Band 6 Custody Practitioner - Health and Justice Vulnerability Service in Birmingham

Main area: Health and Justice Vulnerability Service

Grade: Band 6

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (A mixture of long and short days, 7 days a week, 365 days a year service)

Employer: Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Site: Perry Barr Custody Suite

Town: Birmingham

Salary: £38,682 - £46,580 per annum, pro rata

Closing: 25/02/ :59

Interview date: 04/03/2026

Job overview:

Are you an experienced Healthcare professional registered with a professional body looking for a new and exciting challenge working with individuals who have come into contact with the criminal justice system? If so, this job could be perfect for you!

BSMHFT are currently recruiting for full-time, experienced Band 6 Practitioners to join the Health and Justice Vulnerability Service. The successful candidates will have the exciting opportunity to work within various custody suites based across the city as well as supporting other areas of the service on an ad hoc basis.

We are looking for experienced, versatile, motivated, qualified nurses, social workers or allied health professionals with post-qualification experience to deliver a service to vulnerable individuals who are often the most marginalised within society. You will offer them hope and support in reducing their health inequalities and support with diversion away from the criminal justice system.

We have a committed, motivated, hardworking and skilled team and offer excellent career progression opportunities. The team holds a strong recovery-focused ethos, and you will hold an integral role working alongside partner agencies, including the police and third sector organisations to help those accessing the service obtain positive outcomes.

Main duties of the job:

• Extensive post-qualification experience working in a range of settings of at least 12 months.
• To be a strong team player and able to work autonomously.
• Abilities to work collaboratively with partner agencies.
• Be able to identify, assess and support onward referrals for vulnerable individuals.
• To demonstrate sound assessment skills to inform clinical decision making and risk formulations.
• To be able to inform and promote decision making around those with complex care needs (mental health, substance misuse, homelessness, learning disability, youth or any other vulnerability).

The aim of the service is to:

• Improve access to healthcare and support services for vulnerable individuals and a reduction in health inequalities.
• Divert individuals, where appropriate, out of the youth and criminal justice systems into health, social care or other supportive services.
• Deliver efficiencies within the youth and criminal justice systems.
• Reduce re-offending or escalation of offending behaviours.

We recognise that this is a bespoke role and would strongly encourage that individuals looking to apply reach out to Custody Lead Jeneen Niblett to discuss the role further.

Working for our organisation:

Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year. We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.

Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community. If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people’s lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

For further information about the main responsibilities please view the attached job description and person specification.

Person specification:

QUALIFICATIONS

• Current Professional Registration – including; Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Psychology, RMN(H), RLDN or other allied health professional relevant to the role (degree level).

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Ability to promote recovery as an embedded part of the philosophy of the individual and team.
• Ability to screen referrals and clarify when consultation is appropriate and/or onward referral to specialist services is needed.
• Evidence of ability to complete comprehensive/vulnerability assessments.
• Understanding of multiple and complex needs.
• Experience of working autonomously and making decisions around patient care.
• Ability to liaise effectively with statutory and voluntary services.

EXPERIENCE

• Extensive experience of working with vulnerable individuals as a qualified professional.
• At least 1 year post-qualified experience.
• Experience working within the criminal justice systems.
• Experience of working in a diverse range of settings.
• Analytical and judgement skills.
• Ability to analyse complex facts and situations, making clinical interpretations and formulating outcomes with corresponding follow-up.

Our Trust is committed to treating individuals fairly and ensuring they have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential, even if this means doing things differently for different people sometimes. We are working hard to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity within Birmingham and Solihull and that our services meet the needs of all diverse service users and carers.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of our safe recruitment practice, pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. As part of the selection process, you may be required to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check; however, all cases of criminal record history are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Please note, if applicable for your role you will be required to cover the cost of your DBS certificate. This will be deducted from your salary over 3 months. You will also be required to sign up to the DBS Update Service before commencement with the Trust. The Trust will reimburse this. You will be contractually obliged to maintain your subscription.

All successful applicants will be required to complete the Trust’s induction programme. The Fundamental (Statutory and Mandatory) training will be in an e-learning format. You will be required to complete training modules online (approx. 9-14 hours depending on post) by the end of your second week with us.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage of the recruitment process we may contact you via email to advise you of the interview details. Please ensure you access your email.