Acute mental health and learning disability staffing

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Flexible and reliable staffing solutions for acute care providers 

Our expert team seamlessly integrate with your organisation, filling staffing gaps and enhancing the overall quality of care. We provide nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) to the NHS and private clients across Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland.  

Our experienced and compassionate nurses and HCAs help you to:  

Optimise patient discharge 

Reduce hospital stays 

Deliver excellent outcomes for patients in any location 

Manage patients with complex clinical profiles 

Provide de-escalation and breakaway expertise 

Enable high staffing ratios and 1-on-1 support   

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Specialist nurses and HCAs for acute care facilities  

Whether you need to cover holidays, sick leave or are looking to support patients with complex care needs, you have access to our highly trained staff who have completed and passed our rigorous vetting process, including: 

  • RMN (registered mental health nurse) 
  • RNLD (registered learning disability nurse) 
  • HCA (learning disability healthcare assistant) 
  • Mental health HCA 
  • Forensic RMN 

Our nurses and HCAs are on hand to fill short-term staffing shortages from a few hours to several weeks. 

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Case study – Supporting a client with complex mental health needs through acute care settings

The Scottish Nursing Guild had a client who had complex mental health needs and a history of childhood trauma. The individual, diagnosed with PTSD, emotionally unstable personality disorder, and childhood trauma, had experienced multiple placement breakdowns and engaged in high-risk behaviours. Her engagement in physically aggressive behaviours, self-harm, suicidal ideation, ligaturing, overdosing, and substance misuse led to her admission to secure services. This was necessary due to the significant risk of death through misadventure and exploitation from others, exacerbated by her lack of life experiences.  

After her discharge from secure services, she was repatriated back to her local authority and admitted to inpatient psychiatric services. At this time, a 2:1 package of support from SNG was procured to facilitate her transition to independent living. The support package aimed to help her move from hospital to her own tenancy, involving intensive community-based psychiatric support and a wider multidisciplinary team (MDT). With the help of the Scottish Nursing Guild, the client now enjoys an active community life, with significantly reduced episodes of crisis-led behaviours.  

Acute mental health and learning disability staffing FAQs

Where can you provide nurses to?

Our specialist mental health, psychiatric and learning disability nurses have experience working in a variety of acute mental health settings, including:

  • Children and adolescent mental health or psychiatric units
  • Psychiatric intensive care units
  • Secure facilities
  • Admission and assessment units
  • Rehabilitation units
  • Mother and baby units
  • Eating disorder units
  • Psychiatric rehabilitation units
  • Dementia care units
  • Nursing and care homes
  • Drug and alcohol centres
Are your nurses PMVA trained?

All of our nurses have certification in the Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression (PMVA) and call upon their training to help de-escalate difficult situations. Our team members are highly proficient in supporting individuals during crises.

They use techniques such as verbal de-escalation, distraction and breakaway strategies when necessary and physical interventions to ensure safety.

How do you verify the skills of your nursing staff?

The Scottish Nursing Guild recruits to standards which often exceed local regulations and guidelines. We only accept the top agency workers, with only 20% only making it through our vetting process.

Our nurses are registered with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) and our HCAs are registered with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). To join our team, our applicants need a minimum of 12 months’ experience in the last 18 months working in an acute mental health or learning disability setting.

What is the cost of your staffing service?

Our acute mental health and learning disability staffing is tailored to meet your organisation’s individual needs. When you procure a staffing packing with the Scottish Nursing Guild, various factors will affect the cost of our services, including:

  • How many nurses and HCAs you need

  • The amount of time that you require our staff for

  • The types of staff you need

Talk to a member of our team

Call us if you need to request a nurse, discuss your requirements or
wish to understand more about our wide range of services.

Scotland
0131 229 9988

Northern Ireland
0333 323 0336

Republic of Ireland
01 9023080

Our teams are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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