CAMHS Single Point of Access (SPA) Clinician

Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An NHS mental health trust in Greater London seeks an SPA Clinician to manage referrals and assessments for children and adolescents. The role involves coordinating intake processes, conducting assessments, and collaborating with families and professionals. Candidates must hold a relevant professional qualification and have experience in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, alongside essential IT and communication skills.

Qualifications

• Professional qualification including System Psychotherapist, Mental Health Nurse, or equivalent.
• Minimum of one year experience with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
• Experience of assessing risk and creating risk management plans.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the intake of referrals into CAMHS.
• Conduct telephone triages and face-to-face assessments.
• Liaise with young people, families, and professionals.

Skills

IT skills

Ability to communicate effectively in emotive situations

Time management skills

Good administrative skills

Excellent general communication skills

Education

Professional qualification in relevant field

Live professional registration with relevant body

Job description

Job overview

The purpose of the Single Point of Access (SPA) is to assess children and young people being referred in to the CAMHS Division to ascertain the most appropriate service to meet their needs. The post requires significant clinical and organisational skills. You will adhere to the goals of ‘No wrong Front Door’ and support the operations of the Access Team who seek to identify the right service for a young person at the right time.

You will be responsible for coordinating the intake of referrals into CAMHS, carrying out telephone triages, face to face assessments and brief interventions with children aged 0‑18 years and their families. The post of access clinicians will also contribute to the management of waiting lists and the duty call rota.

The SPA Clinician will work with front line administrators and senior colleagues to identify presenting needs, manage risk and support young people and parents whilst they wait for therapy. This will involve liaising with young people, parents, carers and professionals at the point of their referral as well as when issues arise during the wait for treatment. We have developed a system of screening / triage delivered by therapists to help identify treatment needs and assess risk. The post‑holder will play a crucial role in coordinating this as well as undertaking clinical assessments and some brief interventions themselves. The post‑holder will be well supported in this role by senior colleagues particularly in risk assessment and management.

Main duties of the job

Coordinate the day to day running of the SPA team, including screening new referrals and allocating these to the access clinicians. Complete telephone triages / screening for young people themselves, telephone risk assessment and management plans. Complete brief assessments and interventions for young people referred to the CAMHS Division. Manage and maintain clear waiting lists for the clinical teams that sit within the CAMHS Division. Ensure the safe delivery of Key KPI’s and access to treatment standards. Comply with the service requirements for the completion of routine outcome measures. To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients. To plan and implement formal psychological treatment and / or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems.

Where appropriate, to implement a range of brief psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals.

Working for our organisation

Join us at an exciting time for Barnet, Haringey and Enfield Mental Health NHS Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. After three years working in Partnership, we are due to create a new Trust, to be known as the North London NHS Foundation Trust on 1 November 2024, subject to Secretary of State approval. Join us to be part of the North London Way as we :

• Collaborate at every level by living our Values to create the right conditions for us all to work together
• Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care
• Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes
• Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high quality care across all our services
• Ensure that research, Quality Improvement and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services
• Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do

We look forward to welcoming you to the new North London NHS Foundation Trust, where we work in the North London Way to deliver : Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

Our new trust website is :

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Professional qualification including : System Psychotherapist, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Mental Health Nurse, Learning Disability Nurse, Clinical Psychologist, Counsellor, Social Worker or Occupational Therapist
• Live professional registration with relevant professional body i.e. NMC, HCPC

Desirable criteria

• Qualification in core therapy training, i.e CBT, DBT, MBT…

Experience and Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Minimum of one year experience of working with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
• Experience of assessing risk and creating risk management plans with children and adolescents.
• Experience of direct – time limited clinical work within a CAMHS setting.
• Experience in liaison and multi‑agency working.
• Experience in the use of routine outcome measures in clinical practice.
• Knowledge of relevant research, evidence base and therapeutic modalities.
• Experience of working with parents / carers of Adolescents

Desirable criteria

• Experience of IT administration systems.
• Experience of contributing to intake‑coordination and waiting list management.
• Experience of developing service user participation.
• Experience of presenting the work of a service to other professionals.
• Experience of working on call or on duty within teams
• Knowledge of statutory and voluntary sector services and the increasing demands facing mental health providers
• Experience of completing risk assessments over the phone

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

• Specific skills that will enable candidate to fulfill job role, including IT skills (must be detailed)
• Ability to make complex autonomous judgements based on theoretical, technical and clinical knowledge and experience.
• Ability to communicate effectively in highly emotive situations : - overcoming barriers to understanding and analysing complex and conflicting opinion / emotions.
• Experience in the autonomous management of personal work patterns and caseload. This includes experience in scheduling and maintaining a pattern of clinical and non-clinical work.
• Good literary and report writing skills.
• Time management skills.
• Good administrative Skills.
• Good Liaison Skills
• Good IT Skills.
• Excellent general communication skills.

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Self‑motivated. Flexible in approach and outlook. Ability to work as part of a team. Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines. Ability to contain anxiety in others. Adaptable. Good interpersonal skills. Reliable. Trustworthy. Physical effort – capacity to sit in constrained position for extended periods.