Psychiatric Liaison Nurse

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.

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.

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 be involved, and be 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.

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.

This posts will be based at Vaenta.

The successful candidates will work:
Full Time 37 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.

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.

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