Senior CAMHS Practitioner

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust; City Of London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in North London is seeking an experienced CAMHS Clinician to join the Adolescent Outreach Team. You will provide specialist assessments and therapeutic intervention for adolescents facing mental health challenges, working closely with a multidisciplinary team to enhance young people's wellbeing and recovery. This role requires significant clinical skills and a commitment to high-quality care.

Benefits

NHS Discounts

Generous annual leave

NHS pension scheme

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Well-developed clinical skills and knowledge in CAMHS.
• Working knowledge in at least one therapeutic model.
• Experience in risk assessment and managing a caseload.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive specialist assessments for adolescents with mental health needs.
• Manage a caseload within a multidisciplinary team.
• Communicate assessment and treatment plans to service users.

Skills

Clinical skills in CAMHS

Knowledge of therapeutic models

Ability to manage multiple demands

Education

Degree level qualification and professional registration

Relevant training in child and adolescent mental health

Job description

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Thank you for your interest in the North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT). This is an exciting time to join us and be part of our journey to improve mental health care across North London and deliver excellent services to our local people. We will achieve this through the North London Way, as we:

• Collaborate at every level by living our values to create the right conditions for us all to work together.
• Develop our new Trust culture, to help make our new Trust a great place to work and to receive great care.
• Empower our teams to lead the planned improvements in our services, by skilling them and giving them the tools to make the changes.
• Focus on delivering excellence at every level to improve our performance and ensure consistently high-quality care across all our services.
• Ensure that research, quality improvement, and technology lead the way and are embedded in our services.
• Take a trauma informed approach to everything we do

We proactively welcome diversity in our workforce and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer. We aim to recruit from our local communities and provide opportunities to all including apprenticeships, veterans, care leavers and more.

The North London Way to deliver: Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

Our trust website is: https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced CAMHS Clinician to join the Adolescent Outreach Team (AOT) in Haringey CAMHS as Senior Practitioner. The AOT work with young people, aged 12‑18, presenting with acute mental health needs and/or significant levels of risk to self or others. Haringey AOT is a multidisciplinary team, comprising of Psychiatry, Psychology, Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers, Family Therapists, and other CAMHS Clinicians. The team offers short term intensive support for YP and their families, requiring a holistic assessment and risk formulation and intervention. AOT provides support to young people, and their parents/carers with focus on managing their mental health needs and reduce risk taking behaviour. Clinicians in the AOT work closely with the network of connected professionals, including schools, children's services and other mental health providers, to promote a young person's emotional wellbeing, safety and recovery.

Main duties of the job

• To participate in the AOT rapid response to urgent cases including assessment, outreach work, monitoring of risk, mental state and medication side effects, and liaising closely with clinicians involved with the case. To be able to utilise skills flexibly so that interventions can be planned and implemented for clients at home and in other settings.
• To offer clinical support to staff to enable specialist assessment and treatment to children and young people and their families including those with complex and severe mental health problems in line with the iThrive model.
• To take part in case conferences, review meetings and planning meetings as appropriate.
• To offer advice to other professionals within CAMHS and externally, as well as share their expertise in the management of complex cases in a variety of settings.
• To provide specialist consultation to the families and others involved in the care of the young person.
• To communicate in a clear and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans for service users and to monitor progress.
• To work in partnership with key agencies to ensure easy access for children and families into CAMHS.

Working for our organisation

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy

1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

Why NLFT?

• We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
• We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
• NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
• Excellent internal staff network

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To provide comprehensive specialist assessments including risk assessments of adolescents and their families/carers with complex mental health needs based on having an in-depth knowledge of child development, and adolescent mental health disorders.

• To manage a caseload and to care coordinate within a multidisciplinary team approach and to be responsible for contributing to the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care.
• To assess and offer direct therapeutic intervention to young people and their parents/care system in the short/medium term.
• To participate in the AOT duty system on a rotational basis; including independently being able to assess risk, develop discharge safety plans and provide follow up in the community, acting as a Key Worker/Care Co‑ordinator to ensure continuity of care.
• To write confidential reports for case conferences and education that may have wide ranging implications for adolescents and their families.
• To be aware of and adhere to the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) Guidelines and to be aware of the implications of current legislation relating to the care and protection of children and young people, with particular emphasis on safeguarding.
• To be committed to ensure equality of opportunity/access to the service so that the needs of young people from diverse backgrounds are met.
• To offer consultation and advice to colleagues in Tier 1 and 2 as to the mental health needs of adolescents in the community.
• To undertake all the administrative tasks related to the clinical work and maintain accurate and up to date clinical records regarding own caseload in accordance with the Trust's policies.
• To provide intensive in‑reach for those young people admitted to in‑patient care, both within the Trust and to specialist out of area facilities, to ensure continuity and coordination of care.
• To be involved in audit and research projects undertaken by the service.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Qualification at degree level or equivalent and registration with a relevant professional body with a core profession (Clinical/Counselling psychology, Psychotherapy, Systemic Family Therapy, Nursing, Occupational therapy, Social Work - NMC/ HCPC/UKCP/ACP)
• Relevant training or qualification in child and adolescent mental health.

Desirable criteria

• Training in one of the main therapeutic modalities.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Evidence of well‑developed clinical skills and knowledge in CAMHS.
• Working knowledge in at least one model of therapeutic work (e.g. Systemic, CBT, SFT, Psychodynamic).
• Ability to manage the multiple demands within complex clinical environment.
• Awareness of current national guidelines and policies in CAMHS and of Mental Health Legislation.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of Family Therapy processes, experience with CBT Techniques.
• Experience in setting up and facilitating groups.
• Knowledge of interagency working.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of clinical and risk assessment and formulation of treatment of children and young people across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in‑patient settings.
• Previous experience of working in CAMHS, working with Young People and families and offering risk assessment and stabilisation during periods of high risk.
• Experience of managing own caseload and MDT working.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with CAMHS crisis acute services in the community.
• Experience of working in a culturally diverse area.

Applicant requirements

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.