Job summary
North Bedfordshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
This is an exciting opportunity to join North Bedfordshire CAMHS. The Senior Mental Health Practitioner is a community-based post sitting within our CAMHS Adolescent Mental Health Team (AMHT).
The AMHT is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of social workers, therapists, nurses, psychologists, and support workers who work with young people (between 13-18) who have the most complex mental health problems. This role will contribute to the provision of an intensive mental health service to children and young people who have complex mental health needs by offering specialist assessment and treatment packages of care. Our Senior Mental Health Practitioners are an integral part of the team, undertaking a wide range of work with young people.
Main duties of the job
The AMHT offers individual, family and group interventions which are centered around the young person and their family/carers. The post holder will need to be a good team player but also require a high degree of professional autonomy and self-management, and will be a highly visible presence in clinical practice.
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
This post is based in Bedford, Bedfordshire. Whilst some of the work is based in the clinic, access to a car is essential as some travel will be required to undertake community support.
For a more detailed job description please see the attached
Person Specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential
- A qualification in Child Psychotherapy, Clinical Psychology, Family Therapy, Mental Health Nursing, Counselling Psychology, Social Work or other equivalent profession
Experience
Essential
- At least 18 months of working in CAMHS or equivalent setting, ie adult mental health services with younger adults
- Experience of working in community mental health and working with a multi-agency network
- Experience of managing and supervising junior staff
- Experience of service development
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary setting
- Experience of working in a culturally diverse area.
- Experience of working in or liaising closely with multi agency teams working with adolescents e.g. Youth Services, YOT etc
- Experience of working with vulnerable young people who present with high risk behaviours
Desirable
- Experience of using CBT
- Specialty CAMHS experience (e.g. YOT/Eating Disorders/ Adolescent Inpatient ward/work in substance abuse)
Skills
Essential
- Evidence of well-developed clinical skills and knowledge in CAMHS, including mental health assessments and therapeutic interventions
- Advanced skills in particular therapeutic approaches
- Proven ability to work with children and young people in distress or through psychiatric emergency
- Experience of working sensitively with distressing material that may have serious implications to young people and their families.
- Able to work effectively in a multi-agency team
- Proven ability in standard setting and audit implementation
- The ability to maintain and represent a CAMHS identity within a multi- agency setting, including managing the dynamics of a team within a team, i.e. The Specialist Workers in that context.
- Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to "hold" stress of others
- The ability to participate in training within a multi-agency professional setting. (for example children's social care, youth services, YOT)
- Able to manage own time and caseload, prioritising assessments and treatment in non-mental health settings.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Evidence of ability to lead, support and influence others
- Able to work effectively across organisational boundaries.
- A high degree of self-awareness and an ability to reflect on personal and professional attitudes and accept feedback
Desirable
- Computer skills
- Establishing and running groups.
- Training to others
Knowledge
Essential
- Knowledge of potential barriers and resources within a multi-agency setting that affect mental health and are relevant to children, young people and their families
- Knowledge of Systemic family work
- Knowledge of CBT and group work
- Knowledge of the, Mental Health Act and associated legislation including Child Protection Procedures
- Understanding of best practice in staff supervision and development
Desirable
- Issues which impact on care delivery
- Knowledge of audit and research
- Knowledge of outcome measures.
- Awareness of current national guidelines and polices in the field of CAMHS Knowledge of the Children Act
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.