Home, community, hospital

Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust offers a range of fantastic opportunities to grow your career across both hospital and community settings in south London. Whether you're looking to build new skills or take your experience to the next level, we are uniquely placed to provide the right environment to support your professional development. With colleagues working in people’s homes, in community clinics, and in our two hospitals, we have an outstanding breadth of knowledge and experience to draw from.

Our commitment to exceptional care is reflected in being the first trust of our kind in London to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the CQC for both overall quality and leadership. We exist to provide the best possible care for our patients and we do that by giving our colleagues what they need to be their best at work. We have won numerous awards from the HSJ and Nursing Times for the way we support our colleagues across all our services.

We are proud to be recognised for our outstanding cancer care, children's services, pioneering surgical teams, and exceptional rehabilitation services. Our maternity services have been rated the "Best in London" by women surveyed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with parents travelling to Kingston to take advantage of our considerable experience and expertise.

Our Trust values

These words are important reminders, but it’s our behaviours that tell people who we are. We expect all colleagues to bring our values to life in their work.

Job overview

The Emergency Department at Kingston Hospital, in collaboration with colleagues at South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust has developed an innovative model of care for patients presenting in Mental Health Crisis.

The Mental Health Assessment Unit is co-located with the Emergency Department and accepts patients from A&E who are awaiting psychiatric assessment or onward referral/admission to secondary care mental health services.  The unit aims to provide an improved environment and clinical pathways for this patient group by supporting early psychosocial interventions on the principle of a ‘therapeutic wait’

Main duties of the job

As the dedicated nurse for the unit you will be primarily responsible for the care and safety of the patients within the unit and providing simple and early psychosocial interventions. With the support of the ED Nurse in Charge you will oversee the admissions to the unit from the main A&E department and work in partnership with the Psychiatric Liaison Team to facilitate patients admission to secondary care service or discharge with communicate support.

Patients in the unit may present with mental health problems, self-harm, or as a psychiatric crisis. You will also be expected to work with patients presenting with psychosomatic disorders, as well as a variety of psychological issues related to physical disorders. You will clinically supervise junior staff in the unit, directing their workload and interventions with patients’.

Working for our organisation

Development and staff wellbeing

Your growth and personal happiness matters to us.  After all, we can't expect the best from you if we don't invest in your development and nurture your wellbeing.  From the moment you join us,  we're committed to fostering your professional and personal development with a supportive, empowering environment.  Whether you're just starting your career or looking to advance further, we provide you with the tools and opportunities you need to succeed.  We actively support colleagues to take part in research, quality improvement and innovation, whatever their role or level in the organisation.

To support your wellbeing, we offer an extensive range of resources, including on-site staff nursery at Kingston Hospital, wellbeing practitioners, regular wellbeing classes, dedicated staff physiotherapist, comprehensive occupational health services, 24/7 employee assistance programme,  and a range of other support and activities. 

We also take every opportunity to thank and recognise the work our teams do, through weekly "shoutouts" and patient feedback, monthly and staff awards.

Our Trust values

These words are important reminders, but it's our behaviours that tell people who we are.  We expect all colleagues to bring values to life in their work.

• Compassionate
• Inclusive
• Collaborative
• Inspiring