West Sussex CAMHS Duty and Liaison Service

Senior Mental Health Practitioner - B7

Based across West Sussex

As a DLT Senior Mental Health Practitioner you will work a shift pattern covering the hours of 9.00am - 8.00pm Monday to Friday and 10.00am to 6.00pm weekends and public holidays.



The CAMHS West Sussex Duty and Liaison Team is continuing to expand, increasing its ability to respond to urgent need and as a result an exciting opportunity exists for experienced RMNs, Social workers or OTs. This is a new role that offers the opportunity for career progression due to the skills that you will learn through this type of work but would also be perfect for those considering moving to CAMHS from other services. The role will be variable and exciting, sometimes challenging and there is a need for flexibility but it is always very interesting and rewarding. You will need to be motivated, forward thinking and have a strong commitment to providing high quality care to provide the best outcomes for young people. Excellent risk assessment and safety planning skills are essential to this role.

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the job

You will be supporting young people and their carers who are presenting with a mental health crisis across a range of settings; in General Hospitals, CAMHS Offices, online/ via phone and occasionally at home.

This is a developing service and there will be an opportunity in this role to deliver therapeutic interventions alongside crisis care planning and management. You will be supporting young people who are waiting for interventions from tier 3 CAMHS as part of the duty role as well as those presenting to General Hospitals in crisis.

Working for your organisation

About us

About us

We are looking for an experienced mental health practitioner, preferably with some previous experience of duty and/ or A&E Liaison work within a community based mental health team with excellent risk assessment and care planning skills. You should be willing to work autonomously as well as part of a team. The team thrives through being supportive to each other in an environment that can be changeable due to service capacity and demand. You will need to be flexible, be able to participate in the shift pattern of the team and have excellent communication skills. In return you will be well supported by experienced clinicians who will help you to develop and thrive in this environment. All your skills and training will be fully utilised and developed through clinical supervision and training opportunities.

Job description Job responsibilities

Job responsibilities

• To contribute to the day to day leadership of a clinical team providing a high quality service within the resources available in a defined area, and specifically to deliver on the following key areas.
• To offer specialist mental health assessments to Young People who present in crisis during the hours of the service.

• This role includes both Community CAMHS Duty and A&E Liaison work on a rotating shift basis covering a 7 day rota.

• Assessment includes care and safety planning, risk assessment and management and facilitating safe discharge. In line with COVID safe practice and service developments these assessments may be offered using remote platforms for appropriate referrals as well as some face to face work. Where clinically indicated to provide a single intervention model to CYP not currently open to CAMHS.

• You will also be expected to offer 7 day follow up appointments where indicated and act as Lead Practitioner as part of the duty team if required.

• This role involves liaising with other agencies and professionals and developing ongoing positive working relationships with them to support young people who present in crisis.

• The role aims to reduce the number of presentations and admissions to acute hospitals and to reduce length of stay and facilitate discharge once physical health needs have been addressed. You will act as a liaison to acute care colleagues for YP with MH needs that are admitted to A&E or acute paediatric wards. It will be your responsibility to provide specialist mental health assessments and interventions to these young people and to provide advice and consultation on appropriate mental health care planning to support a holistic care and discharge plan (including risk and safety).

Person Specification Criteria Essential

• Degree/Diploma in occupational therapy or Nursing/Social Work Or Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
• Registration with HCPC/NMC/Social Work England
• Training in the use of standardised assessment tools
• Extensive experience as a qualified mental health practitioner
• Broad experience of working with clients with a range of mental health problems
• Experience in leadership - this can involve leading on a project
• Experience of multidisciplinary working
• Experience of supervising staff and students
• Experience as a Care Coordinator
• CAMHS or crisis experience
• Experience of multi-agency work
• Able to communication complex information to service users, carers and colleagues
• Lead others in the development of knowledge, ideas and work practices including policies and strategies.
• Develop partnership working with individuals, groups, communities and agencies.
• Delegate work to others
• Demonstrate support for the values and beliefs of the Care Group and those of the Trust
• Demonstrate an understanding of the practices of Human Rights in the delivery of this role
• Team working
• Ability to travel across sites
• Punctual and flexible across hours of work when required

Desirable

• Evidence of post qualification study
• Experience with Looked after and Adopted A / C / I / children
• Experience in applying a range of assessment tools and a comprehensive knowledge of clinical approaches
• Research experience
• Lived experience of mental health issues
• Experience of providing professional support/supervision to staff

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

354-CS-20524-R