CAMHS Practitioner

Job overview

We are looking for a passionate and dynamic CAMHS Practitioner qualified as a Clinical Psychologist / Mental Health Nurse / Social Worker / Occupational Therapist / Psychotherapist.

The post holder will join the Croydon CAMHS Keeping in Touch (KIT) provision. This is a new initiative in Croydon CAMHS with primary focus on supporting young people and their families whilst waiting for CAMHS Service. With the service in it's infancy, this role would suit an enthusiastic CAMHS practitioner with a desire to shape the intervention and support development of the KIT provision. KIT is a small provision consisting of a Principal Clinical Psychologist and an Assistant Psychologist but the hope is that this service will expand with the demand on CAMHS.

There is planning in place to provide parent support groups as well as reaching out to young people on the waiting list. The team will also work on developing a bid for additional voluntary resources to expand into befriending and mentoring support as well as signposting and provision of self-help.

Main duties of the job

• To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
• To assess and review risk and signpost / escalate accordingly
• To facilitate groups interventions with the support of the Assistant Psychologist
• To contribute to the team or service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
• To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
• To reach out to young people while they wait for a service and review for changes to level of risk and / or need

Working for our organisation

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; as well as substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich.

By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities, and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field. SLaM delivered more than 14,000 training experiences in 2014; providing an extensive range of learning opportunities for staff at all levels. In addition, our working relationship with King's Health Partners allows those working at the Trust to get involved in academic research.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Successful applicant will:

• Have a passion for working with young people and an abilities to use initiative and be creative in how this support will look.
• Want to improve the patient journey of our young people
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To work as an autonomous professional within registry body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor

Key responsbilities will be:

·To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.

• To provide risk review and brief interventions for clients waiting for Croydon with differing presentations

·To be able to review risk and level of need in line with thresholds within CAMHS.

·To facilitate group interventions as well as support signposting ad support to access self help materials.

·To support in the development of Webinars that will be accessed by young people and their parents

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• • Qualification as a Core professional
• • Registered with the BABCP or UKCP or relevant professional body

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs.
• • Experience of CAMHS review and intervention for clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature including neurodevelopmental conditions (A/I)
• • Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience. (A/I)
• • Experience of developing and carrying out research projects. (A/I)

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• • Knowledge of CAMHS assessment.
• • Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
• • Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care. .