Senior Camhs Mental Health Practitioner - Duty & Assessment Team

Manchester University Nhs Foundation Trust; Stretford; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) is seeking a Senior Mental Health Practitioner (Band 7) to join the CAMHS Duty & Assessment team in Trafford. The post involves autonomous clinical work with children and young people, complex presentations, safeguarding, and risk management within a multi-disciplinary team.

You will manage a caseload, perform mental health assessments, contribute to care planning, and provide supervision and guidance as needed.

Qualifications

• Must be registered/accredited with a professional body (NMC/HCPC/UKCP/BACP).
• Must hold a recognised qualification (e.g., Doctoral degree in Clinical/Counselling Psychology or equivalent).

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial mental health assessments and risk assessments.
• Manage own caseload with high-quality care for children and young people.
• Collaborate with Pathway Lead, Service Manager, and consultants.
• Provide evidence-based assessments, formulations and care plans.
• Liaise with education, GP and other agencies; document clinical records.

Skills

CAMHS knowledge

Risk assessment

Safeguarding

Caseload management

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

Professional registration (NMC/HCPC/UKCP/BACP)

Recognised qualification (e.g., Doctoral degree in Clinical/Counselling Psychology)

Tools

ROMs/Outcome measures

Job description

Job summary

The Clinical Support Unit for CAMHS within Manchester Foundation Trust was awarded an "Outstanding" rating by the Care Quality Commission both in 2016 and 2019. This is an exciting time to join the trust to be part of the Greater Manchester footprint committed to dynamic and responsive engagement with our community. This is a brilliant opportunity for a dedicated healthcare professional to join our Duty & Assessment team and promote and improve the mental health and well-being of Children, Young People and those who care for them. North Manchester Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) work with Children, Young People and Families aged up to 18 years and who present with a wide range of complex emotional and behavioural difficulties. We are seeking to permanently appoint a committed professional to join our experienced and highly motivated Initial Assessment & Duty Team, based at The Bridge.

We are looking for an experienced Senior Mental Health Practitioner who is able to work autonomously at Band 7, within a multi-disciplinary team. You must have demonstrable experience of working with vulnerable people and families, who present with complex mental health needs and may present as risk to self and or others.

Main duties of the job

You must have a working knowledge of CAMHS and or adult mental health and have an understanding of assessing complex mental health needs and levels of risk, including safeguarding and self-harm.

You will manage your own caseload, providing a range of high quality care appropriate to the child or young person's needs which will include; mental state assessment, risk assessment and management, family and social assessment, consultation and interventions. You will receive support from the Pathway Lead, Service Manager, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Consultant CAMHS Psychiatrists.

This post is a clinical post and the expectation of time management is that the majority of time will be spent in face to face clinical practice. The majority of your working time is to be targeted towards initial assessments of mental health disorders and duty based mental health risk assessments. You will then formulate these cases and decide on the next steps in the case. This could be, for example to move them through to longer term treatment. There is scope in this role to hold a small portion of the job plan to provide treatment via Evidence Based practice and providing effective clinical supervision.

About us

Join Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and become part of a 30,000 plus strong team, delivering exceptional care to over 1 million people every year. As the largest provider of specialist services, and our Oxford Road Campus in Manchester, the largest health academic campus in Europe, we are forward-thinking, committed to clinical excellence and driven to deliver innovation, and continuous improvement. Whether you're beginning your career or taking the next step, MFT offers a stimulating and supportive environment where your contribution truly matters. Our Hive Electronic Patient Record system enables safer, smarter, and more efficient ways of working - empowering you to deliver the best possible outcomes for our patients. You'll be part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary community, working alongside professionals from a wide range of clinical backgrounds. Together, we push boundaries, share knowledge, and deliver care that transforms lives. At MFT, you'll find a workplace where everyone is respected, supported, and encouraged to thrive. We offer clear clinical pathways for professional development, helping you grow your skills and achieve your ambitions. Your journey at MFT is more than a job - it's an opportunity to make a lasting impact. We'll support you as you shape the future of healthcare, one patient at a time.

Details

Date posted: 28 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year Per Annum (Pro Rata)
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 349-SHCG-8284369-RL4
Job locations: Trafford CAMHS, Oriel Court, Sale Waterside, M33 7ZF, United Kingdom

Person Specification

Registration and Qualifications

Essential

• You must be registered/accredited with a professional body. e.g. NMC, SW England, UKCP, HCPC, BACP
• You must have a recognised qualification. Recognised qualifications are: Doctoral degree in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent) as accredited by the BPS Registered Nursing: RMN/RSCN/RNMH Social Work (CQSW/DipSW) Occupational Therapy

Desirable

• ADOS trained
• Certificate in supervision skills
• Additional post graduate training in psychological therapies and interventions

Experience

Essential

• Significant experience of working with children and young people with autism and social communication difficulties.
• Relevant experience and training in multi-disciplinary assessments of ASD in children and adolescents.
• Proven experience of working effectively with people with mental health difficulties, including autonomous management of a complex caseload which frequently deals with distressing and emotional circumstances.
• Experience of hard to reach diverse community groups and individuals with emerging complex needs, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities and safeguarding
• Experience of assessing and managing risk: including safeguarding
• Experience of developing and providing evidenced based assessments, formulations, and care plans and effective use of ROMS.
• Experience of liaison and working with a range of other relevant agencies and professionals, including managing difficult conversations and differences of opinion
• Experience of mentoring and supervision of others, including supporting the mental health and wellbeing of junior staff and trainees
• Understanding of the principles of Clinical Governance and a willingness to follow Trust Policy and Procedures

Desirable

• Experience of providing a variety of interventions for children and young people with mental health problems and their families.
• Community mental health experience across a variety of settings.

Knowledge, Skills and Ability

Essential

• Up to date knowledge of child mental health and relevant legislation
• Advanced knowledge and skills in delivery of evidence-based practice and the ability to demonstrate how this influences clinical practice.
• The ability to assess, formulate and manage care appropriately, ensuring discharge is timely
• The ability to select, use and interpret assessment tools and outcome measures / ROMs effectively and in collaboration with the child, young person, and family
• Ability to integrate psychological theories and outcome data with clinical practice and service provision.
• Ability to plan, implement and evaluate appropriate therapeutic interventions with children across the age range and their parents/carers
• Highly developed communication skills with the ability to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information and overcome barriers to acceptance with children, parents and professionals.
• To be able to function as a part of a multi-disciplinary team and to liaise effectively with other agencies i.e., education, GP's, maintaining positive working relationships.
• The ability to work with people from a range of different backgrounds, cultures and or different ages
• To be able to provide feedback and constructive guidance to junior members of the team and trainees to facilitate their personal and professional development.
• The ability to reflect on and critically appraise own performance
• To have the ability to manage own caseload and act as lead practitioner
• Ability to manage and organise own time and diary, and work flexibly and creatively in a clinical context and pressurised situations.
• The ability to follow policy and make proposals for change
• The ability to work independently with the support of clinical and management supervision.
• The ability to maintain clinical records both written and electronic.
• The ability to cope with stressful situations including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the case of highly emotive and distressing problems.

Desirable

• Experience of delivering training.
• Experience of audit and research
• Delivery of group work and workshops
• Advanced IT skills.
• Experience of supervising junior staff

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. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Trafford CAMHS, Oriel Court, Sale Waterside, M33 7ZF, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://mft.nhs.uk/careers/

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact: Service Manager, Christian Loney, [e-mail], 01615496800

Diversity Matters

Diversity Matters: MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post.