Senior Mental Health Practitioner - Children's Crisis Service

NHS; Barnstaple; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional health service provider in Barnstaple is seeking a Senior Mental Health Practitioner to support children in crisis through trauma-informed care. This role involves delivering assessments, collaborating with families, and participating in a multi-disciplinary team. Applicants should possess a relevant mental health qualification, active professional registration, and the ability to engage effectively with young individuals experiencing mental health difficulties. The service operates daily from 9am to 10pm, emphasizing flexibility and commitment.

Benefits

Clinical supervision

Peer support

Opportunities for CPD

Qualifications

• Qualified and compassionate mental health professional specialized in youth crisis care.
• Experience in managing complex mental health caseloads.
• Familiarity with community CAMHS mental health settings.

Responsibilities

• Deliver crisis assessments and safety plans for young people in distress.
• Liaise with education and social care for joined-up care.
• Support service development and quality improvement.

Skills

Communication skills

Report writing

Flexibility

Education

Professional mental health qualification (e.g., RMN, Social Work Degree, BSc/Diploma in OT)

Active registration with professional body (e.g., NMC, HCPC)

Qualification in mental health interventions

Job description

Senior Mental Health Practitioner - Children's Crisis Service

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) is recruiting Senior Mental Health Practitioners to join our Urgent Care Pathway based in North Devon.

The Urgent Care team supports children and young people experiencing mental health crisis, delivering timely assessment, intervention and safety planning. The service operates 9am to 10pm, seven days a week, and successful candidates will contribute to a rota that includes evenings and weekends.

Working as part of a friendly, experienced multi-disciplinary team, you will provide crisis care that is trauma-informed, compassionate and youth-centred.

Main duties of the job

Deliver crisis assessments, safety plans, and brief interventions for young people in distress

Respond flexibly to urgent presentations, often in partnership with families and schools

Participate in a rota covering daytime and evening hours, including weekends

Liaise with education, social care and acute services to ensure joined-up care

Support service development, quality improvement and reflective team practice

We Offer:

A welcoming and supportive Urgent Care team in either locality

Clinical supervision, peer support, and opportunities for CPD

The opportunity to make a meaningful impact at a critical time for young people and families

If you are a qualified and compassionate mental health professional looking to specialise in youth crisis care, we would love to hear from you.

About us

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) comprises an Alliance of NHS organisations working together to improve health outcomes for children and young people in Devon.

CFHD provides integrated care and treatment for children and young people across physical and mental health which are provided by Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust and Devon Partnership Trust. We are working closely with other organisations and providers to ensure we deliver locality and county-wide based integrated access to all of our services, based on the i-Th Framework.

CFHD works closely with our local universities of Plymouth, Exeter & the Peninsula Medical School where we support students in clinical training placements and in addition support our own staff to undertake post graduate training.

Our integrated care and treatment has been developed and refined in partnership with children, young people and their families/carers.

We would like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to be understanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make us feel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills and experience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way. When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment that is informal and without pressure.

Job responsibilities

For the full job description and person specification please refer to the job description attached to this advert, which will provide further information on this role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• A professional mental health qualification e.g. RMN, Social Work Degree, BSc/Diploma in OT, SROT, or equivalent
• Active registration as with the appropriate professional body e.g. NMC, HCPC
• Recognised qualification in evidenced-based therapeutic, mental health interventions for children/young people and their families/carers

Experience

• Substantial experience of managing an extensive and complex caseload and working with children/young people presenting with a range of complex mental health presentations.
• Working within a community CAMHS mental health setting.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Excellent communication skills including the ability to engage with children/young people of all ages experiencing a wide range of mental health presentations.
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of professionals from various settings, sharing own professional knowledge, skills and expertise, whilst valuing the perspective of others.
• Able to produce well written reports.
• Ability to work flexibly.
• Ability to be mobile across a geographical area in a timely manner and in accordance with service need.
• There will be a requirement to work extended hours which may vary depending on agreed job plan. The Crisis service operates between the hours of 9am and 10pm, 7 days per week, for unplanned crisis care and between the hours of 9am and 8pm (Monday-Friday) and 9am and 5pm Sat/Sun/BH for planned

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.