Job summary
Are you a band 7 clinician who is looking for a new challenge?

Do you have a wealth of knowledge about autism and wanting to improve the experience of the diagnostic processes for young people?

We are really pleased to be offering an exciting new opportunity to a band 7 clinician who has an in-depth understanding of autism, developing ability to work autonomously and an interest in service development. The Autism Assessment Pathway (AAP) accepts referrals for young people living in Bedfordshire and Luton who are over the age of 13. Our aim is to develop a service that effective, innovative and supportive to the young people and families that it serves. If you would like to join us at this pivotal time, we would very much like to hear from you.

The Autism Assessment Pathway is held within the CAMHS Neurodevelopmental team (NDT) who offer assessments and creative interventions to children and young people who have Autism and/or intellectual disabilities. The NDT is part of Bedfordshire CAMHS which is a large, dynamic and successful CAMHs service comprising of 3 emotional and behavioural teams, a LAC team, a CAMHs schools team, a parent-infant psychotherapy team, a paediatric team, a GP team, an adolescent mental health team, a crisis team and an eating disorders service.

Main duties of the job
We are looking for experienced clinicians who are able to offer standardized autism assessments using tools such as ADOS, 3DI or ADI-R.

The Autism Assessment Pathway is held within the CAMHS Neurodevelopmental team (NDT) who offer assessments and creative interventions to children and young people who have Autism and/or intellectual disabilities. The NDT is part of Bedfordshire CAMHS which is a large, dynamic and successful CAMHs service comprising of 3 emotional and behavioural teams, a LAC team, a CAMHs schools team, a parent-infant psychotherapy team, a paediatric team, a GP team, an adolescent mental health team, a crisis team and an eating disorders service. We also have embedded workers in Early Help, CDC and social care. We offer regular opportunities for staff to undertake individualised CPD, and we provide opportunities for staff wishing to 'act up' into more senior roles on occasion.

Our clinics are readily accessible from North London or Milton Keynes and Northampton (Bedford). ELFT offers attractive recruitment packages and we are committed to offering our staff the opportunity to develop their skills.

The successful post-holder will directly contribute to the positive working environment within the multi-disciplinary team. The post-holder will require a high degree of professional autonomy and self-management, and will be required to account for their professional practice through appraisal and audit.

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.

Details
Date posted: 14 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year Pro rota
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 363-SSLB8172391
Job locations: Bedford CAMHS, 9 Rush Court, Bedford, MK40 3JT, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Key Relationships:

• Children, young people and their families
• Clinical Team leads
• NDT and ID clinicians
• General Manager CAMHS
• Executive Management Group of CAMHS
• Multidisciplinary colleagues in CAMHS
• Other professionals working with children and young people in social services, health, education, youth justice system and the voluntary sector
• Trust corporate departments including Human Resources, Training and Development, IM&T etc

Key Responsibilities
1. Clinical Responsibilities

• 1.1. To provide comprehensive specialist autism assessments using the standardised tools such as ADOS, 3Di or ADI-R or other tools to suit the needs of the young person.
• 1.2. To write confidential reports for families and other professionals containing the diagnostic details.
• 1.3. Based on these assessments and reports to convey sensitive, complex and sometimes unwelcome information to clients and other professionals and manage this as constructively as possible.
• 1.4. To be a resource of specialist advice related to Autism which will be delivered in both an individual and group format to young people and their families.
• 1.5. To provide consultation and training on Autism to other professionals.
• 1.6. To undertake additional training as required by the role.
• 1.7. To undertake clinical audit and research activities.
• 1.8. To liaise with and, where appropriate, participate in joint work with other members of the NDT team and other clinicians in CAMHS.
• 1.9. To offer and provide a liaison and consultation service to primary care clinicians and other key agencies working with children, young people and their families/carers referred with NDT and ID issues, and their co-morbid mental health problems.
• 1.10. To ensure that the needs of the client group is paramount, and be aware of and adhere to local, trust-wide and HCPC guidelines relating to Child Protection and safeguarding.
• 1.11. To ensure acceptable levels of safety (regarding potential verbal and physical aggression from disturbed clients) for self and to advise other colleagues when necessary. To adhere to the lone worker policy and update training in breakaway techniques when necessary.
• 1.12. To maintain accurate clinical records in accordance with service standards and to record and maintain patient data in local database systems (RiO) and the trust wide electronic CPA database. To aid line-managed staff to achieve this commitment.

2. Policy and Service Development

• 2.1. To help to develop standards underpinned by theory and research.

3. Training and Development

• 3.1. To keep up to date with appropriate legislation in line with CAMHS.
• 3.2. To be responsible for personal development and education in line with statutory, mandatory and professional requirements.

4. Human Resources

• 4.1. To establish effective interpersonal channels of communication.

5. Clinical Governance

• 5.1. To be involved in audit and research projects undertaken by the service.
• 5.2. To work within professional and ethical frameworks established by national bodies

6. Performance Management

• 6.1 To ensure documentation and care plans are comprehensive and of the highest standard in line with Trust policy.
• 6.2 To record relevant information as consistent with Trust record keeping policy.
• 6.3 To collate and report on clinical information across a specific area(s).
• 6.4 To provide clinical information as required for input into local and Trust electronic information systems.
• 6.5. Be responsible for monitoring and recording and reporting on clinical work and communicating complex clinical information to a variety of recipients e.g. service users, families and carers, other professionals orally and in writing
• 6.6 To provide service related information to senior managers and staff to aid day-to-day service management and future planning.

Person Specification
Education, Training and Qualifications
Essential

• A qualification and professional registration in Child Psychotherapy, Clinical Psychology, Family Therapy, Nursing, Social Worker, Speech and language Therapy, Occupational Therapy
• Clinical Psychology: Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996)
• Registration with HPC
• Family Therapy: Masters or Doctoral level qualification in Systemic Psychotherapy or AFT agreed equivalent
• UKCP Registered
• Child Psychotherapy: Honours degree. Postgraduate Diploma/MA in Psychoanalytical Observational Studies or recognised equivalent. Masters in Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy: Child and Adolescent.
• Registered member of ACP
• Nursing: Mental Health Nurse Level 1 (RN3, RNMH, RNLD, RSCN in sub part 1 of the NMC Register)
• ENB 998 or equivalent
• Social Worker: Recognised Social worker degree qualification or equivalent
• Registered with Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC)
• Speech and language Therapy: Recognised Speech and Language Therapy degree qualification or equivalent
• Registered Member of Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
• Occupational Therapy: Occupational Therapy Degree or equivalent
• Registration with Health Professions Council
• Evidence of successful completion of post graduate courses relevant to Autism
• Evidence of successful completion of post graduate diagnostic training such as ADOS, 3DI

Desirable

• Relevant specialist CAMHS trainings or qualifications

Experience
Essential

• Experience of providing specialist assessment, psychological formulation of problems and interventions using evidence based models of care
• Experience of developing and delivering specialist training programmes and/or supervision of other staff groups.
• Experience of participating in audit, evaluation and research activities.
• Experience of contributing to policy and service development.
• Additional relevant clinical and / or managerial experience.

Desirable

• Experience of working with a range of CYP in a CAMHS setting

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Able to provide a specialist clinical service, including specialist assessments, formulation and therapy from at least one therapeutic modality such as CBT.
• A willingness to supervise assistant psychologists and members of other staff groups as professional registration allows.
• Able to design and deliver teaching/training programs to a range of staff groups.
• Aware of the potential impact of discrimination & disadvantage on mental health.

Desirable

• Previous experience of delivering CBT and / or nonverbal therapy.
• Previous experience of facilitating group work would be desirable.

Knowledge
Essential

• Knowledge of current national guidelines and policies relating to CAMHS
• Knowledge of workforce development initiatives within CAMHS (e.g. CYP IAPT)
• Knowledge of current national priorities/ transformation plan for CAMHS service delivery (eg Future In Mind)
• Knowledge and experience of Child Protection policy and practice

Desirable

• Knowledge of development in inter agency partnership
• In depth knowledge of CAMHS issues including assessment and interventions
• Knowledge of The Mental Health Act 1983(amended 2007) and associated legislation
• Knowledge of the Children's Act and other appropriate legislation

Other Requirements
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.

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: Bedford CAMHS, 9 Rush Court, Bedford, MK40 3JT, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Clinical Team Lead
Lucy Pedrick
lucy.pedrick@nhs.net
01234893300

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.
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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.