CAMHS Nurse

West London; Hounslow; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

West London NHS Trust invites applications for a CAMHS Practitioner training post designed to develop Band 6 CAMH Nurses, CAMHS Social Workers or CAMH Occupational Therapists. The programme combines formal teaching, experiential learning and supervision to prepare candidates for Band 7 clinical roles.

You will work across CAMHS services and crisis pathways, assessing children and young people in need and supporting families and carers with risk management and safe discharges.

Qualifications

• Degree or Diploma in nursing, social work or OT with post graduate mental health specialism.
• Active professional registration with the NMC or equivalent.
• Mentorship/ teaching and assessing qualification.
• Specialist therapeutic skills such as CBT.
• Evidence of accredited courses in CAMHS practice.
• Training in violence prevention/management in children and youth.
• Training in family interventions.

Responsibilities

• Develop core knowledge and competencies to progress to Band 7 roles.
• Participate in delivering specialist mental health services to children and families.
• Assess children and young people in crisis and develop risk management plans.
• Work across CAMHS and crisis pathways in West London NHS Trust.

Skills

CBT

Risk assessment

Communication

Team working

Education

Degree or Diploma in Nursing, Social Work or Occupational Therapy

Post graduate specialism in mental health

Active Registration with NMC / equivalent

Mentorship/ teaching qualification

Job description

Use the job search to find and apply for roles using keywords or look at the roles listed below.

West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.

Job overview

If you want be a part of changing the future outcomes for children and young people who present to mental health services. We are giving you the opportunity to work and train to become a CAMH Specialist Practitioner in Child and Adolescent Mental Health through our innovative and comprehensive training programme which includes formal teaching, experiential learning and supervision.

We are seeking applications from Registered Mental Health Nurses, Social workers or Occupational therapists with significant post registration training, who have experience of working in child and adolescent in-patient and/or community services or adult community services.

The Alliance Crisis Service is an evolving service which aims to provide brief interventions and outreach work to children and young people presenting with acute psychological and mental health problems where intensive support is required to prevent admission to Tier 4 Services and to facilitate safe and timely discharges from Tier 4 Services. We also operate a helpline service.
Ideally you are someone who has the ability to be creative, flexible, dynamic and have confidence in your ability to problem solve and make decisions.

Main duties of the job

The aim of the programme is to support development of Band 6 CAMH Nurses, CAMHS Social Worker and/or CAMH Occupational Therapists to develop the core knowledge, skills and competencies as set out in the Competence Framework for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which will allow them to progress and practice as Band 7 Clinical Nurse Specialists, or Specialist Mental Health Social Worker, or Specialist Occupational Therapists with CAMHS.

The programme will also support the development of Band 7 Clinical Nurse Specialists and Specialist Mental Health Practitioners, who have no or limited experience working in CAMHS, but who have transferable training, skills and experience, to build on their existing knowledge and skills to develop the full set of competencies as set out in the Competence Framework for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

The CAMH Practitioner will participate in delivering provision of specialist mental health services to children and young people and their families and carers across the West London NHS Trust 3 Boroughs CAMH Service and crisis pathway.

The role will involve the comprehensive assessment of children and young people with mental health needs (including risk assessment and the development of risk management plans) who present in crisis to CAMH Services, hospitals and sites covered by the Alliance Crisis Care Team.

Working for our organisation

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.

Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.

The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.

The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached.

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Degree or Diploma in Nursing, Social Work or Occupational Therapy with post graduate specialism in mental health.
• Active Professional registration with the NMC
• Mentorship/ teaching and assessing qualification
• Specialist therapeutic skills e.g. CBT
• Evidence of accredited courses in child and adolescent mental health practice
• Training in the prevention and management of violence and aggression in children and young people
• Training in family interventions

Experience

• Demonstrable post registration experience of assessment and working within a mental health setting or of working therapeutically with children, adolescents and their families
• Experience of working in a number of ways i.e. assertive outreach, clinic based settings, home, school or other appropriate environments
• Experience of interagency and multidisciplinary working
• Experience of assessing risk and formulating safe and effective risk management plans
• Clinical Supervision / Reflective Practice
• Experience of teaching other professionals
• Experience of management of safeguarding emergencies
• Experience of using therapeutic skills, such as CBT, Solution Focused Therapy, Family Work
• Experience of therapeutic work with children and families where abuse or neglect has occurred
• Experience of audit and/or research
• Experience of contributing to and implementing new service developments

Knowledge

• Knowledge of legislation relevant to the Children’s Act 2004, Mental Health Act 1983 & Safeguarding Guidelines
• A sound working knowledge and application of relevant professional code, i.e. professional Code of Practice
• Knowledge of the legal issues relating to consent and capacity in children and young people.
• An awareness and understanding of the issues facing, children, adolescents and their families
• Knowledge of the Care Plan Approach
• Skills in communicating with children, adolescents and their families or carers
• Ability to contain the anxieties of severely unwell young people and their parents.
• Knowledge of the various assessment tools used in CAMHS
• Skills and sensitivity in working with difficult to engage families
• Ability to deal with challenging behaviour in possibly distressing situations.

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks . After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR ).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We encourage the thoughtful use of technology as a demonstration of strong time management and a commitment to innovation. However, we encourage applicants to personalise your recruitment application to showcase your unique skills and experiences.

While AI-generated content can be a helpful tool, relying solely on generic responses instead of highlighting your own strengths and achievements may impact the success of your application. The success of an application will always be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria for the role, so it is important to ensure that your application and any supporting information clearly demonstrate how you meet these requirements.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

At West London NHS Trust, we want you to support you to build a career you can be proud of and this starts before your first day with us. Our people live our values every day as they deliver, manage and work to improve our services to patients, carers, families and other professionals.

We’re committed to making our recruitment process clear and efficient. It’s in everyone’s interest that we get the very best people on board as soon as we can.