BANK Forensic Nurse or Paramedic - Thames Valley - Custody in England

Are you looking for a career move that offers real variety, autonomy and professional challenge beyond traditional clinical settings? Mountain Healthcare is one of the UKs leading providers of forensic custody healthcare. Working in partnership with the police, and wider criminal justice agencies, we deliver high quality care to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are proud to be guided by our core values of Being Kind and Doing the Right Thing.

We are now recruiting Forensic Custody Healthcare Professionals (RGNs and Paramedics) to deliver specialist healthcare within police custody. This is a rare opportunity to step into a respected forensic role where no two shifts are the same, no custody experience is required as full accredited training is provided. Your clinical decisions will directly support detainee welfare, safeguarding, and the wider criminal justice process.

If you are an experienced clinician with at least three years' experience in an acute setting who enjoys independent decision making, fast paced assessments, and meaningful work that genuinely makes a difference, this could be the ideal next step in your career.

Key responsibilities include:

• Conducting comprehensive clinical assessments to determine fitness for detention, interview, charge, and release, including capacity assessments.
• Managing medical emergencies, treating injuries, and providing healthcare advice in a fast-paced environment.
• Supporting detainees with mental health needs, substance misuse, alcohol dependency, and complex vulnerabilities.
• Collecting and documenting forensic samples in line with evidential and legal standards.
• Producing accurate clinical and evidential records, including injury documentation.
• Liaising with police, custody teams, NHS and other healthcare services to ensure appropriate onward care.
• Attending hospital blood procedures under the Road Traffic Act.
• Preparing professional statements and attending court as an impartial healthcare witness.

About us: Founded by passionate clinicians on a mission to provide expert patient-centred services, Mountain Healthcare leads the clinical forensic healthcare provisions sector in the UK. A premier partner of NHS England and the police, our unique provisions include Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs), Police Custodial Healthcare, Secure Estate Healthcare and clinical telephone advice. Driven by our values Be Kind and Do the Right Thing, Mountain Healthcare provides holistic and trauma-informed care that improves the immediate and long-term health outcomes of patients across the criminal justice system.

Through innovative technologies and strategic partnerships, our expert clinicians ensure equal, effective and efficient services to all our patients and always put their health, safety and rights first.

Clinical forensic healthcare is a rapidly growing career path as demand for specialist critical services has greatly increased in recent years. At Mountain Healthcare, we understand that to provide the highest quality services for our patients and customers, our people must be the best in the field. We are proud to offer unrivalled staff training and development opportunities such as our unique Forensic Practitioner Gateway, our wide range of accredited and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses, and access to events across the health and justice sector.

As a Forensic Custody Healthcare Professional, you will provide autonomous clinical care within police custody suites, supporting detainees with a wide range of physical and mental health needs. You will assess fitness for detention and interview, respond to acute medical episodes, manage drug and alcohol related presentations, and support safeguarding decisions in a complex and highly rewarding environment. This is not ward based nursing or ambulance work. It is a specialist role where you will apply your clinical expertise in a completely different setting, working closely with custody staff, police officers and partner agencies to ensure detainees are safely managed and receive appropriate care throughout the criminal justice process.

You will also be trained to undertake forensic and evidential duties, including the collection and preservation of forensic samples, injury documentation, and maintaining robust clinical records that support legal and professional standards. No prior forensic experience is required, full training and an externally accredited Introduction are provided.

Flexible full-time and part-time opportunities are available within a supportive, values-driven clinical team. Full time employees are contracted to 42hrs a week and usually work a fixed shift working pattern of two days, two nights, four rest days. Shifts are 12-hours. 06:45-19:00 and 18:45-07:00. Annualised hours contracts and part-time opportunities are also available, comprising a mix of day and night shifts. Weekend working is included within all contractual arrangements.

This is a rare opportunity to move into a specialist forensic healthcare career while continuing to use your clinical skills every day. You will be trusted to work autonomously, make high quality clinical decisions, and develop into a confident forensic practitioner.

• A joining bonus of £1500 (£750 paid after probation period and £750 paid after a year in the role)
• Recommend a friend £500
• NMC HCPC registration paid
• Access to company pension scheme
• Overtime at enhanced rates
• A supportive, values driven culture where professionalism and compassion are genuinely recognised
• A unique clinical environment where no two shifts are the same
• Exposure to specialist forensic skills including evidential documentation and forensic sampling
• Opportunities to progress within one of the UKs most respected forensic healthcare providers
• Accredited forensic training and structured development.

Experience: To be successful in this role, you will need:

• To be a Registered General Nurse (RGN) or Paramedic with current NMC or HCPC registration
• A minimum of three years post qualification experience in an acute setting (e.g. frontline paramedic, A&E, Prison, Custody, Urgent Care)
• A full UK driving licence with less than 6 penalty points
• The ability to successfully complete enhanced DBS clearance and police vetting
• Full Right to work in the UK and have lived in the UK for a minimum of three years prior to application
• Strong assessment, communication and decision making skills, with confidence working autonomously
• A calm, professional and compassionate approach when working with vulnerable individuals, including those who may be distressed, intoxicated or experiencing acute mental health symptoms
• Willingness to complete accredited forensic training within the first year of employment

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.