North London Forensic Collaborative

The North London Forensic Collaborative is leading an Integrated Non-Custodial Service across the boroughs of North London, including Liaison and Diversion in all police custody suites, including Metropolitan, City of London, British Transport Police and Marine Policing unit in addition to Magistrates and Crown Courts. The pathway of services also includes a new Primary Care Men’s Mental Health Treatment Requirement Service. This will for the first time in London, provide Probation with a greater range of community order options.

This new seven-year contract commenced on the 1st of November 2025 and is being delivered by North London Forensic Collaborative for North London, South London Mental Health and Community Partnership for South London and Waythrough, a UK registered charity, who will provide a pan-London Community Link Worker Service.

The North London Forensic Collaborative (NLFC) is the largest Forensic Provider Collaborative in England, covering a population of 6 million people across 3 integrated care systems, 21 local authorities, 5 NHS Trusts and one private provider: North London NHS Foundation Trust (Lead Provider), Central Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust, East London NHS Foundation Trust, North-East London NHS Foundation Trust, West London NHS Trust, The Priory Hospital Enfield. 

NLFC is responsible for the commissioning and delivery of low and medium secure inpatient and community services for men and women and aims to ensure that people who access services experience high quality care, close to home and connected to their local community.

The Provider collaborative enables close working with other North London Forensic Services, particularly the East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) Forensic service which provides medium secure beds (John Howard Centre), step-down low secure beds at Wolfson House for NELFT patients admitted to ELFT medium secure beds and Specialist Community Forensic Teams (SCFT) located in each NELFT Borough.

Liason and Diversion Service

The new Non-Custodial Liaison and Diversion service provides a specialist mental health assessment for people of all ages, genders and vulnerabilities (mental health and psychosocial concerns, neurodiverse conditions, substance misuse), designed to intervene at the earliest opportunity when a person comes into contact with the criminal justice system. This typically begins at the point of police contact, where people are identified for any potential vulnerabilities. The service model follows four stages: case identification, screening, assessment and onward referral.

The Non-Custodial Liaison and Diversion service aims to play a crucial role in providing real-time, essential information to decision-makers in the justice system, particularly during the charging and sentencing phases for these vulnerable people. With a unified approach and by fostering robust partnerships, this new service aims to improve outcomes for service users while contributing to wider goals of health equity and public safety within the Criminal Justice System.

Men's Mental Health Treatment Requirements

Men's Mental Health Treatment Requirements is now included as part of the Non-Custodial Liaison and Diversion service, recognising the links between mental health difficulties and many types of offending and risk​, to provide a pathway to further treatment and recovery. This service offers an alternative to a custodial sentence, with pre-sentence assessment and treatment as part of a community order.  Men's Mental Health Treatment Requirements includes a range of psychological interventions such as psychoeducation, emotional skill development, cognitive behaviour therapy, and all interventions are trauma informed, co-produced and individualised.

Networks and Affiliations

RCPsych CCQI Low Secure Forensic Mental Health Quality Network 

Membership of the Quality Network for Forensic Mental Health Services enable the service to take part in a formative process of continual self-evaluation, quality improvement and service development, supported by annual reviews by peers from other low secure forensic servives.

Useful links:

Ministry of Justice (MOJ)  Mental Health Case Work Section (MHCS) Working with restricted patients - GOV.UK

MAPPA:

Relevant Prison Mental Health In-Reach Service contacts: 

HMP Pentonville (North London Forensic Trust) Admin:

 email: kim.marshall9@nhs.net , Tel. No: 020 7023 7391

HMP Thameside, Health Care Admin. Practice Plus Group,

Tel. 0208 317 5562 (Ext 5947) practiceplusgrp.healthcareadmin.thameside@nhs.net