CAMHS Mental Health Practitioner - Developmental post

NHS; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job description

37.5 hours per week Band 5 to 6 Progression Post Mental Health Practitioner

Are you looking for a new challenge and rewarding career in Children and Young people's Mental Health Services within an evolving team? CAMHS Crisis and Home Treatment Pathway are looking for resilient, innovative, and motivated individuals who are passionate about improving the lives and mental health of our young people.

Our pathway provides crisis support and intensive home treatment to young people who are experiencing mental health crisis and emotional distress. The service can be fast-paced, and the ideal applicant will be extremely organised and self-motivated to provide high-quality assessment and formulation for the young people within the service. We provide evidence-based assessments and interventions for young people keeping with the principles of the iTHRIVE model. The team provides a creative, trauma-informed, and pro-active approach in engaging young people and their families. The individual will be able to work independently but also work well in a team.

Will need to be available 7 days a week including bank holidays.

This post will involve competencies which will need to be completed within 2 years dependent on current experience and will be assessed through various methods including feedback, self-directed assessment, direct observation, and throughout line management. If not achieved within the specified timeframe, will not be able to progress onto the band 6.

Main duties of the job

To respond to CYP presenting in mental health crisis at the local general hospital using a psychiatric liaison model to facilitate safe and timely discharge.

Crisis Community: To respond to CYP who present in crisis within the community that have been referred in. Clinicians will complete a psychosocial assessment, risk management, and signpost.

Home Treatment: The team offers CYP an intense community approach to avoid hospital admission and provides step down support when discharged from a mental health inpatient unit.

This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route; please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.

Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline if a high number of applications are submitted. Therefore, we recommend you submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7-day service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience, we are guided by our values: kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability while empowering staff and those we serve.

We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.

We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.

Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro-diverse conditions, and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job responsibilities

1. To improve children and young people's mental health through the delivery of an integrated and coordinated system of community-based mental health care to children, young people, and their families, providing safe, culturally competent, effective, cost-efficient, timely, and accessible services that are in accordance with national and local priorities and responsive to the needs and views of local children, young people, and their families.
2. To provide clinical input to the team, delivering practice within best evidence and to the highest possible standard. The post will rotate across teams within the CAMHS service.
3. For non-medical prescribers, the role will involve the use of an evidence-based approach to assess and make an informed prescribing decision for a defined caseload of children and young people. This will be based on a clear theoretical framework and will take full account of the child or young person's developmental needs, gender, ethnicity, religion, race, ability, and sexual orientation.
4. The post holder will be responsible for engaging and demonstrating ongoing CPD in relation to prescribing practice, and to support other clinicians undergoing the training.
5. To contribute to a positive working environment and open learning culture, which supports high morale and commitment within the Community Mental Health Team promoting wellbeing, personal development, and continuous improvement in the standards of business activities and professional practice.
6. The post holder will demonstrate effective skills in the assessment and reassessment of risk and complex behaviour issues and communicate concerns accurately in a timely fashion. This is inclusive of priority assessments and requires multi-agency responses to risk assessment and risk management plans.
7. The post holder will make an autonomous decision about the treatment, time of discharge, and agree with the child, young person, and family/carers as well as multi-agency key partners. Communicate a summary of the work undertaken and how to sustain improvements made and include correspondence to General Practitioner.
8. To work with children/young people/families and professionals working with them to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and contribute to the embedding of a positive message about maintaining good mental health.
9. The post holder will be expected to draw upon experience and knowledge gained through training and practice relating to child development, child and adolescent mental health and adult mental health.
10. The post holder is required to maintain high effective standards in the recording of clinical observations and actions, risk and risk management including child protection in health records.
11. All roles may involve work with families at their homes, education, and community settings and at base as appropriate/required by children/young people and their families.
12. The post holder will strongly adhere to culturally competent and anti-discriminatory practice, promote equity of opportunity, and use their professional position to empower others and challenge power imbalances where they are found to exist.
13. The post holder will contribute to the CAMHS Duty Rota which operates daily.
14. All CAMHS clinicians are expected to promote the mental health and emotional well-being of children and young people.
15. The post holder will play a role in encouraging and coordinating collaboration between all agencies by attending multi-agency meetings such as multi-agency CAF meetings, child protection case conferences, education reviews etc., to provide a mental health perspective.
16. The post holder will develop excellent and effective communication skills, applicable to working both with young people, their families, and professional systems. Acting as a point of liaison between specialist CAMHS and universal services to ensure improved communication and collaboration via a range of different interfaces, forums, and meetings e.g., presenting at meetings within Plymouth.
17. Maintain good activity records and provide them in a timely manner for inputting onto the electronic system.
18. Be available for and make use of clinical supervision, child protection supervision, and operational line management supervision.
19. The Postholder is responsible for attending clinical supervision a minimum requirement of an hour per month.
20. The post holder will need to organize their own workload under the support and supervision of Clinical Team Manager.
21. Maintain health records to the standards required by LSW.
22. Contribute to a strong team ethos of enquiry, development, and improvement.
23. Contribute to the development of team protocols and clinical practice, proposing changes for discussion.
24. Participate in team meetings, for example allocation, supervision, reflective practice, case discussions.
25. The postholder will strongly adhere to anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice, promote equity of opportunity, and use their professional position to empower others and challenge power imbalances where they are found to exist.
26. Keep up to date with CAMHS developments taking place nationally in line with service objectives.
27. To participate in audit and quality and patient safety activity in line with service objectives.
28. Input to the electronic system as appropriate e.g., child protection supervision coding.
29. To be aware of and familiar with LSW policy and procedure and operate within that e.g., lone working policy.
30. To maintain high standards of infection prevention and control in day-to-day delivery of practice.
31. To measure and make available clinical outcome measures within an agreed system.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Core qualification in any Mental health modality such as Nursing / Social Worker / Psychology.
• Appropriate Registration relevant to professional qualification.
• Post graduate training qualification in methods of working with children with mental health problems, e.g., counselling, systemic practice or post grad diploma in child and adolescent mental health.
• Evidence of Mentorship and sign off mentor qualifications.

Circumstances

• Ability to travel across Plymouth.
• Ability to work flexibly (hours of work and duties) both as an individual and with other colleagues in LSW and with partner agencies.
• Able to undertake the demands of the post with reasonable adjustments where required.
• Car owner/driver or suitable alternative transport to enable you to undertake the job. It is unlikely that public transport will meet this requirement.
• Adjustments can be considered in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of relevant legislation and documents pertaining to children, e.g., Children Act 2004, Child Protection, National Service Framework, Every Child Matters etc. Learning Disability specific legislation and documents, Aiming High for Disabled Children, Valuing People, Mansell report, Mental Capacity Act.
• Knowledge of a range of mental health problems and disorders affecting children and young people.
• Knowledge of theories of child development and their application to practice.
• An understanding of resilience and vulnerability.
• Knowledge of different models of therapy, e.g., Applied Behavior Analysis and at least one other therapeutic modality e.g. CBT, Psychodynamic psychotherapy, solution-focused therapy etc.

Experience

• Experience of working in a multi-agency and/or multi-disciplinary context.
• Experience of post-registration working with children and young people who have experienced mental health and psychological well-being difficulties.
• Experience in assessment, including risk, care planning, intervention, and evaluation.
• Maintaining own safety in Community settings by working within relevant policy and having completed or be willing to complete breakaway training or equivalent.
• Experience of effective working with families of different cultural backgrounds.
• Experience of working within multi-agency safeguarding systems e.g., child protection conferences, child in need meetings.
• Experience of managing demanding and difficult professionals/young people/colleagues.
• Experience of managing your own caseload and of working with a team approach.
• Experience of service evaluation.

Skills

• Mental Health and Risk assessment, care planning, evaluation, and intervention skills.
• Well established case management skills and good organizational skills with ability to prioritize.
• Well developed communication skills both oral and written.
• Commitment to anti-oppressive practice.
• Ability to work in partnership and in collaboration with others, both in and out of own agency/professional background.
• Commitment to own learning and professional development.
• Culturally competent assessment and intervention skills.
• Specific therapeutic skills relevant to working with children and families.
• Self-motivating and able to work on own initiative.

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.

Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working.