Duty Clinician - CAMHS Practitioner

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 56,000; Part time

Job summary

A healthcare organization seeks a skilled Duty Clinician - CAMHS Practitioner in Kensington and Chelsea. This role involves conducting assessments, managing a multidisciplinary team, and supporting children with mental health needs. Candidates should hold a relevant nursing or mental health qualification, alongside strong interpersonal skills. This is a part-time, permanent position offering an annual salary of £46,419 to £55,046 (pro-rata).

Qualifications

• Professional training and relevant CAMHS experience.
• Experience working with children with mental health problems.
• Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial assessments for CAMHS referrals.
• Support children and young people in crisis between appointments.
• Manage daily duty system and assess risk levels.

Skills

Communication skills

Assessment skills

Ability to work with children

Teamwork

Flexibility

Education

First level nursing qualification/registration

Further post-qualifying training in mental health

CYP-IAPT Therapy Training

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Job description

Duty Clinician - CAMHS Practitioner

Closing date: 02 January 2026

Kensington and Chelsea CAMHS is a very warm & friendly team which welcomes new skills and new ideas. It is part of Central & North West London (CNWL) Foundation Mental Health Trust. We are committed to collaborative multi-disciplinary work and there are very good links with partnership agencies in the borough.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a busy integrated CAMHS service. We are seeking to recruit a permanent Band 6 Duty Clinician- CAMHS Practitioner based at 1B Beatrice Place, W8 5LW.

We are looking for a suitably qualified and highly motivated individual with an interest in working with children with Neurodevelopmental needs. The post will suit a nurse or other AHP with a range of assessment skills and significant experience of supporting children, young people and their carers, as well as experience of working with professionals from other agencies.

The candidate will be able to demonstrate a high degree of autonomous working.

Main duties of the job

• Part of a Duty team responsible for the daily duty system, which involves assessing all new referrals; responding to telephone queries; case managing low risk cases requiring neurodevelopmental assessment or Goals Based Intervention and supporting the team where necessary.
• Operating within a multidisciplinary team, providing ongoing clinical support and assessment of children and young people with emotional wellbeing needs (both routine and urgent risk) who access CAMHS.
• May be required to offer face‑to‑face follow‑up appointments to children and young people who have attended A&E.
• Evidencing the ability to work to high standards, showing good time management and prioritising work effectively.

Job responsibilities

• Complete initial assessments for patients referred to CAMHS for neurodevelopmental assessments and interventions.
• Support in the ADHD medication clinic.
• Take responsibility for the daily duty system, ascertaining risk level and agreeing safety plans as necessary.
• Participate on the local duty rota providing a more urgent response to issues when required.
• Support parents and young people seeking help between clinic appointments or when in crisis.
• Provide initial assessments of children and young people referred to the team.
• Use individual, group work, family work, advice and supervision according to the needs of children and young people and have a flexible and innovative approach to planning packages of care.
• Maintain good relationships and clear lines of communication with other professional agencies and departments, providing specialist advice and support where appropriate.
• Complete signposting and social prescribing after CAMHS assessments.
• Ensure that all recording and reporting of client contact is timely, accurate, up to date and of good quality and within CAMHS & professional standards of record keeping; collect & collate information about individual clinical activity on SystmOne.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

• Professional training and relevant CAMHS experience with professional registration with one of the following statutory bodies: Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC), Health Professional’s Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
• First level nursing qualification/registration RMN or RSCN or HV with related CAMHS experience; or first level qualification in Occupational therapy, Clinical or Counselling Psychology, Social work, or equivalent with related CAMHS experience; or qualification as a Systemic Psychotherapist (Family Therapist); or first level qualification in art, play, drama, music therapy or psychotherapy with related experience in the psychological aspects of caring for children and adolescents with mental health problems/needs.
• Further post‑qualifying training and education in working with children and adolescents with mental health problems.
• CYP‑IAPT Therapy Training.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
• Training in Clinical supervision.
• Research.

Previous Experience

• Assessed supervised clinical experience working with children and adolescents with mental health problems/needs or clear evidence of transferable skills.
• Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care.
• Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment.
• A good understanding and some experience of group, individual and family work, multidisciplinary work, clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision in CAMHS.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management of CAMH disorders.
• Research-informed and evidence-based methods of assessment, treatment and case management.
• Proven ability to work within a changing environment.
• Working with families in a multicultural environment.
• Working with Looked After Children and foster carers.
• Experience in carrying out specialist child and adolescent mental health assessments and treatments.

Personal

• Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to 'hold' the stress of others.
• Capable of building constructive relationships with warmth and empathy, using good communication skills.
• Treat service users with respect and dignity at all times.
• Enthusiastic, flexible and confident approach to working.
• Able to prioritise own workload and meet performance requirements for the role.
• Willingness and ability to learn new skills and adapt to change.

Other

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
• Ability to identify and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• Ability to develop and use complex multimedia materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.

Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge and skills in assessment intervention.
• Good working knowledge of mental health disorders in children and adolescents.
• Good working knowledge of difficulties common to Looked After Children (e.g., attachment difficulties).
• Good working knowledge of The Children Act 1989, 2004 and The Mental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• Assessment of risk and management of risk factors.
• The principles of clinical governance and practice.
• The principles underlying confidentiality and information sharing.
• Ability to work therapeutically with the client group, using a range of therapeutic interventions.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Ability to take on new concepts/forward thinking.
• Good written and verbal presentation skills and ability to communicate effectively by telephone and also by e‑mail.
• Basic IT and data entry skills to enter clinical information into databases.
• Ability to be 'reflective' in therapeutic practice and adapt practice from this reflection.
• Demonstrate an ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Evidence of competency in risk assessment.
• Evidence of using child protection.
• Well‑developed skills in communicating effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information including diagnoses and formulations to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non‑professional groups.
• Experience of assessing mental health risk and safeguarding concerns.
• Understanding of the 2014 Children and Families Act regarding children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
• Understanding of the graduated approach to support SEND, including use of Westminster / Kensington & Chelsea SEND local Offer.
• Knowledge and experience of the Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) process.
• Ability to maintain accurate, timely, concise and legible clinical records both electronically and handwritten, which adhere to the CNWL policies.
• Knowledge of CAMHS legislation.
• Knowledge and experience of research methodology.

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.

Location and Salary

Kensington and Chelsea, 1B Beatrice Place, Marloes Road, Kensington London

£46,419 to £55,046 a year (pro‑rata per annum including HCAS)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

333-G-CA-1643

Job locations

Kensington and Chelsea, 1B Beatrice Place, Marloes Road, Kensington London