Central Screening Team Mental Health Clinician

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Leatherhead; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free parking

Flexible working

Health and wellbeing support

Job summary

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is seeking two Band 7 Central Screening Clinicians to join the Mindworks Surrey team across Frimley, Leatherhead and Chertsey. You will perform expert clinical screening, telephone triage, and make autonomous decisions to prioritise referrals for children and young people.

The role involves working within the THRIVE Needs-Led Approach, gathering information from families and professionals to determine risk and urgency, and ensuring safe patient

Qualifications

• Registered Mental Health Professional (RMN, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist or equivalent).
• Extensive experience as a band 6 Nurse / Occupational Therapist or Social worker.
• Experience of supervising or mentoring others.
• Experience of telephone or remote clinical triage, assessment and clinical decision-making within a mental health setting.
• Experience of working effectively within multi-agency systems, including schools, social care, GPs, acute services and voluntary sector organisations.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert telephone screening and triage for urgent and specialist referrals.
• Assess clinical need, risk, safeguarding concerns and urgency using advanced clinical judgement.
• Make autonomous decisions regarding referral prioritisation and allocation.
• Allocate referrals to the most appropriate Surrey pathway (Urgent Care, CEDS, Mindworks Hubs, SBN, EIIP, CLD, Transfer of Care and Adult MH Liaison).
• Develop safety plans and provide advice; escalate urgent referrals as needed.
• Support the central screening hub and routine referrals when urgent demand allows.
• Promote evidence-based practice and Trust values; supervise juniors.

Skills

Clinical triage

Supervision

Interagency collaboration

Education

RMN / Social Worker / OT or equivalent

Job description

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Central Screening Team Mental Health Clinician

The closing date is 17 November 2026

Mindworks Surrey | Locations across Frimley, Leatherhead & Chertsey

Are you an experienced and passionate mental health professional looking to make a real difference for children and young people? Join our Surrey-wide Central Screening Team and play a pivotal role in ensuring children, young people and families receive the right support, at the right time, through the right service.

We are seeking two Band 7 Central Screening Clinicians to join the innovative and dynamic Mindworks Surrey team. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of a county-wide service, helping to shape care pathways and improve outcomes for children and young people across Surrey.

We're looking for motivated clinicians who are:

• Experienced in working with children and young people within mental health, health, social care or related services.
• Skilled in assessment, risk management and clinical decision-making.
• Confident communicating with families, professionals and partner agencies.
• Passionate about improving access to support and delivering excellent outcomes.
• Adaptable, resilient and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Are able to offer flexibility

Main duties of the job

Currently, this is not an assessment role. You will use advanced clinical reasoning, risk assessment and safeguarding knowledge to make autonomous decisions regarding referral prioritisation and allocation. You will also support Hub Screening Clinicians with routine referrals when required, provide clinical guidance to colleagues, work closely with the Administration Team and the routine partner team to maintain safe patient flow, and contribute to the ongoing development of the county-wide Central Screening Team.

The Central Screening Team provides the Surrey-wide function for urgent and specialist referrals into Surrey Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (Mindworks). Routine referrals are managed by local Hub Screening Teams, which provide local advice, signposting and screening.

The Band 7 Central Screening Clinician is responsible for providing expert clinical screening, telephone triage and clinical decision-making for urgent and specialist referrals across Surrey.

Working within the THRIVE Needs-Led Approach (i-THRIVE Framework), the post holder will gather information from children, young people, families and professionals to determine the level of need, risk and urgency, ensuring referrals are allocated safely and appropriately.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Band 7 clinician who is resilient, adaptable and committed to delivering high quality, child-centered care within a fast paced and evolving service.

About us

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the leading provider of mental health, learning disability, neurodevelopmental and drug and alcohol services in Surrey and North East Hampshire. We support people of all ages and are passionate about providing high quality care that is delivered at the right time as close to home as possible to help people recover and stay well.

We are one of the top 10 mental Health, Learning Disability and Community Trust to work for nationwide. Our Trust is an inclusive and supportive employer that offers a wide range of staff networks, flexible working, free parking and excellent health and wellbeing support. We also provide a wide range of opportunities to help staff develop and progress.

Surrey is a beautiful county lying just 30 minutes away from Central London and from the South Coast. Our historic market towns and bustling districts are enveloped in wonderful countryside, and our excellent road and rail networks bring the rest of the country within easy reach. For international travel, both Gatwick and Heathrow airports are nearby.

Please note that we reserve the right to close posts as soon as sufficient applications are received.

Regrettably, due to UK Home Office requirements we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK for the duration of the role.

Job responsibilities

Provide expert telephone screening and triage for urgent and specialist referrals.

Assess clinical need, risk, safeguarding concerns and urgency using advanced clinical judgement.

Make autonomous decisions regarding referral prioritisation and allocation.

Allocate referrals to the most appropriate Surrey pathway, including:

• Urgent Care
• Community Eating Disorder Service (CEDS)
• Mindworks Hubs(Community Mental Health Teams)
• School-Based Needs Service (SBN)
• Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIIP)
• Children with Disabilities Team (CLD)
• Transfer of Care and Adult Mental Health Liaison
• Voluntary Sector Alliance Services

Demonstrate knowledge of the Neurodevelopmental pathway, including School Consultation and medication referral processes.

Develop safety plans and provide advice where appropriate, escalating urgent referrals in line with local guidance.

Supporting the central screening hub

Support Hub Screening Clinicians with routine referrals when urgent demand allows.

Provide clinical advice and consultation to colleagues and partner agencies.

Promote consistent decision-making through supervision, reflective practice and adherence to local guidance and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Support the induction, supervision and development of junior staff and students.

Act as a clinical role model, promoting evidence-based practice and Trust values.

Communication

Communicate effectively with children, young people, families and professionals.

Provide timely clinical advice to referrers, GPs, schools, social care, acute hospitals and partner organisations.

Build effective relationships across the Mindworks Alliance and represent the Access and Advice Team at meetings where appropriate.

Present complex cases during team meetings, supervision and formulation discussions.

Patient Flow and Administration

Support safe and timely patient flow by ensuring referrals are screened and allocated promptly.

Work closely with the Administration Team to manage referrals, telephone enquiries, and email inbox.

Provide timely clinical decisions to support referral processing and allocation.

Ensure all clinical decisions are accurately documented on the electronic patient record.

Escalate operational or capacity concerns to the Service Manager.

Support service performance by maintaining accurate records and contributing to KPI reporting.

For more information, please refer to the Job description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered Mental Health Professional (RMN, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist or equivalent)

Experience

• Extensive experience as a band 6 Nurse / Occupational Therapist or Social worker
• Experience of supervising or mentoring others

Experience

• Experience of telephone or remote clinical triage, assessment and clinical decision-making within a mental health setting
• Experience of working effectively within multi-agency systems, including schools, social care, GPs, acute services and voluntary sector organisations

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

£51,657 to £58,785 a yearIncl 5% Fringe HCAS, pa, pro rata