Child & Adolescent Mental Health Practitioner

Maudsley Learning; London; On-site; GBP 44,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic team as a Child & Adolescent Mental Health Practitioner in a leading institution renowned for its commitment to quality care. This role offers a unique opportunity to assess and treat young patients facing acute mental health challenges, working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team. You’ll play a crucial role in bridging physical and mental health services, ensuring the best outcomes for children and their families. With a strong emphasis on professional development and a supportive work environment, this position is perfect for passionate practitioners eager to make a difference in the lives of young people. Embrace a fulfilling career where your contributions truly matter.

Benefits

Generous pay and pensions

Flexible working options

Career development opportunities

Keyworker housing

NHS discounts

Counselling services

Long service awards

Cycle to work scheme

Season ticket loan

Staff restaurants

Qualifications

• Professional registration with a statutory body is required.
• Experience in multidisciplinary teams and crisis settings is essential.

Responsibilities

• Assess and treat children and young people with mental health difficulties.
• Collaborate with the multidisciplinary team for effective patient care.

Skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Risk assessment

Therapeutic approaches (CBT, Family Therapy)

Time management

Education

First level qualification/registration (RMN, Social worker, OT, RSCN, HV)

Tools

ePJS (electronic patient journal system)

Job description

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Practitioner

Band 6

Main area: Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services
Grade: Band 6
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 334-CLI-6882796

Site: Kings College Hospital
Town: London
Salary: £44,806 - £53,134 per annum inclusive of inner HCAs
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 06/02/2025 23:59

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links, and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, and Richmond.

We are committed to providing high-quality specialist care to our service users and are recognized for the care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021, together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes, and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognizes the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values: We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen, and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job Overview

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Practitioner

We are seeking a motivated, passionate, and enthusiastic CAMHS practitioner to join the Paediatric Liaison Team at Kings College Hospital. This role involves assessing and treating children and young people who present to Kings College Hospital due to acute mental health difficulties. This is a unique role working in the interface between physical and mental health. We welcome applications from all registered disciplines with an interest in CAMHS.

Main Duties of the Job

The post holder will be a mental health clinician, assessing and treating a specific group of children and young people in the team working in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team (MDT). These will include young people presenting to Kings College Hospital in crisis, i.e., those who have self-harmed or have suicidal ideation or are presenting with acute mental health difficulties. They may also include young people admitted to the inpatient medical wards that have medical difficulties but require assessment and treatment of their acute behavioral or emotional needs. The role involves liaison with the wider network such as community CAMHS, schools, and children's social care/safeguarding, etc. This post is currently a 9-5pm Monday-Friday service.

Working for Our Organisation

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package, feel valued, and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

Some of our benefits include:

• Generous pay, pensions, and leave packages dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work-life balance, flexible working, and supporting a range of flexible options, such as part-time working and job sharing.
• Career development with plenty of CPD opportunities such as mentoring, coaching, collective leadership, and other talent programmes.
• Accommodation, our staff benefit from keyworker housing at selected sites.
• NHS discounts via the Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Staff restaurants

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

To work as a clinician within the Paediatric Liaison based within Kings College Hospital. The post holder will work to provide rapid response, clinical assessment, and intervention for patients who attend A&E to facilitate the patients' discharge and prevent hospital admission. Where clinically appropriate and when an inpatient admission is indicated, the post holder will work collaboratively with colleagues to facilitate this.

Participate as a multi-disciplinary team member in the assessment of children and young people presenting to the acute hospital environment due to mental health difficulties or children and young people admitted to medical wards who require assessment of or additional support for ongoing acute emotional, behavioral, or mental health difficulties.

To formulate and implement mental healthcare and crisis treatment plans that are specific to each CYP and family alongside providing a high standard of care to clients. To assess safeguarding concerns for each case, consulting with other professionals and referring concerns to the appropriate safeguarding team as required.

Ensure that all recording and reporting of client contact are accurate, up to date, of good quality, and within CAMHS and professional requirement standards of record keeping. To collect & collate information about individual clinical activity on ePJS.

Work with the team, physical health colleagues, and clients to maintain a safe therapeutic environment. Work to assure the quality of care through achieving high operational standards in clinical systems.

To maintain and ensure good professional standards and attitudes towards the care and treatment of children, young people, and their families.

To link with other statutory and voluntary agencies and professionals as well as other CAMHS Teams in terms of referrals and joint work such as school, social care, youth teams, etc. Maintain good relationships and clear lines of communication with other professional agencies and departments, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.

Contribute to the effective functioning of the team and service through attendance at relevant meetings, taking responsibilities within the service as appropriate and negotiated with the line manager.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Relevant professional training will include first level qualification/registration i.e., RMN, Social worker, OT, RSCN or HV with related CAMHS experience.
• All applications will require professional registration with a statutory body e.g., the Nursing Midwifery Council, General Social care council, Health professionals council, or applicable psychological or psychotherapies body.
• Excellent risk assessment and documentation skills.
• Good verbal communication, written, and report writing skills.
• Effective self/time management.
• Familiarity with therapeutic approaches commonly used in CAMHS e.g., CBT, Family Therapy.

Experience

• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of working with children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Working knowledge of MHA, MCA, and safeguarding children legislation.
• Prompt and accurate recording on to electronic notes system and an understanding of the need for this.
• Previous experience of working in A&E/Crisis settings.
• Experience of multi-agency collaboration and integrated working.

Knowledge/Skills

• Knowledge and understanding of issues relating to information sharing and confidentiality.
• Understanding of/ability to maintain a safe therapeutic environment and work under pressure.
• Ability to work in partnership with service users and carers in the planning and delivery of care.
• Ability to maintain effective professional relationships with all team members.
• Ability to work therapeutically with the client group, using a range of therapeutic interventions.
• Knowledge of assessment of behavior and emotional disorders and difficulties, relationship difficulties, attachment difficulties, and clinical psychometrics.
• Knowledge of childhood disorders including emotional and behavioral disorders, relationship difficulties, and attachment disorders and theories of child development.
• Knowledge of child safeguarding and child protection framework.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer; we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect, and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice.
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment.
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers, and our staff should be treated with compassion, respect, and dignity.

Please note:

• All applications for this post will need to be made online.
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria.
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should a sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible.
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not been successful.
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees.
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorize South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process.
• That we are a smoke-free Trust.

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion; Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe.

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.

Name: Clement Amevor
Job title: Clinical Service Lead - Paediatric Liaison Service
Email address: [e-mail]
Telephone number: 02032993219

Dr. Sulagna Chakrabarti - Consultant Paediatric Liaison Psychiatrist - Paediatric Liaison Service - 0203 299 3219