Advance Choice Document Facilitator | South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS mental health provider in Greater London seeks an ACD Facilitator to support young people previously detained under the Mental Health Act. This role involves developing practices for Advance Choice Documents (ACDs), ensuring that the preferences and voices of service users are central to their care planning. Candidates should have experience in mental health settings and a professional background in relevant health disciplines. Opportunities for professional growth are available.

Qualifications

• Prior experience working with children and adolescents in mental health settings.
• Sound knowledge of child-care and mental health legislation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of evidence-based, co-produced best practice for ACDs in mental health services.
• Work directly with CAMHS service users and carers.
• Deliver awareness-raising activities and staff training.
• Monitor and evaluate the suitability of ACD content in collaboration with service users.

Skills

Working with children and adolescents

Knowledge of mental health legislation

Occupational Therapy

Social work

Nursing

Education

Professional background in social work, nursing, psychology, psychotherapy, or occupational therapy

Job description

The ACD Facilitator will deliver highly specialist interventions to support young people who have previously been detained under the Mental Health Act, working collaboratively with them and their carers to co‑produce Advance Choice Documents. These documents are a vital tool in promoting autonomy, voice, and person‑centred planning in future care.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of evidence-based, co‑produced best practice for ACDs in mental health services
• Support the implementation, accessibility, and use of ACDs across CAMHS
• Deliver awareness‑raising activities and staff training to embed ACDs into routine practice
• Work directly with CAMHS service users and carers, ensuring their experiences and preferences are central to care planning
• To work as an autonomous professional within their professional registration body guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the services, taking responsibility for interpreting relevant Mental Health Legislation policies within defined parameters.
• To develop and maintain community and inpatient links relevant to service users in the Directorate.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish and build trust in the services they use by working to create a culturally appropriate and psychologically safe environment, through the co‑production of ACDs.
• To agree outcomes/results with the ACD Clinical Lead and to decide how they are best achieved, supporting all reporting requirements for the service.
• To lead on the planning, co‑ordination, delivery and evaluation of high‑quality evidence based ACDs.
• To plan and implement interventions in the event of a relapse, in collaboration with the service user and the relevant clinical services to achieve their health and wellbeing goals in the development of their ACD.
• To monitor, evaluate and modify the suitability of the content of the ACD in collaboration with the service user and their clinical services.
• To provide clear leadership and support service users to achieve development of a culturally appropriate ACD reflective of their preferences regarding their treatment.
• To work as a member of the multi‑disciplinary team, including the implementation of core decisions with regard to service users’ care and treatment.
• To actively support and educate service users, carers, key supporters and colleagues regarding aspects of Occupational Therapy provision.
• To work with the ACD Clinical lead to ensure each ACD produced is made accessible within the Trust using agreed procedures.
• Maintain appropriate, up‑to‑date, written and electronic records and activity data in accordance with Professional and Trust standards.
• To collect and report on outcome required for the ACD implementation, research and Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF).
• Provide specialist reports as required.
• To lead on the planning, co‑ordination and delivery of the roll out of ACDs across the Directorate.
• To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with the service user in order to develop and review ACDs.
• To identify with staff their training needs and develop and deliver training together with the Recovery College.

Qualifications

• Prior experience working with children and adolescents in mental health settings
• Sound knowledge of child‑care and mental health legislation
• Professional background in social work, nursing, psychology & psychotherapy, occupational therapy, or allied health professions

Our CAMHS services operate across four London boroughs: Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, and Croydon. The role will require travel between sites, offering a dynamic and varied working environment.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide‑ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities, and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field.

If you're committed to collaborative, rights‑based care and want to help shape the future of mental health services for young people, we'd love to hear from you.