Senior Mental Health Practitioner (Lead Clinician)

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust; Wakefield; Sur place; GBP 50 000 - 65 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

The South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust is seeking a Senior Mental Health Practitioner (Lead Clinician) to join the CAMHS ReACH Team in Wakefield. This fixed-term role (12 months) combines clinical leadership with direct therapeutic work, managing a small caseload and overseeing junior staff.

You will guide risk assessment, crisis management and service development, ensuring high standards of care for children, young people and families while working with a multidisciplinary team.

Qualifications

• Experience working with children, young people and families in mental health settings.
• Demonstrated leadership and supervision skills within a multi-disciplinary team.
• Evidence-based practice and risk assessment expertise in crisis care.

Responsabilités

• Provide clinical leadership within the CAMHS ReACH Team and lead on service delivery.
• Hold a small complex caseload and ensure frontline practice remains connected.
• Offer clinical supervision, mentoring and support to MDT members.
• Provide expert assessment, formulation, risk management and crisis intervention.
• Contribute to quality improvement, governance and service development.

Connaissances

Clinical leadership

Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Risk assessment

Staff supervision

Formation

Nursing or allied professional qualification

Post-qualification training in portfolio (e.g. LD/LAC, eating disorders)

Description du poste

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Senior Mental Health Practitioner (Lead Clinician)

The closing date is 28 October 2026

We are looking for anexperienced, compassionate and dynamic clinician to join our CAMHS ReACH Team(Crisis Team) as a Lead Clinician.

This is a fixed term role of12 months.

This is a really excitingopportunity for a senior mental health professional, who is passionate aboutdelivering high-quality crisis care whilst supporting and developing amulti-disciplinary team.

The role is a combination ofclinical leadership and direct clinical work, you would hold a small clinicalcaseload ensuring to remain connected to the frontline practice whilstproviding leadership, supervision and clinical oversight across the service.

As a Lead Clinician, you willplay a key role in ensuring that children, young people and families areexperiencing a timely and effective service. Youll be working closely with theTeam Manager and wider leadership team to maintain high clinical standards,promote continuous improvement and support staff to deliver outstanding care.

Youll also provide expertclinical advice, support decision making around risk and crisis management, andhelp shape service development. Alongside your leadership responsibilities, youwill manage a small caseload of young people with complex presentations,offering assessment, intervention and liaison where required.

Main duties of the job

• Provide clinical leadershipwithin the team
• Hold a small complexclinical caseload
• Offer clinical supervision,mentoring and supporting members of the MDT
• Provide expert advice onassessment, formulation, risk management and crisis intervention
• Support the Team Managerwith team delivery and development. Including quality improvements and decisionmaking
• Promote evidence-basedpractice and ensure high standards of clinical governance
• Contribute to servicedevelopment, audit and quality improvement initiatives
• Develop strong partnershipswith other senior leaders in the team
• Support staff well-being,professional development and positive team culture

The service is based at Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield and youd be expected to be in base during your shifts. The service works 7 days a week, 8am-8pm and you would work on a shift basis.

If you have any questions about the role, please get in touch with Jen Wilson.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged tohave their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.

While this role meets theeligibility requirements for Skilled Worker sponsorship, due to the short-termnature of the contract, the Trust will not be offering sponsorship for thispost.

We welcome applications fromindividuals who already have the right to work in the UK or are on a visa routethat permits employment without sponsorship. Such applications will beconsidered alongside all others.

About us

Weare a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental healthand learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale,Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and arethe lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission isto help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do thisby providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employstaff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make adifference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourageand welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we valuediversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Beinga foundation Trust means were accountable to ourmembers, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people(including staff) are members of our Trust.

Joinus and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improvingthe mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet andhelp each year.

Weare committedto safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people andvulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share thiscommitment.

We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Job responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY

Thisjob description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post-holder will be required to undertakeother duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post-holderwhen necessary and in line with the service developments.

To provide highlyspecialist skills and expertise, facilitating interventions of the highestquality in the field of mental health, including emergency assessments andintensive interventions with children, young people and their families.

To work autonomously andcollaboratively within the MDT, providing consultation and teaching for otheragencies/professionals.

To provider supervisionand teaching to all other disciplines within CAMHS and to deputise as agreedfor the team leader.

To promote safeguardingand the welfare of children and young people

KEY RESULT AREAS:

CLINICAL

1

To work autonomously withinprofessional guidelines and exercise responsibility in accordance with theTrust Policies and procedures

2

The post-holder will have highly developed skills in assessing theneeds of children and their carers based on the analysis of highly complexfacts and situations. Interventionswill be planned based on the assessment information and interpretation ofthis. The clinical assessment willinclude gathering appropriate historical information from the child andfamily, allied to clinical observation of family relationships and mentalstate of the child and other family members, and obtaining relevantinformation from other agencies.Offering highly specialist expertise in child and adolescent mentalhealth, ensuring clear documentation in all appropriate case notes andsharing assessments and information with the family and all relevant professionals.

3

Toundertake highly specialist initial assessments of young people followingacts of serious self-harm and attempted suicide in line with evidence basedpractice.

4

To undertake highlyspecialised risk assessments following referral for presentations requiringurgent mental health or psychiatric assessment and plan relevantinterventions.

5

To implement intensiveinterventions with young people and their families, as relevant to the post-holdersmain clinical role, i.e. group and individual work, systemic familyinterventions. This will include analysis, interpretation and evaluation toreformulate plans of care.

6

To provide therapeutic care to emotionally demanding clients in highly emotivesituations.

7

The post-holder will develop and maintain therapeutic relationships with childrenand carers. This will include cases ofhigh complexity which require more specialisedlevels of assessment and therapeutic skills.

8

As part ofmulti-disciplinary team, the Senior Mental Health Practitioner will deliverand devise complex packages of care.Provide individual and family review/follow-up sessions to children,young people or their carers.

9

To take a lead role insetting guidelines and standards that will ensure all young personsidentified with complex problems are discharged from Specialist CAMHS with anappropriate package of care from universal services.

10

The post-holder willhave skills to communicate highly complex information regarding personalpsycho-social problems in an empathic and supportive way using the highestlevel of interpersonal skills in situations which can be highly emotional andsometimes antagonistic. Service users and families may have difficulty or bereluctant to understand what is communicated to them.

11

Communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information utilisinghighly developed interpersonal skills.Take into account issues of confidentiality and the consent of Adultsand Young People. Considering andassessing a childs maturity to consent.

12

To work with children,young people (0-18) and their families, liaising with external agencies, e.g.Education, Social Services and Paediatric Services. Presenting problems are frequently complexand require that sophisticated packages of care are negotiated anddelivered. To actively promoteuser/carer involvement in all aspects of care planning/delivery whilstrespecting the rights, capabilities and wishes of the individuals concerned.

13

To apply a soundknowledge of safeguarding children and guidelines in clinical work.

14

To deputise for theteam leader in his/her absence.

15

Apply Trust policiesand procedures in instances of aggression, acute distress and disturbedmental health presentations.

For full job description, please see attached supportingdocuments.

We are aware that an increasing number ofapplicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job applicationforms. Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is stronglydiscouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selectingcandidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance yourapplication, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Person Specification

Physical Attributes

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

Experience

• Experience of delivering training to others
• Substantial post qualification experience, some of which must be working with Children, young people and their carers in a mental health or other complex care setting
• Experience of working in different cultural contexts
• Knowledge and experience of working with Equality and Diversity.
• Multidisciplinary team working
• Inter-agency liaison and consultation
• Experience of providing highly specialist advice and supervision to other professionals
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance for working with children, young people, mental health and safeguarding
• Evidence of advanced clinical/therapeutic knowledge and skills in mental health.
• Extensive experience in assessment and risk management and ability to implement evidence based practice
• Advanced experience of safeguarding children and young people.
• Experience of community settings

Special Knowledge/Skills

• Excellent verbal and communication skills
• Ability to manage own caseload and to be a self-reliant and autonomous practitioner
• Excellent negotiation skills, and problem solving skills
• Excellent record keeping and report writing skills to include care planning and risk assessments.

Personal Attributes

• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team
• Commitment to multi-agency approach/working
• Ability to work and make decisions under pressure.
• Calm, confident, innovative, creative
• and assertive
• Ability to make and lead decisions under pressure/crisis situations
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable in accordance with changing service priorities.
• Commitment to challenging discrimination and improving accessibility of services.
• Ability to cope calmly in a crisis
• To demonstrate good self-care and encourage the same in team members
• A Current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability)
• To have integrity, be honest, open, transparent and respectful.

Qualifications

• Relevant professional qualification, e.g. nursing, or other professional allied to medicine
• Post qualification training in identified portfolio, e.g. LD. LAC, eating disorder
• Dip SW or relevant mental health profession
• A teaching and assessing qualification
• Membership of professional body
• Post graduate qualification in mental health (e.g. CBT, Family Therapy, Counselling)

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.

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust