Job Title: Senior Custody Healthcare Practitioner
Salary: The starting salary is £ £66,876.20, which includes allowances totalling £17,206.20.
The salary is broken down as £49,670. basic salary. Plus, a shift allowance of 20% and a location allowance of £2,009 and a non-pensionable allowance of £1,000. Plus a market supplement allowance of £5,000.
Location: Met Wide
As a Senior Custody Healthcare Practitioner, you’ll bring your clinical expertise to a role that sits at the heart of safe, effective custody healthcare. Working across a cluster of police custody suites, you’ll help create an environment where detainees receive the right care, and colleagues feel supported to deliver it. It’s a senior, hands-on role where your judgement, confidence and leadership will make a real difference every day.
Job Overview
This role is an essential clinical and change leadership opportunity for motivated and highly competent Healthcare Practitioners. You will work alongside colleagues within the custody setting and across a cluster of suites to provide expert clinical care, to achieve our aim of safe, high quality outcomes for detainees in Met Detention.
1 post is assigned for a Registered Children’s Nurse with custody experience, dual trained Children and Adult nurse is desirable but not essential.
As a senior independent practitioner, you will work clinically and lead a team of Custody Healthcare
Practitioners across a cluster of police custody suites.
Within the SCHCP role you will be responsible for supporting the following outcomes;
- Ensure clinical staff are trained and supported to deliver the highest quality care founded upon the Met’s core values and principles.
- Maintain and improve standards of clinical practice through role modelling, peer review and clinical shifts.
- Lead on education, risk management, quality improvement and service development.
- Take the role of BRONZE Senior Healthcare Practitioner on call, supporting the Duty Clinical Manager (SILVER)
Key responsibilities:
- Lead a team of Custody Healthcare Practitioners across a designated cluster of police custody suites.
- Maintain and improve standards of clinical practice, detainee welfare and safe care across the custody environment.
- Provide visible clinical leadership, guidance and pastoral support to practitioners working in complex and emotionally demanding situations.
- Support the local line management, coaching, mentoring and development of Custody Healthcare Practitioners.
- Orientate and support new HCPs joining the Met, helping them adapt easily.
- Lead on education, training and clinical peer review, providing clear feedback to support professional practice.
- Support clinical governance, risk management and quality improvement activity at both local and London-wide levels.
- Carry out local audits, update policies and guidelines, and ensure guidance reflects national forensic and clinical standards.
- Role model high-quality risk assessment, risk management and safety improvement in day-to-day practice.
- Ensure safety concerns and near misses are recorded, reported and used as learning.
- Act as the on-duty clinical point of contact for the Met, escalating to the duty clinical manager where required.
- Identify signs and symptoms of mental health crisis, psychosis or suicide risk, referring to the relevant mental health team where needed.
Benefits:
You’ll also enjoy the kind of great benefits that you’d expect from one of London's largest employers. These include:
- A generous annual leave entitlement of 28 days, gradually increasing with your length of service to 33 days
- A civil service pension arrangement, with a choice between the Alpha and the Partnership pension schemes
- Training and development opportunities
- Career pathways with progression opportunities
You will have access to a range of other benefits, including:
- Sports and social club and facilities
- Cycle to work scheme
- Retail discounts
- Financial services
Metfriendly offers a number of financial services, including:
- Savings products
- Investment products
- Protection products
Pension:
- When you start as a member of police staff, you'll have a choice of joining one of the civil service pension schemes:
- The Alpha pension scheme is a CARE (career average revalued earnings) pension scheme which offers a guaranteed pension with an optional lump sum, based on the earnings you receive during your career. The Met and you will contribute, and you will receive tax relief on the contributions you make.
- The Partnership pension scheme. The value of the pension pot when you retire will depend on the contributions paid in and the returns on your investments. You can use the resulting pot to fund your retirement. The Met will make contributions on your behalf, and you will receive tax relief on any contributions you make.
- If you already have a pension, it may be possible to transfer it into the civil service pension arrangements.
Hours of work
Internal rotation 36 hours per week (average), flexible rostering to meet the needs of the service, will include Day and Night shifts and weekends.
How to apply
To begin your career at the Met, please click the "apply button “. The application process requires a comprehensive CV, completion of the expression of interest form and an online application form. Please note that you should not submit two copies of your CV, and ensure that your documents are saved in either PDF or Word format, clearly labelled as CV and/or Expression of Interest.
Completed applications must be submitted by 23:55 on 26/06/2026.
Once received, your application will be reviewed against eligibility criteria, following this, your application will be reviewed by the hiring manager.
Following application review, successful candidates will be invited to interview.
