Job summary
Senior CAMHS Practitioner - North Bedfordshire MHST
You would be joining a comprehensive and dynamic CAMH service, within our new MHST in North Bedfordshire, delivering a substantial stepped model of care following the needs-led i-Thrive framework. Your role will help to develop and deliver a wide range of interventions, projects and system changes with the aim of the whole school and whole community approaches to supporting young people's mental health. In addition to providing comprehensive consultation, assessment, risk management and interventions for young people experiencing emotional and mental health difficulties in schools, the post-holder will also clinically supervise colleagues. There may be an option of supervisor training at Reading University.
We offer an exciting and dynamic environment where your ideas and career development will be valued. You will be supported directly by senior colleagues, and we will develop the service together. You will be supported by regular, separate clinical and management supervision sessions, access to a variety of CPD sessions, and an annual performance appraisal. You will also participate in weekly clinical discussions with the team. East London NHS Trust prioritizes staff wellbeing, and we are introducing a range of staff wellbeing initiatives to support this.
Main duties of the job
The training programme for this post starts in September 2026, is 12 months in duration and will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services and educational settings, such as primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges.
During training, the post-holder will work under supervision to gain experience across healthcare and educational settings to enable them to gain the level of competence required to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.
Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days within University of Reading, independent self-guided study days, and experience gained in education wellbeing and mainstream mental health services.
The training course is divided into 6 modules, developing skills and knowledge in areas such as:
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Self-management including development of plans for specific interventions and agreeing outcomes;
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Learning to manage own caseload, gaining the necessary skills to practice a range of interventions such as guided self-help;
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Preparing and presenting caseload information to supervisors;
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Working with colleagues to provide better access to specialist mental health services and supporting referrals where required;
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Supporting colleagues in education to identify and manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing
About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations
Job description
Job responsibilities
Detailed job description and main responsibilities:
For further information regarding this post, please kindly refer to the job description and person specification attached to this advert.
For further information please contact Janine.mcnally@nhs.net
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- A qualification of Mental Health Nurse, Systemic Family Psychotherapist, Psychologist, Art Psychotherapist, Social Worker, Child Psychotherapist, Occupational Therapist, CBT Therapist & Registration
Desirable
- Parenting qualification and parenting supervision qualification.
- Specific therapeutic modality training and qualification e.g. CBT, DBT, IPT And accreditation with BABCP etc.
- IAPT supervisors' course
Skills
Essential
- Evidence of well-developed clinical skills and knowledge in CAMHS
- Specialist clinical skills within in specific therapeutic modalities
- Able to manage own time and caseload
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Evidence of ability to lead, support and influence others
- Able to work effectively across organisational boundaries
- Teaching skills, both in clinical setting and education centres
- Keyboard/computer skills
Experience
Essential
- Previous experience of working in CAMHS
- Experience of working with a wide range of mental health problems commonly seen in CAMHS
- Experience of care planning
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary way
- Knowledge and experience of working within a CBT framework to support trainee practitioners.
Desirable
- Delivery of parenting programmes - Webster-Stratton, Triple P, NVR etc. Previous experience working with schools in mental health capacity.
- Supervision of clinicians delivering parenting and manualised CBT interventions
- Experience of working in a culturally diverse inner-city area
- Experience in crisis work
Other
Essential
- Commitment to equal opportunities
- Self motivated, assertive and flexible
- Proven qualities in sustaining the mental, emotional and physical demands of specialized therapeutic work with disturbed and distressed children, adolescents and their families/carer networks.
- Car driver essential
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).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (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
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Address
North Beds CAMHS
9 rush court
Bedford
MK40 3JT
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.elft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
This listing was aggregated from publicly-available sources. The employer holds an A-rated sponsor licence at the time of this listing, but sponsorship of this specific role is not guaranteed — the employer's offer and UK Visas and Immigration are the final authority. Details may have changed since our last update — verify with the employer via the Apply link.