Duty Clinician - CAMHS Practitioner

NHS; City Of London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading health service provider is seeking a Duty Clinician to manage the Westminster CAMHS Duty System, providing essential support and assessments for children and young people. The role requires strong clinical judgement and the ability to manage urgent mental health cases effectively. Candidates should possess relevant training and experience in CAMHS. This position plays a crucial role in safeguarding and delivering timely interventions within the service.

Qualifications

• Requires professional training and CAMHS experience.
• Registered with NMC, HPC, ACP, or UKCP.
• Experience in clinical settings with children and adolescents.

Responsibilities

• Manage the daily duty system for CAMHS.
• Perform risk assessments and screenings.
• Support children and families in crisis.

Skills

Clinical judgement

Risk management

Compassionate support

Assessment intervention

Communication

Education

Professional training and registration with relevant statutory body

Tools

SystmOne

Job description

Job summary

The post holder will act as a clinician within the Westminster CAMHS Duty System, providing a responsive and risk-aware clinical triage function for children, young people, and families referred to the service. You will be one of two Duty Clinicians responsible for the daily Westminster CAMHS Duty system, which includes screening and managing new referrals, responding to urgent contacts, and supporting the team as needed. The Duty Lead and wider team offer support and guidance where required.

The Duty Clinician is a key point of contact for urgent mental health queries, unplanned assessments, and risk management interventions, working collaboratively with the Duty Lead and wider multidisciplinary team to ensure safe, effective, and timely responses.

The post holder will provide a core element of the service by completing initial screening calls and offering brief case management to young people awaiting assessment or allocation.

The role requires sound clinical judgement, experience in managing risk and crisis presentations, and the ability to offer compassionate support during times of distress. The post holder will support the team to maintain high standards of safeguarding and clinical governance and contribute to the day-to-day functioning of the duty system and wider service.

Main duties of the job

• Assume responsibility for the daily duty system, participating on the local duty rota to provide a responsive and timely approach to urgent issues and clinical queries.
• Provide screening of incoming CAMHS referrals of children and young people referred to the team. In line with the national 4 Week Wait directive, this will involve a screening call including a risk assessment, a Routine Outcome Measure (ROM) and a care plan letter.
• Offer support to parents, carers, and young people seeking help between appointments or during periods of crisis.
• Maintain good relationships and clear lines of communication with other professional agencies and departments, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.
• Undertake CAMHS assessments where needed for children and young people referred to the team.
• Ensure timely, accurate, and high-quality documentation of all clinical activity and client contact on SystmOne in line with CAMHS and professional record-keeping standards.
• 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.

About us

The Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is responsible for the provision of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to the populations of Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster, as well as providing a range of highly specialist services to other Trusts and Agencies, and to a wider regional catchment area. Clients of the Trust are drawn from a population that is highly diverse ethnically and socio-economically, including refugees. There are high levels of social and economic deprivation.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

All applicants will require a professional training and relevant CAMHS experience in combination with professional registration with one of the following statutory bodies: the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC), Health Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

Relevant professional training will include: first level nursing qualification/registration RMN or RSCN or HV with related CAMHS experience or any as below: first level qualification in Occupational therapy, Clinical or Counselling Psychology, Social work, or equivalent with related CAMHS experience.

Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge and skills in assessment intervention and management.

Knowledge of the theoretical evidence base for understanding, formulating and providing interventions for mental health concerns experienced by children and young people.

Knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) model of formulation.

Previous Experience

Assessed supervised clinical experience working with children and adolescents with mental health problems s/needs or clear evidence of transferable skills.

Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care

Other

Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.