated on a regular basis in the absence of the person who has continuing responsibility for the Team. You may also be required to take on a range of management duties in the absence or request of the Operational Manager.

Clinical:

The post-holder will:

1. Have a wide base of clinical skills, knowledge and experience appropriate to the needs of individual patients over the age of 16 years and to the clinical settings in which they are required to be seen. Where clinical knowledge requires more specialist input e.g. 16 and 17 year old or drugs and alcohol the post holder will be expected to refer on to the relevant department.

1. Carry out specialist assessments and develop, implement, evaluate and document specialist management plans and care plans as appropriate to the individual patient’s needs and behaviours. These assessments will be from the Luton & Dunstable Hospital.

1. Provide a consultation-liaison service to clinicians and clinical teams within the acute hospital. This will include giving specialist advice on a range of care, treatment and patient management issues including psychiatric emergencies.

1. Demonstrate a high standard of record keeping and documentation with adherence to trust policy and an understanding of professional guidelinesand application of confidentiality.

1. Work with colleagues to develop and promote the philosophy of the PLS, framework of care delivery and strategic objectives, taking responsibility for specific areas of policy and strategy delivery.

1. Work with colleagues to develop clinical expertise and high standards of nursing practice, as defined by the Nursing & Midwifery Council Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses and Midwives (2009).

1. Deliver care that is evidence based, reflecting current best practice and research.

1. Actively participate in structured regular management supervision provided by your line manager in accordance with Trust policies and procedures. You may also be expected to take responsibility for the supervision of nurses and others in non-mental health settings working with patients with mental health problems.

1. Demonstrate clinical excellence and high standards of nursing practice to other colleagues.

1. Will be required to carry out unpredictable amount of mental effort during assessments and unpredictable work pattern

1. Demonstrate a 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), Mental Capacity Act (2005), deprivation of liberty safeguards and their application in a non-mental health setting.

Communications:

The post holder will:

1. Demonstrate the ability to receive and give complex clinical details clearly and appropriate to the situation, with patients, carers and colleagues.

1. Demonstrate the ability to communicate clearly, sensitively and with compassion in situations that are emotional, contentious and/or hostile.

1. Demonstrate a high level of interpersonal skills, self-awareness and empathy in all communications.

1. Demonstrate an ability to negotiate and problem solve in contentious and/or antagonistic situations where agreement cannot be reached e.g. in situations where the Mental Health Act may be needed to be used.

1. Demonstrate the ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with colleagues within the PLS team and staff within Luton & Dunstable Hospital and East London Foundation Trust.

Management:

The post-holder will:

1. Take responsibility for agreed clinical, managerial and strategic projects associated with the provision of the PLS. This will include planning, implementing, reviewing and revising these projects as necessary.

1. In the absence of the shift co-ordinator; take responsibility for the immediate management of the team and patient care provided, to agreed local and professional standards.

1. In the absence of the shift co-ordinator, take responsibility for the co-ordination of all activities within the clinical area or equivalent sphere.

1. Ensure the promotion of health and safety regulations in relation to the well-being and interests of the patients, staff and all visitors who come into contact with the team environment.

1. At all times follow the Nursing & Midwifery Council Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses and Midwives (2009) and ensure that all staff within their sphere of responsibility also follows the code as laid down.

1. Assist the shift co-ordinator and senior management to exercise day to day control of the budget for the service.

1. Act as change agent to promote innovation and high standards of practice in line with the PLS aims and objectives.

1. Type reports and discharge summaries.

This advert closes on Sunday 30 Aug 2026

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