Mental Health Practitioner - Enhanced Support Team (Sefton)

NHS; Sefton; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading children's healthcare provider in Sefton is looking for an experienced Mental Health Practitioner to join their Enhanced Support Team. This role involves providing mental health assessments and interventions for children with complex needs, case management, and collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams to ensure effective care. Applicants should be qualified professionals with relevant registration and experience in child mental health services, demonstrating strong communication and organizational skills.

Qualifications

• Qualified in core profession with associated professional registration.
• Two years' experience of post graduate work in core profession.
• Experience in child and adolescent mental health services.

Responsibilities

• Undertake mental health assessments of children and young people.
• Provide clinical interventions based on assessed needs.
• Co-ordinate multi-disciplinary inputs with other agencies.

Job description

Go back Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust

Mental Health Practitioner - Enhanced Support Team (Sefton)

The closing date is 06 January 2026

Sefton 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

Sefton Enhanced Support Team has links into Community CAMHS however is integrated with Children's 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

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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

About us

Sefton 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.

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the job description and person specification for further information about this role

Person Specification

Education and Training

• Either: Qualified in core profession with associated professional registration oHCPC registered Drama Therapist oHCPC registered Art Therapist oHCPC registered Music Therapist oHCPC registered Occupational Therapist oHCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist oSWE registered Social Worker oNMC registered Nurse oUKCP registered Family and Systemic Psychotherapist (MSc level) oACP registered Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist (MSc level or above) oMBACP registered Counsellor 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 Framework And 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.

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.

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust