Operational Lead - Non elective pathway

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust; Burnley; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider based in Burnley is seeking a highly enthusiastic Operational Lead for the Urgent Care Pathway. This role involves managing day-to-day service delivery, ensuring excellent patient care for young people and maintaining high team performance. Candidates must have a relevant qualification accepted by the British Psychological Society and experience in therapeutic work with children. The position emphasizes effective staffing and budget management, along with the support of strategic initiatives.

Benefits

Flexible working patterns

Support for work-life balance

Opportunity for career breaks

Qualifications

• Experience in assessment and therapeutic work with children and families.
• Experience of professional and clinical supervision.
• Knowledge of legislation and national guidance concerning children.

Responsibilities

• Oversee service delivery of the ELCAS Urgent Care Pathway.
• Manage staffing levels, budgets, and team well-being.
• Support implementation of strategic plans at local and system levels.

Skills

Skills in psychologically informed assessment

Ability to integrate psychological theories

Ability to work with diverse backgrounds

Professionalism under stress

Education

Diploma, degree, or master's equivalent accepted by the British Psychological Society

Job description

Go back Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Operational Lead - Non elective pathway

The closing date is 25 November 2025

An exciting opportunity has arisen a for a highly enthusiastic and compassionate Operational Lead of the Urgent care pathway within East Lancashire Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (ELCAS). The post, based at Burnley General Hospital, will have overall day-to-day responsibility for service delivery of the ELCAS Urgent Care Pathway.

This lead role will include the operational management of the ELCAS day unit and RAIS team (Responsive and Intensive Support Team) ensuring the delivery of excellent patient care for young people and families.

Accountable to the Head of Clinical Service, the role involves delivering high quality, evidence-based care in accordance with the spirit of the Thrive Framework, ensuring that our CYP and their families get the right level of help based on their often complex, level of need.

Main duties of the job

The Operational lead role will include direct line management of the Day Unit and RAIS Co- Ordinator's, and the role will play a significant role in all aspects of service development delivering high quality care for CYP and their families who need more help or getting risk support. This will involve ensuring safe and effective staffing levels, staff/budget management and overseeing the health and well‑being of the teams.

This role also plays a key role in maintaining high levels of team and service level performance, and continuous improvement within ELCAS. The Operational Lead will also take an active role in supporting the implementation of the strategic plans at both a local and system level.

Access to private transport is essential

About us

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well‑being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi‑time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Job responsibilities

For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

What to find out more: contact Angela Taylor 01282 628800 or email [e-mail]

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Diploma, degree, or masters equivalent accepted by the British Psychological Society as qualifying the person to work as a clinical psychologist or equivalent core professional qualification

Knowledge

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychologically informed assessment, intervention and management in work with children and families.
• Ability to integrate psychological theories and outcome data with clinical practice and service provision.
• Ability to work with people from different backgrounds, cultures and of different ages
• Ability to cope with stressful interpersonal situations including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse and extreme challenging behaviour.

Experience

• Experience in assessment and therapeutic work with children and families across the age range with a full range of presenting problems and across settings including community, outpatient and clinic settings.
• Experience of professional and clinical supervision.
• Knowledge of legislation and national guidance in relation to the needs of children and young people

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.

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust