Mental Health Practitioner - Enhanced Support Team CAMHS (NHS AfC: Band 6) - Mental Health Prac[...]

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust; Liverpool City Region; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Mental Health Practitioner for its Enhanced Support Team in Liverpool. The role involves assessing children and young people with complex needs and coordinating care across various services. Candidates must have relevant qualifications and experience in mental health, particularly in a child-focused context. This position offers a competitive salary, excellent benefits, and the opportunity to work in a supportive and innovative environment.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Lease car scheme

Generous annual leave

Extensive health and well-being programmes

Qualifications

• Experience working in child and adolescent mental health services.
• Proficiency in case management responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Undertake mental health assessments and provide clinical interventions.
• Manage cases of complexity, coordinating multi-disciplinary inputs.

Skills

Therapeutic Skills

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Education

Qualified in Mental Health Nursing or related field

Two years' experience in core profession

Job description

Employer Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Alder Hey Children's Hospital Town Liverpool Salary £37,338 - £44,962 Per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 11/07/2025 23:59

Mental Health Practitioner - Enhanced Support Team CAMHS

NHS AfC: Band 6

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care and has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients’ homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust also provides inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs at our Sunflower House building newly relocated, and opened on the hospital site.

We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We’re also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year.

As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under-represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit.

You can expect a warm welcome at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, our staff are friendly and welcoming. We listen to each other and work together to embed our Trusts values and behaviours. At Alder Hey we appreciate our staff and reward them with an outstanding benefits package including:

• Great flexible working opportunities
• Lease car scheme and Home Electronics Scheme
• Generous annual leave and pension scheme
• Extensive staff health and well-being programmes

Job overview

Liverpool Enhanced Support Team is looking for an experienced Mental Health Practitioner to join our service.

The Enhanced Support Team works with children and young people with complex needs who present with high risk, high harm behaviours and high vulnerability. They are likely to have difficulties in multiple domains which are persistent, severe and are framed by family and social contexts (family disruption, loss, ACEs). This may include for example, children and young people who are involved in youth justice services, not in education employment or training, who engage in substance misuse, have multiple adverse childhood experiences, who are neurodiverse or have speech language and communication difficulties etc. These children and young people are likely to have been referred to multiple services, but there are significant barriers to engagement

Liverpool Enhanced Support Team has links into Community CAMHS however is integrated with Childrens Services including Social Care and Youth Justice.

The successful applicant will provide a substantial contribution to the clinical work of the team and will hold case management responsibility for their workload. Provision of supervision to lower banded team members, students and other internal professionals as required is expected.

We are particularly seeking candidates who have experience of working within complex systems, providing case consultation and working with families indirectly via wider professional involvement.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will undertake appropriate mental health assessment of children and young people referred to CAMHS, and provide a range of appropriate, evidence based clinical interventions informed by assessed individual need.

The post holder will provide support, advice and consultation to families, carers and other professionals involved in the life of the child/young person.

Undertake with supervision/consultation, case management of cases of some severity, risk and complexity, co-ordinating multi-disciplinary inputs and working in partnership with other agencies where appropriate

Working for our organisation

Liverpool Enhanced Support Team is part of the North-Mersey Vanguard, funded via NHS England Health and Justice to implement Framework for Integrated Care (Community) which was developed in response to the commitment set out in the NHS Long Term Plan to further invest in services for children and young people with complex needs.

Alder Hey has already earned our place as one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, thanks to innovation and pioneering medical work. We treat 250,000 young patients a year and have a broad range of hospital and community services, serving the local population of children, as well as being a tertiary referral centre for children from across Merseyside, Cheshire and parts of Lancashire, Shropshire and North Wales.

We would welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds as our ambition is that our workforce is fully reflective of the communities that we serve. Alder Hey is signed up to the disability confident scheme.

Alder Hey are offering excellent benefit schemes;

Refer a friend – Alder Hey staff

Successful candidates who are introduced to the trust by existing staff members will receive £1000 after completion of six months in post. Please include the name/Alder Hey email for your friend in the additional information section of your application.

This will be paid in two parts, £250 in first month pay on commencement in post, and £750 on completion of six months.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

• To communicate to the client and family, knowledge of therapeutic processes, confidentiality and available options involved in their assessment and care plan, to enable them to engage appropriately from a position of informed consent. This will sometimes include communication about highly sensitive material and outcomes.
• Utilising analytical skills, specialist knowledge and experience provide a comprehensive assessment and formulation of the presenting problem taking into account the child’s educational attainment, chronological/ developmental stage, inner world/ emotional wellbeing, the mental health of the child’s parents, the family dynamics and environment, and the broader social context including health and school.
• Develop a planned programme of intervention utilising behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and systemic perspectives as indicated by the formulation, the needs of the client and the evidence base.
• Provide individual, couple, family and group interventions as appropriate as part of a client's integrated, therapeutic programme.
• Undertake with supervision/consultation, case management of cases of some severity, risk and complexity, co-ordinating multi-disciplinary inputs and working in partnership with other agencies where appropriate.
• Identify potential signs of mental health disorder/other specialist need and refer to the appropriate professional for assessment.

Responsibility for patient/client care

• To communicate to the client and family, knowledge of therapeutic processes, confidentiality and available options involved in their assessment and care plan, to enable them to engage appropriately from a position of informed consent. This will sometimes include communication about highly sensitive material and outcomes.
• Utilising analytical skills, specialist knowledge and experience provide a comprehensive assessment and formulation of the presenting problem taking into account the child’s educational attainment, chronological/ developmental stage, inner world/ emotional wellbeing, the mental health of the child’s parents, the family dynamics and environment, and the broader social context including school.
• Develop a planned programme of intervention utilising behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and systemic perspectives as indicated by the formulation, the needs of the client and the evidence base.
• Provide individual, couple, family and group interventions as appropriate as part of a client's integrated, therapeutic programme.
• Undertake with supervision/consultation, case management of cases of some severity, risk and complexity, co-ordinating multi-disciplinary inputs and working in partnership with other agencies where appropriate.
• Provide 9 - 5 emergency cover under supervision/consultation as agreed, for referrals of children at risk of self-harming.
• Identify potential signs of mental health disorder/other specialist need and refer to the appropriate professional for assessment.

Responsibility for policy/service development

• Maintain comprehensive clinical notes and consultation records in accordance with trust policies and procedure.
• Contribute to the development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Service Group’s operational policies and procedures.
• Participate in MDT and multi-agency meetings
• Share responsibility with other team members, as appropriate, for implementing service developments.
• Contribute to the management of workloads of appropriate staff within the framework of the Service Group policies and procedures.
• Contribute to the delivery of national and local priorities as set out in the Trust’s corporate objectives.

Responsibility for research and development (detail below)

• Utilise theory, literature and research to support evidence-based practice
• Participate in agreed research activities and carry out specific research projects within own specialist area.
• Undertake specific project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, as requested
• Utilise patient electronic record data for the implementation of audit and service delivery purposes to inform service developments.
• Provide appropriate statistical returns as required.

Supervision and Consultation

• Provide consultation/training to professionals from other services, under supervision, and where appropriate.
• Undertake regular clinical supervision/consultation with a supervisor/consultant agreed with the professional lead.

Audit and Research

• Ensure use of best practice in all work, utilising the evidence base where available.
• Participate in regular team meetings.
• Undertake regular audit and evaluation of work under supervision.
• Record audit and evaluation outcomes in portfolio.

Management

• Manage own workload ensuring appropriate balance of clinical and non-clinical work and of case mix.
• Maintain comprehensive clinical notes and consultation records in accordance with trust policies and procedures.
• Participate in team business meeting.
• Undertake responsibility for delegated aspects of service management with the agreement of the professional head and the team manager.

Professional

• Maintain professional registration and clinical accreditation.
• Maintain a high standard of all work undertaken.
• Make effective use of regular clinical supervision/consultation.
• Participate in regular professional group meetings.
• Undertake continued professional development with the support of an identified professional supervisor.
• Maintain a portfolio of workplace learning as well as other learning outlined in the MHP portfolio manual.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties; its contents will be subject to review at regular intervals in consultation with the post-holder.

Person specification

Education and Training

• Qualified in core profession such as Children’s or Mental Health Nurse (RMN/RLD), Mental Health Practitioner, Clinical Psychologist, Occupational Therapy, Social Work or creative therapies e.g. Art Therapy - with proof of relevant professional registration Or Recognised degree level broad based health & social care qualification which will require completion of The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) Knowledge Skills and Attributes http://www.babcp.com/Accreditation/CBP/KSA.a spx
• Training in child & family mental health related field
• Two years’ experience of post graduate work in core profession / following qualification
• Two years’ experience working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary setting
• Experienced in and able to demonstrate proficiency in case management responsibility
• Experience of working in child and adolescent mental health services.

Experience of

• Able to demonstrate application of therapeutic and analytical skills
• Able to demonstrate ability to be self-reflective in relation to practice
• Able to provide, (with appropriate supervision), assessment of emergency/ self-harming behaviour
• Must demonstrate a working knowledge of health, education, social services and the voluntary sector.

Knowledge of

• Knowledge of relevant, current legislation
• Knowledge of safety factors in management of self-harming behaviours and child protection issues
• An understanding of principles underlying psychodynamic, systemic, cognitive and behavioural therapies
• Working knowledge of child development
• Awareness of recent government initiatives
• Knowledge of audit and evaluation methodology

Skills

• Organisational skills to manage and prioritise workload balance appropriately
• Able to demonstrate a commitment to the overall vision and the development of the professional group of mental health practitioners
• Must demonstrate utilisation of professional development planning in own career progression

Personal attributes

• Must demonstrate utilisation of professional development planning in own career progression
• Must show enthusiasm and appreciation for multi -disciplinary and multi -agency working.
• Must demonstrate a high level of communication skills commensurate with the nature of clinical and professional contacts required of the post.

We reserve the right to close vacancies without notice when we have received a sufficient number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will contact you using this regarding your application. All candidates will be notified via email whether or not they have been shortlisted.

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are committed to creating a well-managed, flexible working environment that supports staff and promotes their welfare and development. We actively promote equality and diversity and operate a Zero Tolerance policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment.

Should you require any assistance during the application stages please contact recruiting manager of vacancy or the recruitment team at [emailprotected] or call 0151 282 4599

Please declare within the supporting information if artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in your application.

Please note, the selection processes at Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of AI in applications are monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.

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 Laura Spike Job title Clinical Lead - Liverpool Enhanced Support Email address [emailprotected] Additional information

Steve Gowland - Fresh CAMHS Service Manager

[emailprotected]